The Harlandic male voice choir was formed in Belfast in the 1940s. Its name comes from the fact that its members were workers in the Harland & Wolff shipyard. The music of the choir has been bringing pleasure to many for more than 60 years.
The Athy Lions Club has sponsored the choir's visit to the town on Saturday and Sunday April 28th and 29th to give a concert on Saturday evening in the Dominican church. On Sunday morning the choir will sing in the Methodist church.
This year marks the tercentenary of the birth of Charles Wesley, who helped his brother John in the work from which the Methodist Church developed.
He is best known as a hymn-writer, including such still-popular hymns as Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.
In the Sunday morning service at Athy the choir will sing some of his hymns as a contribution to the tercentenary celebrations.
Cavehill Methodist Church in Belfast is celebrating its diamond jubilee next weekend. There is to be an anniversary dinner on April 28th and services of praise and thanksgiving in the morning and evening of Sunday April 29th.
The services will be addressed by the Rev Christopher Walpole, a former minister and former president of the church, in the morning, and by the president of the church, the Rev Ivan McElhinney, in the evening. The present minister, the Rev Heather Bell, and the members are hoping that former members of the congregation will return to Cavehill to share in the celebrations.
The United Methodist Church in Poland is one of the larger Methodist churches in the episcopal area of central and southern Europe, having a membership in the region of 4,000.
It has a theological college for the training of its ministers and other workers, a publishing house and a youth hostel. It makes use of both radio and television in the communication of its faith and is developing a programme of social service to the wider community.
Some of its congregations have established partnerships with Methodist congregations in other parts of the world and as a church it keeps contact with sister churches in Ukraine, Russia and Lithuania. Irish Methodists are encouraged to pray for those in Poland on the 27th day of each month.
The service to be broadcast by RTÉ Radio 1 tomorrow morning will be led by the Rev Clive Webster and members of the congregation of Trinity Methodist Church in the Lisburn circuit.
The president of the church, the Rev Ivan McElhinney, will preach tomorrow morning in the church at Holywood, Co Down, and in the evening at Church Hill, Co Fermanagh.
On Wednesday he will preside at a meeting of the church's property board in Portadown. On April 28th will visit the Girls' Brigade display at Glengormley, north Belfast, in the afternoon. In the evening he will attend the anniversary dinner at Cavehill.
Mr McElhinney will preach at the Bloomfield church in Belfast on the morning of Sunday April 29th.