NEWTOWNBREDA Presbyterian Church recently had the pleasure of installing its first female minister.Reverend Anne Tolland is now minister in charge of one of the largest congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
Her predecessor was the Rev Wilfred Orr, who recently retired.
Until taking up her new post at St John’s, as the Newtownbreda-based church is also know, Rev Tolland had been minister of Cairncastle in Co Antrim since 2001.
The Service of Installation was conducted by the Moderator of the Presbytery of South Belfast, the Rev Brian Hughes and its Clerk, Mr Cecil Graham.
The ‘Charge to the Congregation’ was given by the Rev Tom Wilson while other members of the Presbytery Commission and the Ballynafeigh Clergy Fellowship participated in the service, and the readings were taken by the Rev Fr Paddy McKenna.
Under the leadership of the Rev Wilfred Orr and the late Rev Pat Lowry, Newtownbreda Presbyterian Church has played a major role in the Ballynafeigh Clergy Fellowship - which consists of all the branches of the Christian faith in the Ormeau Road locality – over the past 40 years.
It has been a sustained beacon for ecumenical activity throughout this period which encompassed many of the bleakest episodes of the city’s recent history of inter-communal violence.
Clerk of Kirk Session, Sir Bruce Robinson, said last Friday evening: “We are delighted to have our new minister, the Rev Anne Tolland, with us; it was a unanimous decision of the congregation to invite her here. Her ministry has been characterised by a deep Christian love and practical concern for people as was shown by the attendance this evening of friends from every congregation she has ever served in. We in Newtownbreda are delighted that the Ballynafeigh Clergy Fellowship by participating in the service are welcoming Anne to the Christian family on the Ormeau Road.”
The Rev Anne Tolland comes to Newtownbreda from Cairncastle (which was her first charge) with strong ecumenical experience as one of the leaders of the Coastal Clergy Group, an ecumenical group spanning Cairncastle, Glenarm and Carnlough, and she has been very involved in developing close links with the Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic and Non-Subscribing Presbyterian churches in that area.
She was brought up in First Donegore, where her father was Minister, and attended Ballyclare High School. With an academic background in Microbiology and Genetics as well as Theology and Ecclesiastical History, and a qualification in teaching, Anne is also convenor of the Family Services Committee for the Presbyterian Board of Social Witness and a member of the Union Commission.