Bangor’s 85th remembers ‘the Lord reigns’

Taking as its 2021 theme ‘The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad’, Bangor (NI) Worldwide Missionary Convention celebrated its 85th anniversary this summer. Events were held at Hamilton Road Presbyterian Church; Bangor Baptist Church and further afield at Belfast, Dublin, Drumreagh, Lurgan and Magherafelt.

To mark the anniversary, Bangor Worldwide Chairman Tom Clarke walked 850 miles, his daughter Joy ran 850 miles and grandson Jed completed 850 laps of their garden to raise support for the Convention.

The worldwide persecuted church was a major focus of the event. Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Raiwindi in Pakistan and Bishop of Rochester from 1994 until 2009, gave attendees an insight into the realities of the persecution of Christians around the world. Fiona Bruce MP and Jim Shannon MP spoke about their work in Parliament supporting people of faith across the globe.

Bible teaching is another key aspect of the convention. Jonathan Lamb chose ‘Trusting God in turbulent times’ as the title of his studies in the book of Habakkuk.

There were also a range of meetings for 20s and 30s, a special Youth Event and a new initiative, the Momentum Yes course each lunchtime.

Tom Clarke commented: ‘This year could not be normal as Covid restrictions reduced the capacity of our main venue from 750 to under 200, and the requirement for extra health and safety measures put a heavy burden on managing the event. Nevertheless, the programme was the most ambitious to date with over 40 separate events across a nineday period, with satellite meetings in several other locations across Ireland.

‘The positive response of the Irish Christian community to the 85th Convention fully vindicated the bold decision to go ahead with an in-person convention despite the difficulties. The beautiful weather was a great blessing from the Lord and, perhaps, His way of showing His approval too.’