Northern Ireland

Methodists to install new leaders online

Rev Dr Tom McKnight will become Methodist president in a ceremony to be livestreamed on Wednesday
Rev Dr Tom McKnight will become Methodist president in a ceremony to be livestreamed on Wednesday Rev Dr Tom McKnight will become Methodist president in a ceremony to be livestreamed on Wednesday

THE Methodist Church will instal its new president and lay leader in a socially-distanced event tomorrow.

The Rev Dr Tom McKnight, minister of Donaghadee Methodist, and Hazel Loney, a well-known figure in the Church, will take up new roles in a livestreamed ceremony involving a total of just five people.

Methodists traditionally hold their annual meeting of lay people and clergy, called the Conference, in early June but coronavirus restrictions mean that it cannot go ahead as normal.

The other main Protestant denominations, the Church of Ireland and Presbyterian Church, have also cancelled their usual annual gatherings, the General Synod and General Assembly respectively. The Methodists hope to be able to hold a rearranged Conference in October.

Like the Presbyterians, Methodists appoint their senior cleric, the president, to act on an annual basis. The lay leader holds office for two years.

When the Conference - the 251st in the Irish Church's history - was planned, it was due to have been held in Lisburn.

Instead, tomorrow's online event will be held in the Presbyterian Church's Assembly Buildings in Belfast.

Hazel Loney will begin her two-year spell as the lay leader of the Methodist Church with an online ceremony
Hazel Loney will begin her two-year spell as the lay leader of the Methodist Church with an online ceremony Hazel Loney will begin her two-year spell as the lay leader of the Methodist Church with an online ceremony

The same venue last week saw the Rev Dr David Bruce become Presbyterian Moderator in a similar style of coronavirus-adjusted ceremony.

In a further inter-denominational nod, Dr McKnight's 'presidential stole' was gifted by not only his own Donaghadee congregation but also the town's Church of Ireland parish.

Dr McKnight was born in Texas and worked as an attorney for an oil company before pursuing full-time Methodist ministry.

He came to the Methodist Church in Ireland in 1981, where he met his wife Elizabeth, who is from Newtownards.

Dr McKnight has served in various Methodist 'circuits' in Northern Ireland and also as the denomination's secretary.

Hazel Loney, from Co Armagh, served in Indonesia for five years with her husband Bobby - now a Methodist minister - and their two children.

Mrs Loney was the president of Methodist Women in Ireland between 2007 and 2009.

The installation service will be livestreamed at www.irishmethodist.org from 7pm tomorrow.