Hello from all of us at St Patrick’s Church of Ireland in Whitehead, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland!
“We are excited and delighted to be able to stretch out the hand of friendship to you all at St Patrick’s in Washington and we hope and pray that this will be a means of blessing, shared fellowship and joy to both our communities as we get to know each other better.”
We are very excited at the prospect of getting to know you all at St Patrick’s Episcopal Church, Washington DC and are especially thrilled to celebrate this year’s St Patrick’s Day with you.
My name is Jo, and I am currently the Rector’s Church Warden, which is a similar role to your Senior Warden.
Let me share a little about ourselves and the area we live in and how we come to be virtually ‘walking’ to your church in time for St Patrick’s Day.
Our church is located in Northern Ireland, in the heart of Whitehead, which is a very pretty small seaside town located in a bay at the entrance to Belfast Lough, on the Irish Sea, some 16 miles away from Belfast, the capital city of our Province.
There are presently over 4,000 residents living in the town, although 150 years ago the town was nothing more than a village until the arrival of the railway in 1864, which brought with it a sudden influx of visitors who flocked here from Belfast to enjoy the fresh sea air, swimming and walks along the coastal path. Today Whitehead still retains a certain Victorian charm and ambience, particularly at the seafront where brightly coloured houses look out onto the bay. The town in keeping with its recent rail history is also home to the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, who maintain a magnificent steam train often seen taking passengers to Belfast and further afield. Also, at the furthest end of our town on the cliffs overlooking Belfast Lough, is our lovely Black Head Lighthouse, which still today guides seafarers approaching Belfast by sea.
From very small beginnings in 1875 when the first Church of Ireland Rector was appointed to start the church here, members initially met in the Coastguard’s Boat House by the seafront. Then in 1898 a larger meeting hall was built, as the congregation had increased greatly. A few years later the congregation required yet larger premises and the present church was built and opened in 1908 on Victoria Avenue.
Commercial businesses in the town have changed over the years with hotels being opened and closed in response to changing holiday trends. Today however there are a few small family businesses in the town mostly serving the local community, plus the mandatory butchers, bakers and vegetable/ fruit shop. We also have at least three hairdressers and two cafes ..plus a good number of artists and crafts people who have chosen to settle in the area to focus on their work in the peace and beauty of this land and seascape. We also have a selection of Christian churches with the Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational, Baptist & Roman Catholic churches all located close to our own church. But as yet other faiths have not established places of worship in the town. A mosque and synagogue exist close by in Belfast.
So, what about the people who make up our Parish? Well, we are in fact a United Parish of two church congregations – St Patrick’s Church Whitehead and St John’s Church Islandmagee and our Rector Rev. Mark Taylor looks after both congregations.
Islandmagee is just 5 miles away and our Church of St John’s is one of the oldest post-reformation churches still in use in Northern Ireland, having opened we believe in or around 1595.
St John’s Church is full of character, as are the members of its congregation who meet weekly to share together in worship. But being located in quite an isolated rural location, membership is quite small and mostly made up of seniors, but what they lack in numbers they make up for in hard work and commitment to the community.
St Patrick’s has a much larger and diverse congregation, plus a varied programme of weekly, fortnightly, and monthly activities for members and local people. Activities on offer include a lively House Group which meets fortnightly to study the Bible. (At present we are working our way through the exciting story of the early church found in the Book of Acts.) We also have a Contemplative Prayer Group and Book Club which meets monthly. Then for those who like something sociable and more physically active, we offer on a weekly basis an Indoor Bowling Club and a Circus Skills Class. We had hoped to start up a new Church Choir too, but that was when covid came along and halted this new and eagerly desired activity.
The Covid pandemic has hit our church community hard like all the other churches here. For a long period, we suspended weekly church gatherings and moved to virtual services and meetings via Facebook and Zoom. Thankfully we can now gather again in church, but only with caution, wearing face masks and social distancing.
Due to the covid pandemic restricting all social gatherings, this prevented our congregation from organising and participating in a wide range of regular and popular fundraising events over the past two years, such as our Christmas Victorian Street Market, which would normally raise a few thousand pounds for church funds. We were also unable to organise Lenten Lunches for the town in our church hall last year, which was a further blow to income streams. However, we did introduce our first virtual sponsored walk last year and encouraged members of our community to step out and walk in aid of the church from 1st January to 17th March (St Patrick’s Day 2021).
Remarkably 4,180 miles were completed which was equivalent to walking two and a half times around the coastline of Ireland! This year it was suggested at our Vestry Meeting that we do a similar walking challenge to unite our congregation in a common goal, but I felt we needed more to make it come alive and be interesting. As I reflected on St Patrick’s Day and where it is often best celebrated, I thought of you guys over in the USA. It then seemed like the perfect solution to find another St Patrick’s Church in the USA that shared similar values and beliefs to whom we could walk to and establish a meaningful friendship link. Following some research on the internet we discovered your church and knew instantly that we wanted to get to know you better. The rest as they say is history….
We believe our plan to walk to your church in Washington DC, is entirely achievable, even taking the scenic route suggested by our Rector to reflect the route used by Christian missionaries hundreds of years ago. So far, our journey has taken us due north to the Faroe Islands and then northwest to Iceland. We are now out in the Atlantic Ocean and heading towards Greenland. After this we will focus on reaching Canada, before turning south to follow the eastern seaboard of the USA to Washington DC.
God willing, we will arrive in time for St Patrick’s Day and for some form of joint celebration on Sunday 20th March
In closing we want you to know we are excited and delighted to be able to stretch out the hand of friendship to you all at St Patrick’s in Washington and we hope and pray that this will be a means of blessing, shared fellowship and joy to both our communities as we get to know each other better.
We leave you with a small portion of the prayer from our shared Patron -Saint Patrick.
I arise today through God’s strength to pilot me;
God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me, God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect me,
God’s hosts to save me
St Patrick
Jo Pawson, Rector’s Church Warden
Whitehead & Islandmagee United Parish
On our joint feast day, St. Patrick’s, Whitehead finished their virtual walk to our church in DC! They chose a route to walk that took them ‘island-hopping’ through Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, and Canada, making their way to us after nearly 3,400 miles.
We are now “walking them home” to Northern Ireland. So from now through June 5th, roughly the same amount of time that they have dedicated to their virtual walk, we encourage you to walk, bike, and/or row with your St. Patrick’s friends and log your miles.
Our virtual walk has begun! Track your miles at the link below.
