News
Appointment

The Revd James Boyd appointed as Rector of Domore, Diocese of Clogher

.

The Revd James Boyd, Curate Assistant of Magheralin Parish which serves the villages of Magheralin and Dollingstown in the Diocese of Dromore, has been appointed as Rector of Dromore Parish in the Diocese of Clogher, in succession to the Revd Bryan Martin who became Rector of Donaghcloney and Waringstown Parishes during September 2010.

James, who is married to Shirley and has one daughter, was ordained Deacon on 24th June 2007 and ordained Priest a year later on 22nd June 2008. He is particularly keen to see God transform lives both in the local church and community. He says “I am passionate about enabling individuals and churches to reach out in a way which is relevant to their community remaining faithful to the unchanging message of the gospel.” He is also interested in establishing and maintaining a framework in which people grow spiritually through personal devotions, prayer, corporate worship, bible study and home groups. On the subject of Church Growth, James considers it important to enable a worshipping community to grow closer together and empower them to effectively use their gifts. He says “I am committed to seeing growth in all age worship, with a special emphasis on young families.”

Since 2009, James has served on the organising committee of The Mandate an event which has given him an insight into running a large national conference, and he has had the privilege of hosting the main stage at the last two events. In 2007 he became involved in the Church Of Ireland Evangelical Fellowship, and currently holds the position of Vice-Chairperson and is practically involved within the area of publicity and communication.

James has gained experience in what has been a broad ranging curacy for the past four years. During this time he has been given responsibility for developing Men’s Ministry, Home Groups and Manna Ministry. Having developed a series of programmes under the framework of U&UR, he has been involved in examining different relationships that we each encounter, enabling many individuals to be released in service, evangelism and the building of community.

Last year James was involved in leading the Maize N Grace event in the Ecclesville Centre, Fintona. “It was during these three nights that God began to burden my heart for the west of the province” recalls James. Over the last number of months this call has become more apparent and has eventually led to his appointment to Dromore parish.

Prior to entering the Church of Ireland Theological College, James was Youth Ministry Co-ordinator, from 1999 to 2004, with St John’s Parish Church, Moira. In this role he was responsible for co-ordinating the existing children’s and youth ministry and also ensuring Safeguarding Trust was upheld and administered correctly. He identified needs and developed new ministries accordingly, for example he pioneered the establishment of the The LOGIC Café, a drop in centre for non-churched young people. He also managed a network of staff both employed and volunteers, which worked with approximately 450 young people and 130 leaders per week. During this time James played a part in the annual Christian Youth Festival, Summer Madness, at which he was a speaker and member of the seminars committee. He also served as a member of the Down and Dromore Youth Council, and spent a year as part of the Church of Ireland Year Out Team, which consisted of travelling the length and breadth of Ireland assisting 26 parishes with their youth work. Before 1999 James was a parishioner at St Saviour’s Parish Church, Connor in the Diocese of Connor, where he was Badminton Club Leader, Youth Fellowship Leader, a Sunday School Teacher and was also involved in the Bowling Club.

James received his early education at Ballymena Academy, and in addition to studying for ordination at the Church of Ireland Theological College, through which he achieved a Bachelor of Theology from Trinity College Dublin, he studied at the University of Ulster Coleraine, where he achieved a HND in Computing, and at the University of Ulster Magee, where achieved a Graduate Diploma in Computing. In his recreational time, James enjoys reading, especially biographies & auto biographies, photography, walking and watching football.

Holy Trinity Parish Church, Dromore is a progressive church which seeks to offer a balance of both traditional and modern worship in order to meet the needs of the all-age congregation. The parish has a good age mix, and within the parish there is close fellowship and it is renowned for working closely together as an effective team. The parish has its own Church and Hall in one integrated complex, and the 50th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the current Church was celebrated in June 2007.

Organisations active in the parish include Junior and Senior Sunday Schools, Tots’ Power House Crèche, Church Lad’s Brigade, Girls’ Friendly Society, Prayer & Bible Study, Mothers’ Union and Bowling Club. The parish also has a Badminton Club and a Duke of Edinburgh Award Group, and organises various fund-raising events on an occasional basis such as Parish Auctions, Vintage Rallies, Gospel Concerts, and Musical Evenings, for example it recently hosted the Fields of Life Choir. A number of charities are supported by the parish on a regular; recently these have included Tear Fund, Christian Aid, Multiple Sclerosis, Equipment for local Hospitals and Cancer Research.

In the summer of 2010 a team of 8 men led by the previous incumbent, the Revd Bryan Martin, travelled to Uganda for over 2 weeks to help build Burunga Hope Life Primary School – which comprised three classrooms, Principal/teacher staff room and stores accommodation. The £50,000 funding for this primary school building project and bore hole well was financed by the parish through numerous fundraising events by most church organizations and members. This proved to be a very rewarding and fulfilling experience for the team who have been invited to other churches in the area to share their experience.

A date for the institution of the Revd Boyd has yet to confirmed, however two other institutions will shortly take place in the Diocese of Clogher. On Thursday 31st March the Revd Noel Regan will be instituted as Rector of the Clogher Cathedral Group of Parishes at 8.00pm in St Macartan's Cathedral, Clogher, and on Monday 4th April 2011 the Revd Rosemary Logue will be instituted as Rector of Trillick and Kilskeery Group of Parishes at 8.00pm in Kilskeery Parish Church.