A LOCAL church has welcomed their new minister this week.
Magheradroll Parish Church of Ireland, located at Church Road, Ballynahinch, held a Service of Introduction on Thursday evening for the Rev Anna Williams.
Rev Anna is the new Priest-in-Charge of the Parish of Magheradroll (Ballynahinch).
She was appointed to the role by Bishop David McClay in August, but she officially took up this new role this week at the special service.
“As soon as the Bishop licenses you, the work begins!” she said.
Rev Anna is filling a position at the Ballynahinch church that has been vacant since the Rev Warren Russell retired in 2023.
Rev Anna comes to Ballynahinch from her most recent role as the assistant curate at the Parish of Seapatrick Church of Ireland in Banbridge.
“I started my curacy under the Ven Roderic West, who retired as rector in September 2023. I looked after the parish during its vacancy and learnt a lot along the way,” she said.
“At the same time, I knew God was calling me to something new.”
Rev Anna said she is looking forward to being a part of the ministry and community in Ballynahinch.
“This is a place and people God has laid on my heart and called me to serve, and I’m excited for what ministry will look like here, as we grow in our knowledge and love of God and seek to serve this community well in order to make known the width, height, length, and depth of the love of Jesus,” she said.
“It’s lovely to get started in a new ministry right before Christmas, too – it’s the season when we get to proclaim the good news of great joy: a Saviour is born!”
Rev Anna moved to Ballynahinch at the beginning of December, but it is a bit of a homecoming for her as her grandmother used to live in the town.
“My granny, my dad’s mum, was originally from Ballynahinch, so I did spend some time here with her when I was growing up. Sleepovers at her house were great, because she loved sweets, always took me to Maud’s for a banana split, and allowed me to watch TV in bed with hot chocolate!”
She is also not too far away from where she grew up. Rev Anna is originally from Hillsborough and still has a lot of family that reside in and around the village.
“So I’m not far from home and family, even while I’m looking forward to making Ballynahinch home with a new church family,” she said.
Rev Anna, who is in her 30s, attended university at Trinity College Dublin, where she studied English and Theology. She also went to the University of Birmingham to study Global Ethics.
“I wanted to be a global ethicist or at least to work in global development, but while I looked for jobs in that field, I started working in churches – first in my home church of Hillsborough Parish with the Rev Bryan Follis, and then as a ministry intern in Seapatrick Parish, Banbridge with the Ven Roderic West,” she said.
“While seeing church at work and getting to be part of ministry in all its variety, I felt God interrupt my plans and call me into full-time ministry, and there’s nothing better than getting to serve Jesus and share His love and the hope we find in Him every day, in every situation.”
Rev Anna then went on to study at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute in Dublin and was ordained as a Deacon in 2020. She served her Deacon internship at St Mary’s Church of Ireland Ballybeen in Dundonald and was ordained as a Priest in 2021.
Rev Anna hopes that people will know that they are always welcome at Magheradroll Parish Church.
“If anyone ever wants to chat about faith over coffee, that’s a combination of two of my favourite things, and so I’m always willing,” she said.
“And if anyone is looking for a church to call home, then the doors of Ballynahinch Church of Ireland are wide open – and I can personally testify to the warmth of the welcome!”
