'One of Ulster's perfect gentlemen': Gospel singer and preacher Joe Peden laid to rest

The well-known church figure from the Banbridge area, who also enjoyed a successful football career in the 1960s and 70s, passed away over the weekend.

His funeral service in Tandragee Free Presbyterian Church this afternoon was attended by several notable ministers including Rev Kyle Paisley, so deep were his ties to religion over the decades.

Remembered as a dedicated family man who prayed for his loved ones daily, the service heard Rev John Gray pay tribute to the power of his belief and the good work he did with his vocal talent.

Describing it as Joe’s “singing ministry”, Rev Gray said: “For years Joe Peden sang round all of our churches and further afield, bringing the message of the gospel to tens of thousands of people.

“There is no doubt that the Lord used that ministry in a mighty, mighty way.”

As well as singing, Joe was known for his powerful preaching – often telling the candid story of his own journey to Christ, after falling into bad habits.

Suffering a career-ending leg injury in 1971 that took him off the football pitch, he became a goalkeeping coach at Banbridge Town but took to heavy drinking. In his testimony, he’d describe how his marriage, family life and job were all “on the edge”, until an encounter with a Free Presbyterian minister in 1975 brought him to religion and completely changed his life.

Said Rev Gray: “Through Joe’s testimony and openness he led many to Christ."

Although ill health kept Joe and his wife away from the attending services in person in recent years, said Rev Gray, he religiously watched livestreams of Tandragee Free Presbyterian’s Sunday morning and evening sermons.

“Oh, for a church full of Joe Pedens,” he added, recalling close to 50 years as a member.

Rev Trevor Baxter said he had lost a friend he had known for decades and cherished visiting.

“Joe, to put it in the vernacular, was the real deal,” he said. “There was just something about the man that attracted everyone to him.”

Remembering a man who loved to talk about God and his family, Rev Baxter added he’d always enjoyed “the ministry of song, and indeed the preaching”.

He said: “Joe preached as well as any of the ministers could have preached; he was the real thing.

Offering a prayer for the Peden family, Rev Baxter said Joe “commenced a ministry that meant something over many decades”.

Thinking of Joe’s children, grandchildren and great-children, he added: “Joe Peden is missing from the body, but thank God he is with the Lord.”

“For Joe today, it’s far better,” he said. “He suffered greatly, physically, but always rejoiced spiritually.”

One minister who was not able to be present, Rev Michael Patrick, sent a tribute describing Joe as “one of Ulster’s perfect gentlemen, and above all a fervent and faithful servant of the Lord”.

“Joe is now singing in a nobler, sweeter song of his saviour’s power to save,” he added.