'Proud Keeler' Marty off to take on a brand new challenge

Over the past 16 years, Rev. Marty McNeely has played a leading role in nurturing a 'caring, vibrant and sustainable' Presbyterian Church serving Ballykeel and district.

And he'll need to draw on all his 'learning curve' experiences built up during that time when he takes on his new role in the spring of 2024.

In Ballykeel, Marty, as he is known far and wide, inherited an established church structure on which to base his vision of a congregation at the heart of a community.

But on his next assignment, there will be no such stepping stones - he really will have to wade into uncharted waters as he seeks to establish a completely new church as the major component of the West Inishowen Mission Project.

There won’t even be a church building to use as a 'headquarters' and even the material for any spiritual foundations will have to be gathered through a campaign of outreach and, bluntly, sheer hard work.

However, hard work holds no fears for the man who arrived at Ballykeel in 2007.

The ministership had been vacant for some time before Rev. McNeely took charge.

"I had been living in East Belfast and was an assistant at 1st Hollywood when the call came to Ballykeel. It's been home to myself, wife Julie and children Joshua and Martha ever since - to use the local phraseology, we became 'Keelers' and proud of it!" he says.

Ballykeel Presbyterian Church had been set up to serve the large number of families who had come to live in the two large housing estates which had been built in the 60s and early 70s on what had previously been farmland on the very outskirts of Ballymena.

Like many working class areas of Northern Ireland, the troubles made an impact on local society and Ballykeel was no exception.

But by 2007, the area was enjoying a period of stability and growth with positive developments on the housing front and the provision of a brand new school bolstering the community.

The long vacancy at the helm of the Ballykeel congregation had obviously affected the link with local people so Marty’s prime task was to address that issue with some of the very sort of groundwork he will face in Donegal.

“It was very important to me that the Church should be a centre for the speading of the Gospel but it also needed to serve as a kind of hub for people.

“That means forming relationships based on trust and caring.

“In that way you can recruit people who can drive through the kind of work which all churches and communities need to prosper.

“Thankfully, I’ve had so much help from very good people who have invested so much of their time and energy in Ballykeel.

“What they do is financially free - but their efforts do come at a cost in terms of their own personal space. They are the kind of people who give up their time to help others - whether it’s through running a club, society or a team.

“My message to the congregation as the long process of calling a new minister continues is to pray and to stay and continue to be active with the good news of the Gospel.

“To the people of South Ballymena in general from all creeds and classes, it has been an absolute privilege to meet and work with you all through the times of suffering and the times of good.

“I would encourage them to celebrate the good and to bring healing and help where required through sacrificial love.”