Sister act make history

Last week Lorraine Capper and Joanne Megarrell became the first two sisters to be ordained within the Church of Ireland.

Rev Joanne Megarrell, curate assistant at St John's in Moira, was ordained on June 22, 2003.

His sister Lorraine, who is married to Rev Alan Capper, ensured the pair went into the history books when she was ordained in St Columba’s, Omagh nearly seven years later on June 29, 2010.

"It was a bit of a shock really whenever Lorraine first announced she was going to be ordained," said Joanne.

"With her husband being a minister, I wondered how it would work out. He's at Lisnaskea and she's in Omagh so it's not too bad - they're not too far away from each other."

Lorraine and Joanne grew up in the parish of The Holy and Undivided Trinity, Magheralin, where the late Dean Roland Hutchinson had a profound influence on their early spiritual formation.

The pair were both educated at Dollingstown Primary School, Lurgan Junior High School and Lurgan College.

Before ordination both sisters had an interest in education - Lorraine taught Religious Education in England and then was a librarian in Enniskillen Collegiate, whilst Joanne taught German and English in Limavady.

Lorraine commented: "When I came back from England I sensed that God was asking me to do something, I never really imagined it was to be ordained into the ministry.

"Teaching further prepared me to think about starting to study again. Joanne was inspirational - to see how she had dealt with the call in her life had a big influence."

As well as her sister, Lorraine listed her husband and her grandmother Emily Megarrell, who she described as a "very Godly woman", as big influences on her journey into the ministry.

Of her call from God, Joanne said: "I always would have been interested in becoming involved with some kind of Christian work. I was very much involved with languages and thought I may have ended up doing missionary work."

She added: "We found out about the history making when Lorraine was at the Theological Institute. The librarian there, Dr Ray Refausse, had said to Lorraine we would be making history when she was ordained because I'd already been ordained."

Their family and friends are extremely proud of the two women's achievements, especially their mum and dad, Irene and Bert, a former chairman of Glenavon FC.