Reality of call to ministry so overwhelming that I decided to study medicine: Presbyterian moderator-to-be Dr Sam Mawhinney

It was during his time at high school, where he was head boy, that he became conscious of being called to ministry within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

The reality of this was so overwhelming that he decided to study medicine at Queen’s University, Belfast and become a missionary doctor. “In many ways I considered this an acceptable compromise,” he said.

After he left Queen’s in 1986 Dr Mawhinney spent five years working in Altnagelvin Hospital in Londonderry, Waveney Hospital in Ballymena, the Holywell Hospital in Antrim and Templepatrick General Medical Practice, becoming a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners in 1991.

“Having fully qualified as a GP, the question arose again about ministry within PCI, as that strong sense of call had remained with me. With the advice of a trusted minister, I was encouraged to test the call and see if this was from God,” he said.

“The process was a thorough one as I explored the idea of a call to medicine verses a call to church ministry in my presbytery interview. At each stage God graciously confirmed my sense of call to the latter and I was accepted to begin training for the Presbyterian Ministry at the Church’s Union Theological College in September 1992. As I had a year to wait before I started, I was able to spend that time in Kenya, serving as doctor at the Presbyterian Church of East Africa’s hospital in Kikuyu, 10 or so miles northwest of the capital Nairobi.”