Carrick Salvationists at milestone congress

The church and charity is celebrating 135 years of mission work in the division and to mark the milestone, hundreds of Salvationists gathered in Belfast for the Ireland congress.

General André Cox, who is the world leader of the 1.5 million-strong organisation, was guest speaker at the three-day event held earlier this month.

He said: “I am delighted to have had the opportunity to visit Belfast for the congress weekend. Our twin themes of ‘reaching up’ and ‘reaching out’ beautifully capture Jesus’ greatest commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and all our mind, and to love our neighbour as yourself.

“In gathering together in worship we want to receive from, and respond to, the Lord so that when returning to our homes, our schools, and our workplaces we can better serve our neighbour in Jesus’ name.”

The congress got underway with an Adult and Family Ministries rally at Belfast Temple Corps. ‘Ireland Division Celebrates’ was held the following evening at the Spires Conference and Exhibition Centre, Belfast. The themes of this event were ‘Reaching Up’ and ‘Reaching Out’ and looked at how the work of The Salvation Army began in Ireland 135 years ago.

On the Sunday, General Cox led a morning worship service at the Spires followed by a March of Witness through Belfast city centre. The final celebration then took place in the Spires.