A moving service of thanksgiving for the life of Queen Elizabeth ll was held in Wesley Centenary Methodist Church, Hamilton Road, Bangor, on Sunday afternoon (18 September), the eve of the state funeral service in Westminster Abbey.
Those who wished to be part of the memorial tribute included members of local Orange Lodges and Black Preceptories. The service was conducted by the minister of the church, the Rev Mark Durrell. The hymns included one of the late Queen’s favourites, ‘Love Divine, all loves excelling’, written by Charles Wesley.
Pastoral Assistant Elizabeth Doyle read the lesson. The congregation stood for a minute’s silence after which, in a poignant tribute, bagpiper Trevor Jones played the lament, ‘Oft in the Stilly Night’.
The service ended with the singing of the national anthem and the benediction pronounced by Rev Durell.
Sheila Johnston
