THROUGH THE ARCHIVES: Rallying cry to church issued by Lord Bishop during thanksgiving service

A service of thanksgiving and dedication had been held the previous night in Belfast Cathedral in connection with the Gift Week offering for church extensions in the city, reported the News Letter on this day in 1928.

The cathedral had been crowded and amongst those present were both clerical and lay representatives from across all the parishes of Belfast.

The sermon was preached by the Lord Bishop of Down and Connor and Dromore. The clergymen present at the service included the Dean of Belfast, the Dean of Connor, the Archdeacon of Connor, the Archdeacon of Down and the Reverend Chancellor Banks who had carried the pastoral staff and the Reverend Canon Scott and the Reverend S Fenton, the bishop’s chaplain.

A guard of honour was provided by the Diocesan Battalion of the Church Lads’ Brigade, under the Lieutenant-Colonel, the Reverend J B Bradshaw, the Church of Ireland companies of the Boys’ Brigade, commanded by Mr M McVicker, and Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, under Mr J Brett and Miss Travers, county secretary, respectively.

Concluding his address his Lordship had told those gathered: “The call of our Church is unmistakably clear. He who runs may read it. But is the spiritual life of our Church adequate to meet it? That is the question. Our Church, any Church, might well tremble as it thinks of the greatness of its duty and the weakness of its own moral intent. There is in the heart of the Church so much worldliness, so much selfishness, so much sin. But surely the call to us of special responsibility ought to nerve us to greater determination, and to more deeply spiritual endeavour. Let us, the clergy and laity, hear that call, and cast away lethargy; let us spring into the gap, determined to do our very best to make our dear Church ever more and more a dependable fighting force of the army of Christ. We must not fail Him; we must not let Him down.”