Our church weekend was held between the 25th-28th May in Castledaly Manor, Athlone, Co. Meath. Our two visiting speakers had to take flights to get to us, Rev. Graeme Craig came from Scotland, and Rev. Peter Ratcliff made his way from England. We had six meetings in total over the weekend, and the sermons will soon be on our SermonAudio page: https://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=arann
We felt the Lord’s providence in having our weekend away at this time. Before we knew that the recent referendum would be taking place in Ireland we booked our weekend in Castledaly. Afterwards it was confirmed that Friday the 25th May is when we would be voting whether or not to Repeal the 8th Amendment of our Constitution, which was: ‘The states acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.’ (Article 40.3.3) Of course this amendment is no longer in the Irish Constitution.
The reality of this brought great sadness among us all but there was joy in the midst of sorrow, knowing that what many meant for evil the Lord can use for good. We trust in Him to lead us through and use us as a light in the dark. For His glory.