Rev Keith McCrory once threw stones in Derry. Now he is a Protestant clergyman
A Catholic-born Derry man who “threw stones” as a teenager has revealed how his life was turned around and he became a Protestant church minister.
Rev Keith McCrory was raised in a one-parent family in the strongly nationalist Shantallow area of Derry.
But at the age of 15 he was taken into care after his father died.
In an interview with the Belfast Telelgraph, Dr McCrory describes his formative years as having no religious background.
“I was brought up in a tough area. I would not describe myself as a tearaway, but I had my share of throwing stones.”
He first encountered Christianity at the age of 16 when a teacher introduced him to a Crusaders group on the traditionally unionist west bank of the Foyle.
He later found his spiritual niche in Kilfennan Presbyterian Church in the Waterside.
The clergyman Keith trained at Union College in Belfast’s Botanic area.
Now he is the minister of a burgeoning community Presbyterian Church in Maynooth.
But his congregation don’t meet in a normal church – they worship in a long corridor above a Dunnes store.
That could soon change as plans to construct a new building as an outreach church are being developed by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
Kilfennan Presbyterian Church in Derry’s Waterside area
Rev McCrory says many of his congregation are not from a religious background.
“Like many of the new churches in the last decade, this will be a multi-purpose building, and this helps us to establish a new dynamism,” he said.
“Many of our members come from an unchurched background, or have not gone to church for a long time.
“We have a congregation of 90 people of all ages, but the majority are between 20 and 38 years old.
“About half come from the Republic, and the others are originally from various places including Northern Ireland, South Africa and the USA. We also have a strong ethnic representation.
“The church sermons are usually about four minutes long, and several speakers take part.
“There is no fixed liturgy. Prayers and hymns, psalms and paraphrases, scripture readings and sermons are adapted to the occasion.”
The Maynooth Community Church traces its roots to 2002, in association with its parent Lucan Presbyterian Church, where Keith was an elder.
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