President visits Gurteen College
The President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, Rev Dr John Alderdice, recently visited Gurteen College, an agricultural college in the beautiful countryside of North Tipperary, which was founded in 1947 by a group of Methodist farmers and ministers.
Gurteen College provides a high-quality education to students from across Ireland from school leavers to adults, with the 386-hectare farm providing a superb outdoor classroom where students can hone their practical skills and develop their knowledge and understanding of farming and the wider aspects of countryside management.
The college mission statement of “working and learning together to create a better life in rural Ireland” harks back to the constant conviction of Methodism that the Christian Gospel should be good news for every aspect of a person’s life.
At this time, we recognise that life in rural Ireland, and particularly the farming community across the island, is facing ever growing pressures and difficulties whether due to floods and other extreme weather conditions, or uncertainty and anxiety caused by recent announcements in the UK budget.
The Methodist Church in Ireland is issuing a call to prayer across the Connexion:
For all those in the farming community for resilience and grace in the face of anxiety
For those in positions of influence to hear and understand the fears and concerns
For an end to flooding, and for better care to be taken to reduce our impact on our climate
We encourage all our ministers and lay people to be vocal about praying for the farming communities and families in our churches/societies and in our personal prayers.
Dr Stephanie Scully, Assistant Principal, Rev Dr John Alderdice, Mr Jon Parry, Principal and Rev Steven Foster, Gurteen Chaplain.