Magheramorne Presbyterian Church to welcome visitors from all over Northern Ireland for 150th anniversary flower festival
A beautiful country church in east Antrim is hosting a flower festival as part of its 150th anniversary celebrations.
Magheramorne Presbyterian Church will be filled with wonderful scents and expertly arranged floral displays over the three-day festival, running from Friday, May 22 to Sunday, May 24.
Under the theme of ‘Celebrating 150 years of God’s Grace’, the specially created floral designs will interpret the many aspects of Christian work at the Ballylig Road church over the years. Included will be displays marking the contribution of the ministers, Sunday School, choir, Presbyterian Women, the congregational committee and elders as well as the Yarns, Mums and Tots group, Christian Endeavour, the youth group and the flower committee.
One of the designs, ‘In Loving Memory’, also provides the opportunity for people to contribute a few lines of remembrance as a tribute to those who have been significant within the congregation and community and to also note the changes in the church building.
Church member Phyllis Boyd explained that organising the flower festival was a very natural way to help celebrate this milestone year.
She is following in the footsteps of her mother, Mary Blair, one of the founding members of the church flower committee and a keen flower arranger, who organised a flower festival in the church in the 1990s.
"Growing up in the congregation I was encouraged to help whenever possible and enjoyed assisting my mother when she took her turn on the flower rota,” said Phyllis.
“In 1993, as one of her projects, she organised a successful flower festival in Magheramorne Presbyterian Church with friends from Greenisland Flower Arrangement Society Club and I was hooked.”
It was a hobby that Phyllis has excelled at over the years, rising to take on many roles in the vibrant Greenisland Flower Arrangement Society, one of 17 clubs in The Northern Ireland Group of Flower Arrangement Societies (NIGFAS) and affiliated to NAFAS, the National Association.
As a member of the executive committee of NIGFAS, Phyllis will complete her busy term as Area President in October this year.
It is particularly fitting therefore, that when it came to organising the 150th anniversary flower festival, the creative skills of Greenisland Flower Arrangement Society members are once again being put to good use to be enjoyed by many.
Phyllis added: "The church flower committee was keen to contribute and with four of us being members of Greenisland Flower Arrangement Society, it was not difficult to persuade them to join in with their ideas for designs which are based on the work of the church past and present.
"We in Magheramorne are delighted to have their support and enthusiasm as they use their creativity and time to generate the floral displays.”
With visitors travelling to the flower festial from all over Northern Ireland, including a number of coach groups, as well as many people from the local community, the festival promises an enjoyable event for all over the late May bank holiday weekend.
Visitors will not only be able to enjoy the delightful floral displays but also some warm Magheramorne hospitality. A team will be serving tea or coffee with scones and tray bakes for a donation of £5 between 10.30am and 9pm on Friday, May 22 and Saturday, May 23. Refreshments will be available on Sunday, May 24 between 2pm and 6pm.
Groups of more than 20 are asked to please pre-book, with details on Magheramorne Presbyterian Church Facebook page.
Festival visitors will also be able to support the vital work of Air Ambulance Northern Ireland, the flower committee members’ chosen charity.
The congregation’s Clerk of Session, Morris Gardner, said: “The folks in Magheramorne are privileged to have a beautiful church, set in the wooded folds of the Antrim where they roll down to meet Larne Lough.
"The building was financed by Mr Quinton Hogg of London, the then owner of Ballylig Lime Works, the forerunner of the well-known cement works. Quinton had engaged a missionary to minister to his workers and this was their first permanent home. Construction was completed in 1876 and the first service was held in February 1877.
"Previous generations of willing workers and givers have kept the church solvent and in good repair with some of the improvements being electric heating and lighting to replace the coke boiler and oil lamps, various organ upgrades, stained glass windows and audio visual equipment.”
Mr Gardner highlighted that a new hall, nestled behind the church, was opened in 2000.
"All aspects of life have taken place within and around these solid black stone walls,” he said. “Sermons, singing, sandwiches and Sunday School. Coffee with cake, tea and traybakes and games on the grass. The joy of baptisms and weddings and the sadness when we bade a last goodbye to loved ones.
"We thank God that we have been blessed with many volunteers and pray that the peal of our bell will continue to echo over the vales and hills of Magheramorne calling future generations to gather at His Church.
“Surely no better way to start the celebrations of 150 years than with a Festival of Flowers which will showcase the beauty of God’s wonderful creation tastefully displayed.”
The flower festival will be open to the public on Friday, May 22 from 10.30am to 9pm; on Saturday, May 23 from 10.30am to 9pm and on Sunday, May 24 from 2pm to 6pm. A closing service is to be held on Sunday, May 24 at 7pm.