Posted on by David Steers

The world is charged with the grandeur of God

Hawarden, North Wales

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

    It will flame out, like shining from shook foil

These opening lines from God’s Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins supply us with the opening words and the theme of this week’s online service. Filmed at various locations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland places visited include the Hawarden estate, Flintshire, North Wales; the sand dunes at Formby near Liverpool; the Derbyshire Peak district; the River Thames (Isis) at Oxford; Norton Priory, Cheshire; Sefton Park, Liverpool; Rathmullan, county Down; and Dunmurry, county Antrim. As we look at these varied landscapes we explore the meaning of this idea of the divine presence in the natural world alongside readings from Gerard Manley Hopkins, Thomas Merton and Ernesto Cardenal.

Sefton Park – the heron flies over the lake

The world is charged with the grandeur of God – click on the video above to see the meditation and reflections

In the service Graham Murphy reads two poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins – Binsey Poplars and Pied Beauty, both recorded at Gladstone’s Library, Hawarden, Flintshire. In addition Robert Neill and Emma McCrudden read extracts from the works of Thomas Merton and Ernesto Cardenal.

Binsey, near Oxford

Music played includes:

For the beauty of the earth, played by Allen Yarr, organist of First Presbyterian (NS) Church, Dunmurry.

Come let us sing of a wonderful love, played by John Strain, organist of Ballee Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church.

O love that wilt not let me go, played by John Strain.

Let saints on earth in concert sing, played by Allen Yarr.

Norton Priory, Cheshire, walled garden
Formby, sand dunes
The River Thames at Oxford

Let me seek, then, the gift of silence, and poverty, and solitude, where everything I touch is turned into a prayer: where the sky is my prayer, the birds are my prayer, the wind in the trees is my prayer, for God is all in all. – Thomas Merton

Posted on by David Steers

The Road to Emmaus

A short meditation for Low Sunday

Recorded for the Sunday after Easter including reflection on the dawn service held on the village green by Dunmurry Churches Together. With Jack Steers on the trumpet playing Easter Hymn (Jesus Christ is risen today). With a reading from Luke ch.4 v.13-35. Click on the video above to see this reflection.

Lord of the Emmaus Road…walk with us Lord, listen to our story, and let us hear your story, straight from the empty tomb.

Posted on by David Steers

January Reflections

In the month of January 2022 we have uploaded four new short video Reflections to our YouTube channel. These cover Epiphany; the installation of the Rev István Kovács as the new bishop of the Hungarian Unitarian Church in Kolozsvár, Transylvania, Romania; the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity; and Psalm 8. John Strain and Allen Yarr provide music. The Reflections are by Rev David Steers and Jennifer Miles provides a reading. The picture at the top of the page and the thumbnail for the fourth video are images taken remotely from the camera on the International Space Station. The videos can be seen below.

January 2022 Epiphany

Hungary and Transylvania

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

When I look up to the night skies (available from 8.00 am on Sunday, 30th January)

Posted on by David Steers

The A to Z of Non-Subscribing Presbyterianism – 26 videos telling the story of Irish Non-Subscription

The whole alphabet of Non-Subscription is now available to view on our YouTube channel. This tells the story of Non-Subscribing Presbyterianism in twenty-six chapters looking at a different aspect of the history, ethos, identity, theology or practice of this denomination. Filming began in June and ended in December 2021 with a service going live every week. Filmed at Downpatrick, Ballee, Clough and Dunmurry Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Churches, music has been provided by John Strain, Laura Patterson, Allen Yarr, Alfie McClelland, and Laura Neill. In addition a team of readers have taken part in these services each week including Elsie Nelson, Annabel Cleland, Noelle Wilson, Mary Stewart, Bobby Graham, Robert Neill, Emma McCrudden, and Gilbert Cameron.

The full list of topics covered is as follows:

Abernethy, John

Bible

Collecting Ladles

Doors

Education

Faith

Gifts of the Spirit

Hymns and Hymnbooks

Inquiring

Jesus

Kedron

Lord’s Supper

Montgomery, Henry

New Light

Organ

Pews

Quires and Places where they sing

Remonstrant

Stained Glass

Tokens

Ubi Spiritus Domini ibi Libertas

Verse

Women

eXile

Yahweh

Zechariah

They can all be accessed from this link:

The A to Z of Non-Subscribing Presbyterianism

Posted on by David Steers

The A to Z of Non-Subscribing Presbyterianism: K to M

We have now reached the letters, K to M in our alphabetical survey of Non-Subscribing Presbyterianism. So our next three videos look, in turn, at Kedron, the Lord’s Supper and Henry Montgomery.

Kedron

When the Paschal evening fell
Deep on Kedron’s hallowed dell,
When around the festal board
Sat the Apostles with their Lord,
Then his parting word he said,
Blessed the cup and brake the bread –
“This whene’er ye do or see,
Evermore remember me.”
From a hymn by A.P. Stanley

James Martineau wrote another hymn which mentions Kedron, which is our subject for the letter K. To find out what links Jerusalem’s Kedron valley with the churchyard at Downpatrick watch this service. Filmed at the First Presbyterian Church (NS) Downpatrick, Mary Stewart gives the reading from John ch.18 v.1-9, and church organist, Laura Patterson, plays the hymns Christ, be our light and Great is thy faithfulness’.

