At the recent Conference in Belfast, the Rev S. Kenneth Todd was appointed President of the Methodist Church in Ireland and will lead the church for the coming year. One of his first appointments was to attend celebrations in Kilkenny to mark the 250th anniversary of the first visit of John Wesley to that city. Mr Todd's programme included courtesy calls on the Mayor of Kilkenny and church leaders. He has now left Ireland to lead the group of representatives from the Irish Methodist Church to the British Conference. On his return to Ireland he will preach at the churches in Dundrum and Newcastle, Co Down, on July 2nd.
The Conference designated the minister who will lead the church in 2001 and 2002. He is the Rev G. Harold Good, at present superintendent minister of the Belfast South circuit, with churches at University Road and Lisburn Road. He will be the fourth member of his family to be head of the Methodist Church in Ireland. Mr Good was born in Derry, where his father was serving as superintendent of the Londonderry City Mission. He was educated in Belfast and did his training for the ministry in Edgehill College, Belfast and in the Christian Theological Seminary at Indianapolis in the United States. His service as a Methodist minister has included appointments in Northern Ireland, the Republic and the United States. Mr Good has also served as a part-time hospital chaplain and prison chaplain.
He has shown a great concern for social justice, and this has led to his appointment to commissions and committees advising or reviewing the social services. He has contributed to church-related committees involved in the care of offenders, marriage guidance, and the care of the elderly. Mr Good currently serves as a member of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. His contribution to these various bodies was first recognised in 1970, when he was made an MBE, and again in 1985 when he was awarded the OBE. He will take office as president of the church from the Conference of 2001, which will meet in the Down District.
Both of the Protestant services to be broadcast by RTE tomorrow will be led by congregations from Methodist churches. The television broadcast from the studio at 11.15 a.m. will be led by the Rev Noel Fallows and members of the churches in Clontarf, Sutton and Skerries in Co Dublin. The radio broadcast on medium wave at 10.45 a.m. will come from the Methodist Church in Portlaoise, where the congregation will be joined by others from Athy and Mountmellick. The worship will be led by the Rev John M. Sweeney.
For many Irish Methodists and others, a certain week in August has become "Castlewellan Week". It is a week when several hundred families gather for a variety of sporting activities, interspersed with Bible study and devotion. This year it runs from August 5th to 12th. One of the speakers will be the Rev Michael Cassidy of South Africa, who writes and speaks widely on themes of evangelism, reconciliation and leadership. He was the founder in 1961 of African Enterprise, an interdenominational and inter-racial agency. Meetings for young teenagers will be led by Mr Gordon McDade, who is making a return visit. Details of the week, which includes facilities for caravanners and campers, may be obtained from Ms Betty Hunter, 15 Sandmount Drive, Galgorm, Ballymena BT42 1DX.