Carrickfergus rector becomes new Bishop of Connor

Archbishop of Armagh John McDowell, right, and the Rt Rev George Davison following the consecration of the new Bishop of Connor in Armagh.

The Rt Rev George Davison, former Archdeacon of Belfast and rector of Carrickfergus, became Bishop of Connor at the service which had been delayed for several months due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Bishop Davison was appointed by the Episcopal Electoral College for the Diocese of Connor on February 17 (read here).

His consecration had originally been scheduled for May.

The Rt Rev George Davison, newly consecrated Bishop of Connor.

In a video message to the diocese recorded on the eve of the Service of Consecration, Bishop Davison said: “This is a service that has been in planning for some time, a considerable time longer than any of us had realised. That delay, of course, has been caused by the same coronavirus emergency that has turned all our lives upside down over the last number of months.

“As individuals and as a society, we face challenges that we have never had to deal with before. It has caused real heartache for many people, and for some, the challenges they have faced make the delay of a service feel very insignificant.”

The bishop said that familiar ways of doing things had to be put on hold, and churches had to learn new ways to enable people to join together as the family of God.

“Even as we take these tentative steps back into our church buildings again, I am very conscious that we still have challenges ahead of us,” he said. “We have to be realistic about the challenges ahead, but I am convinced that they should not, and will not, define us.”

Bishop Davison succeeds the Rt Rev Alan Abernethy who retired in December 2019.

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high-quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the highest standards in the world.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers and consequently the advertising that we receive.

We are now more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you.