The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper

L stands for the Lord’s Supper and in this short film we look at how we understand this important service. Filmed at Ballee Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church the reading comes from 1 Corinthians ch.11 v.23-25. Church organist, John Strain, plays Lord of all hopefulness, May the mind of Christ my Saviour and My faith looks up to Thee.

A Scottish Sacrament by Henry John Dobson. (Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons)

Henry Montgomery

Click on the video to join the service and hear about Rev Henry Montgomery (after 9.45 am on Sunday, 26th September).

The thirteenth instalment in the series is the letter M and features the Rev Dr Henry Montgomery. Filmed at Dunmurry, where Montgomery himself ministered from 1809 to his death in 1865, we look at his importance and his legacy. The reader is Bobby Graham who reads Matthew ch.23 v.1-12. Allen Yarr plays the hymns From all that dwell below the skies and Let saints on earth in concert sing.

Posted on by David Steers

The A to Z of Non-Subscribing Presbyterianism: H to J

We continue our journey through an alphabet of Non-Subscribing Presbyterian ideas, thoughts and objects and have now covered the letters H to J.

Hymns and Hymnbooks

Filmed at Ballee and Downpatrick, in this film we look at some historic hymnbooks and hymns within the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland, where there is a tradition of writing hymns and producing hymnbooks which can be traced right back to the early nineteenth century. Conducted by the minister, the reading comes from Colossians ch.3 v.12-17 and is given by Elsie Nelson. Ballee organist John Strain plays the hymns: May the mind of Christ my Saviour (Irish Presbyterian Hymn Book 512) and Thine be the glory (Irish Church Hymnal 288).

Inquiring

Faith should be open and inquiring, we should have a faith that asks questions and is not simply content to be told what to believe. The ninth service in our series is filmed at Clough (with a bit of extra filming at Downpatrick). Conducted by the minister, the reader is Annabel Cleland who reads from John ch.20 v.24-29. Clough organist Alfie McClelland plays the hymns Thou whose almighty word (Hymns of Faith and Freedom 173) and Lord in the fullness of my might (Hymns of Faith and Freedom 269).

Jesus

Available from 9.45 am on Sunday, 5th September

In this video we look at Non-Subscribing Presbyterian understandings of Jesus. How do we see him? How do we understand him? Filmed in Dunmurry with a reading from Luke ch.6 v.46-49 given by Noelle Wilson the service is conducted by the minister in charge. Dunmurry organist Allen Yarr plays the hymns Stand up! Stand up for Jesus (Church Hymnary 532), From all that dwell below the skies (Church Hymnary 228) and Let saints on earth in concert sing (Church Hymnary 227) on the piano.

A carving in the Chapter House at Salisbury Cathedral believed to depict the Trinity
Jesus Christ Pantocrator, Andrei Rublev
Posted on by David Steers

All the trees of the wood will rejoice

This week our service comes from Dunmurry. We reflect on Psalm 96, recast by J.S.B. Monsell into the famous hymn O Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;

Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord.

Psalm 96 v.11-12

Online service. Click on the video above after 9.45 am on Sunday, 6th June 2021

The service is conducted by the minister in charge, Rev Dr David Steers. The reading from Psalm 96 is given by Lorraine Donaldson. Church organist Allen Yarr plays the hymns Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (Church Hymnary 22) and O Worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness (Hymns of Faith and Freedom 18) as well as an excerpt from Music for the Royal Fireworks by G.F. Handel, all on the piano.

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Faith guided by Reason

Clough Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church (1837)

Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

The reading for our service today, from Clough, comes from the 4th chapter of Ephesians.

Click on the video to see this week’s service (after 9.45 am on Sunday, 9th May)

The service is conducted by the minister, Rev Dr David Steers with the reading being given by Elsie Nelson. Church organist Alfie McClelland plays the hymns Immortal Love, forever full (‘Hymns of Faith and Freedom’ 84) and The Lord my pasture shall prepare (‘Hymns of Faith and Freedom’ 88) also played at the start and end of the service are Sun of my soul and Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation.

Also uploaded this week is this short video, a Prayer for Spring:

Filmed in the grounds of Dunmurry Church
Posted on by David Steers

We are all the work of thy hand

Yet, O Lord, thou art our Father;
    we are the clay, and thou art our potter;
    we are all the work of thy hand.

Isaiah ch.64 v.8

Our service for the Second Sunday in Advent comes from First Presbyterian (Non-Subscribing) Church, Downpatrick and has as its reading Isaiah ch.64 v.1-9. In that passage God is likened to a potter and through interaction with our Creator we can be remade. This image of the potter at work at the wheel is a very powerful one in the Bible, it is suggestive of the ongoing process of creation of which we are a part.

The video can be seen here:

The organist is John Strain, playing the organ at Ballee Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, who plays Lo! He comes with clouds descending (Mission Praise 424) and Hark the glad sound! The saviour comes (Hymns of Faith and Freedom 107).

Posted on by David Steers

Celebrating Harvest

This Sunday’s worship again reflects on the importance of the harvest in our lives, both spiritually and temporally. Our reading is given for us by Dillon Howell and the hymns and harvest music is played by John Strain on the organ at Ballee Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church.

The video both begins and ends with images from harvest services in our churches over recent years. They are always such uplifting occasions and a great deal of thought goes into making the churches look so attractive. It is nice to be reminded of some of the imaginative and creative displays that we always see in our churches. Click on the above video to see the service.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is gracious,

for his steadfast love endures for ever.

Psalm 107.1