Mourners at funeral of former UDA leader told he made ‘journey' towards reconciliation as service takes place in Dundonald
Family and friends of Tyrie gathered at Dundonald Presbyterian Church for the service which took place earlier following his death at the weekend aged 85.
Tyrie was one of the most prominent figures from the early years of the UDA.
He led the terror group from 1973 until 1988, when an attempt on his life led to him quitting.
Tyrie stepped away from politics and the public spotlight some time ago.
His tinted glasses and thick moustache made him a recognisable figure during the 1970s and 1980s.
It is understood Tyrie had been ill for some time.
Images from the service earlier showed family walking behind the hearse carrying Tyrie's coffin.
At the funeral service, Rev William McCully, Minister of Religion at Dundonald Presbyterian Church, said Tyrie was a 'family man and family meant everything to him'.
He spoke of Tyrie donating his kidney to wife, Agnes, and being 'generous in making a sacrifice'.
Rev McCully added: 'But we would be fooling ourselves this morning if our understanding of Andy Tyrie was only just a loving family man. He was a man who was sacrificial.'
The Presbyterian Minister at the Church on the Green said Tyrie's life and history is very public and well documented and one of the things Rev McCully recently learned was a saying of Tyrie's: 'Always forgive and don't be bitter'.
Rev McCully said: 'The topic of forgiveness isn't something much talked about – and sometimes its grossly misunderstood.
'But when it comes to our province, to our community, and to our family, and to us as individuals – it's something that is so desperately needed – but there really is a lot to be forgiven.'
He told those gathered that 'people struggle with forgiveness' and the rawness of the past still endures for people 'on both sides of the divide'.
Rev McCully posed the question to those gathered: 'If forgiveness isn't found and considered – does that then mean that the cycle of bitterness continues?'
Tyrie, he said, found the path to reconciliation when 'he came to faith sometime around 2002/03'.
Rev McCully continued: 'It was obviously a journey – but the journey became clear with the Rev Bobby Allen, who Andy arranged to meet in the park here in Dundonald and where they talked things out.
'It was there that Andy gave his life to Jesus, and the direction of his life changed – all through the Grace of God
''Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found… was blind but now I see'.
'The past behind him – he became a new creation in the Lord Jesus. And when I came to Dundonald – this was the Andy I came to know. And of course he knew he needed forgiveness – but so do we all need the Gospel of Jesus's offer of forgiveness and we also need to take it too.'
A funeral notice for Tyrie added that he 'passed away peacefully after a long illness surrounded by his loving family'.
News Catch Up - Thursday 22 May
"Cherished Husband of Agnes and much loved Dad of Dorothy (Cole), Andrew (Ann) and Linda (John),' it added.
'A very special Granda and Great Granda.
"At home with the Lord.'
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The Independent
08-08-2025
- The Independent
Brooklyn's Black church choirs persist amid attendance decline, gentrification
On Sunday mornings in Brooklyn, nicknamed the borough of churches, the muffled sounds of choir singers, hand‑claps and Hammond organs can be heard from the sidewalks. The borough still has a church on nearly every block, but over the years, the number of people in the pews has thinned. Many church choirs in the heart of Brooklyn, however, have kept singing — despite boasting fewer singers than in years past as neighborhoods face gentrification and organized religious affiliation decreases. Standing in front of the gospel choir at Concord Baptist Church of Christ in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Jessica Howard, 25, led the gospel standard 'God Is' on a Sunday in July. Dressed in a powder-pink floral dress, she called out lines naming God as 'joy in sorrow' and 'strength for tomorrow.' Some choir members wiped away tears as the song stoked emotions from around the room.' As a Black Christian person, as a descendant of slaves, I think when I sing, I feel really connected to my ancestors,' said Howard, who grew up in Virginia and now sings as a soloist at Concord, where she's been a congregant for six years. 