The female minister barred from the pulpit of her fellow Presbyterian Church in Portadown at Christmas shared a service this week with four ministers in the town - all men. The Rev Christina Bradley of Armagh Road Presbyterian Church shared the pulpit in St Patrick's Catholic church with Catholic, Church of Ireland, Methodist, Salvation Army and Quaker clergy.
The occasion was the 100th anniversary of Week for Prayer for Christian Unity and was under the auspices of 'Churches Together in Portadown', which embraces all the main denominations.
Taking part were Fr Michael O'Dwyer (RC), the Rev Terence Cadden (CoI), the Rev Colin McNeely (Methodist) and Captain Scott Conliffe (Salvation Army), the Rev Bradley (Presbyterian) as well as other clergy and lay people from the main denominations.
The Rev Stafford Carson, the minister of First Portadown Presbyterian, who barred Mrs Bradley from entering the annual United Presbyterian Christmas service, is not involved in the ecumenical group, nor is his church.
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