'I really feel sometimes like it's not just me singing, it's my lineage singing.' ___ This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story. ___ Founded in 1847, Concord Baptist Church is Brooklyn's oldest historically Black congregation. At the time, a nearby neighborhood known as Weeksville, now considered part of central Brooklyn, was the second-largest free Black community in the United States before the Civil War, said Amanda Henderson, collections historian at the Weeksville Heritage Center. Louise Nelson, a Brooklyn native and church historian of the Berean Baptist Church in Crown Heights, said music was the foundation of the early church, and that remains true for churches in the borough today. "The songs that uplifted us and kept us going through the midst of our misery — music is who we are,' Nelson said. 'I don't think you can have a church today without the music because it brings unity in that idea that we can all do it together.' According to Pew Research Center data, between 2019 and 2023, Black Protestant monthly church attendance fell from 61% to 46% — the largest decline among major U.S. religious groups. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend, and its impact is visible in the thinning choir stands. Glenn McMillan, Concord's director of music ministry and a musicology teacher at the City University of New York, who has worked in New York City church choirs since 1994, recalls a time when historically Black churches in Brooklyn regularly had multiple choirs at each parish. 'In the last 20 years, the members of church choirs started getting older because this generation does not see church as important as it was back in the day,' McMillan said. The choir at Concord has shrunk from about 50 voices before the pandemic to 30 today, McMillan said. Back in 2006, the choir featured 100 voices. According to research published by in June, Black Protestants attended church on Zoom more than other denominations during the pandemic, and they have been the slowest to return to in‑person worship. 'The internet has taken over and streaming has taken over,' McMillan said. ' People don't goin to the building as much as they are streaming it.' McMillan said that when in-person services first resumed, it took a long time for the choir to rebuild because many members were still staying home for health reasons. Recently, though, he's seen more people showing up. 'I'm begging people my age to come to Concord,' said Howard, the youngest member of the gospel choir, adding that only a handful of people around her age attend the church. Gwen Davis, a senior member of Berean Baptist Church and a choir soloist for more than 40 years, recalled Easter services in the mid‑1960s, when over 400 people filled the pews and four separate choirs led the congregation in song. 'It was a lot of energy,' Davis said. 'Your ear got trained really well.' Today, Davis said, a typical service attracts approximately 150 people, and roughly 100 virtually. Over time, Berean's choirs have consolidated into a single mass choir with approximately 20 singers. 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Between 2010 and 2020, Crown Heights lost nearly 19,000 Black residents while gaining about 15,000 whites, according to 2020 Census data. More than 75% of Bedford-Stuyvesant residents in 2000 were Black, while in 2020, around 41% were Black. Those demographic shifts have hit historically Black Catholic parishes hard. St. Teresa of Avilain Crown Heights, which was the first church in the nation to hold Mass in Creole, will close by the end of the year. The anticipated closure demonstrates a wider pattern of Catholic churches that serve people of color closing, often attributed to declining attendance. For Mike Delouis, 38, St. Teresa's longtime cantor and a son of Haitian immigrants who was baptized at the church, the loss is personal. 'Singing for me is not about performance but about participation,' said Delouis, who juggles three services most Sundays between St. Teresa and the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights. 'St. Augustine said singing is praying twice.' 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Over the decades, Walters has also watched the congregation itself shift demographics. "When I first went to Bedford Central, it was primarily a white church, and so we were in the minority at the time,' Walters said, referring to the early 1970s. 'In the years that would come, itwas primarily a Black church.' It later became home to a large West Indian population, and today includes many members of Guyanese heritage. 'To be honest, I couldn't break down the history of Brooklyn in a way that says who came first,' Walters said. 'At the end of the day, I believe in people coming together, if we can truly connect, feel each other's pain and celebrate each other's joys.' McMillan emphasized that choirs continue to play a central role in Black church life, even as congregations decline in membership. 'Choir singers are some of the most faithful churchgoers,' McMillan said. 'A choir is a community within the church community, and whenever you have a really consistent and strong choir, they grow with one another.' Howard said she hopes to become a choir director one day, and she credits McMillan and the gospel choir for encouraging her toward the role. 'I'd like to follow in that tradition,' she said. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Leader Live
03-08-2025
- Leader Live
Pope urges crowd of one million young Catholics to ‘spread enthusiasm and faith'
'Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are,' Leo urged them. 'Do not settle for less. You will then see the light of the Gospel growing every day, in you and around you.' The young people camped in sprawling fields south-east of Rome overnight after attending a vigil service for the Jubilee of Youth on Saturday, also presided by Leo – who has been ferried to and from Vatican City by helicopter. The Vatican said more than one million young people were present, along with 7,000 priests and 450 bishops. The special Jubilee celebration is part of the Holy Year that is expected to draw 32 million people to the Vatican for the centuries-old pilgrimage to the seat of Catholicism. The week has been a joyous gathering marked by bands of youths singing hymns as they move down cobblestoned streets, praying rosaries in piazzas and standing for hours at the Circus Maximus to confess their sins to priests offering the sacrament in a dozen languages. Leo also shared tragic news on Saturday. Two young people who had made the pilgrimage to Rome had died, one reportedly of cardiac arrest, while a third was in hospital. Rain overnight awakened the faithful but did not dampen their spirits. Soemil Rios, 20, from Puerto Rico, said: 'At least we were a little covered, but we still got a bit wet. We lost our voices a little. It was cold, but we woke up to a beautiful sun and view. 'Despite the difficulties, it was very nice and very special to have been part of this historic moment.'
Daily Record
10-06-2025
- Daily Record
New Shotts Boys' Brigade company host first annual display
Rev Phil Geary, Captain, welcomed the company members and parents to the EU Congregational Hall including guest of honour Mrs Gillian Agnew from 1st Shotts Girls Brigade, and MP Kenneth Stevenson. A new Boys Brigade Company has been established in Shotts and the members of 3rd Shotts took part in their first annual display and presentation of awards. Rev Phil Geary, Captain, welcomed the company members and parents to the EU Congregational Hall including guest of honour Mrs Gillian Agnew from 1st Shotts Girls Brigade, and MP Kenneth Stevenson. Rev Phil said: 'It's seeming a little surreal that two years ago, the idea if a BB hadn't even been dreamt up, yet here we are at the end of the first year. 'The boys have worked hard in everything we have thrown at them, not least this display which has meant al of the boys are stepping out of their comfort zone in one way, shape or form, so please encourage them along the way.' Rev Phil also thanked his officers Andy Allan, Sean Chalmers, Naomi Geary, Yvette Geary, Martin Phillips, Edith Ross, and Jim Williams, with Helpers Morag Forsyth and Janice Whitefield, for all their efforts for the company and their work with the young people, He also expressed thanks to David Sneddon who was part of team who trained the officers of the new BB Company which adopted the 3rd Shotts title, which was formerly used 30 years ago. Throughout this first year the boys took part in the annual Remembrance Service at the War Memorial and in the church; along with the Sunday School, they were involved in making shoeboxes for boys and girls in parts of the world who wouldn't have ordinarily receive a gift at Christmas. The boys also enjoyed a number of outings, including a trip to the bowling alley with members of 1st Shotts GB. A highlight of the year was a trip to Northern Ireland which was a great success. Regular meetings include scripture lesson, games, crafts and activities, all of which counts towards boys gaining their badges at the end of term. The boys have learned the discipline of arranging themselves in squads, the importance of teamwork and supporting those who need a little extra help; and being aware of their surroundings and the need to enjoy and respect the world around them. The evening also included the opening prayer by Martin Phillips, Scripture Readings by Jim Williams and Janie Whitefield, and closing prayer by Edith Ross. Everyone joined in the final hymn which is associated with Boys Brigade 'Will Your Anchor Hold'. Rev Phil completed the evening by saying: 'As you will see and hear, we are unashamedly a Christian organisation and we seek to present the Gospel to the boys each week and also to instil in them good Christian morals that will no doubt be of help as they grow into young men.'
