St. Macartin's Cathedral
Enniskillen
The functioning of any church depends on the working together of a number of dedicated staff and voluntary helpers. Our church is no exception and although the clergy are the most prominent, there are many more people who are not so visible but whose hard work is vital in maintaining the building and organising our activities. So meet the team!
The Dean: The Very Rev. Kenneth R J Hall, M. Phil.
Kenneth has been our Rector and Dean of the Diocese of Clogher since 2010. With his excellent sense of humour, affability and sound Christian teaching, he has proved to be a most worthy pastor. When he joined us, little did he expect that before long he would play host to Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh! He has also welcomed other prominent people including HRH the Duke of Kent, former First Minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly Peter Robinson, his successor Arlene Foster, Irish President Michael D. Higgins, the Taoiseach of Dáil Éireann (the Irish Prime Minister) Enda Kenny (several times), Mr Kenny's successor Leo Varadkar and later Micheál Martin. .
The Church Secretary: Beth Rennick
Beth manages to squeeze an enormous amount of work into five morning sessions per week - her duties are something akin to keeping several balls in the air at the same time! She has been in the position since 2001 and is a friendly face of the church to all who visit the office.
The Verger: Andrew McCabe
Andy was appointed to his position from the beginning of February 2018, replacing Mr Jack Watson who had delivered faithful service since 1962. Andy also functions as hall and cathedral caretaker and occasional cameraman during live wedding webcasts. He's a really nice fellow - not at all like the Verger on "Dad's Army"! (Played by Edward Sinclair, who was only 63 when he died in 1977).
The Director of Music and Organist: Glenn Moore
Glenn was appointed in October 2012, having been the organist and choirmaster at Ardess Parish Church, his home parish, for eighteen years. He is an enormously talented musician who has given organ recitals at numerous churches throughout the Diocese of Clogher and beyond. He has been Diocesan Secretary of the Diocese of Clogher for fourteen years and is actively involved in diocesan and central church affairs.
The Glebewardens: - George Irvine (left) and Noel Johnston
The Churchwardens: Ann Little and Dwayne Nixon
The Lay Readers: (from left) Jack Watson, Karl Saunders and Adele Moore
The Honorary Secretary of the Select Vestry: Samuel Morrow
Sam has been in this position for about 35 years. Originally from Clabby, he attended Portora Royal School and graduated from Queen's University Belfast with a degree in Agriculture. He rose to become County Agricultural Executive Officer in 1977. Before retiring in 1996 he had also served as the Principal of Enniskillen College of Agriculture. A keen historian, he has written and published three books, two of which dealt with church history. He has been a member of St Macartin’s Select Vestry since 1968 and has been its Honorary Secretary since 1989. He served as Rector’s Church warden for four years, Rector’s Glebewarden for six years and was High Sheriff for County Fermanagh in 1986.
Noel was appointed to the post at the Annual General Vestry meeting in March 2018. He is husband to Jenifer, a member of Select Vestry and formerly assistant Honorary Treasurer.
George (Irvine) has been a constantly re-elected Glebewarden for many years. He is highly valued church member who works enthusiastically in service to the congregation so quietly and unobtrusively that few realise how heavily involved he is. For a long time he was a very popular scout leader.
The Honorary Treasurer: Hope Kerr
Hope Kerr is well known to St Macartin's Cathedral parishioners as a member of the Select Vestry and Honorary Treasurer of the parish as well as a member of the parish Safeguarding Trust Team. She also serves the wider Church of Ireland as a member of General Synod, Clogher Diocesan Synod, Clogher Diocesan Council and is a member of the Northern Ireland Board of Education. She is also an enthusiastic and committed member of Enniskillen Soroptimist Club and is a recent Past President of the Club. The Secretary of State appointed her as High Sheriff of County Fermanagh for the year 2015.
Jack retired as Verger at the end of January 2018. He had faithfully served in this rôle from March 1962 and had worked under five Rectors, four of whom have also been Deans of Clogher. He has been a Diocesan Lay Reader for very many years.
Karl has been a lay reader for several years. Coming originally from England, he did not really have a church background but came to faith in Christ as an adult.
The Select Vestry: For the year 2024-2025, the Select Vestry comprises David Clarke, Nathan Clyde, Richard Cochrane, Linda Corrigan, Vanessa Elliott, Arnold Graham, Ivan Kee, Karl Saunders, Audrey Williamson and Jonathan Woods. Additional ex officio members are:
Hon Secretary - Sam Morrow, Assistant Hon Secretary - Stephen Richmond
Hon Treasurer - Hope Kerr, Assistant Hon Treasurer - David Graham
Churchwardens - Dwayne Nixon and Ann Little
Glebewardens - George Irvine and Noel Johnston
Hall Caretaker and Verger - Andrew McCabe
All the people cited on this page only form part of the picture. We are grateful also to the teams of campanologists (bell -ringers!), Sunday School teachers, parish guides, youth leaders and many other people who give there time and efforts completely voluntarily.
The Webmaster and Assistant Projectionist: Dr William Holmes
Together with his wife Claire (an active church chorister), Willie has been a church member for twenty years. As well as helping maintain the website, he serves as co-projectionist and is also involved in organising webcasts of the Sunday services, weddings and funerals. Additionally he is the co-webmaster for this website, acts as an unofficial church photographer and occasional computer fixer-upper in the office! He retired three times from the post of Consultant/Specialty Anaesthetist at the Erne and South West Acute Hospitals and did so for the last time in September 2016 - or thought he had! He returned in April 2020 to help out during the Covid-19 first wave and has been well involved in the vaccination programme since Christmas 2020.
The Chief Projectionist and Assistant Webmaster: Ronnie Carson
Ronnie and his wife Anne and family have been members for a very long time. Every third Sunday he projects the words of the hymns and other material onto the screens in the church. But there is a lot more to it than that, because he has to spend a lot of time working with the computer software in advance, so that the sequence used in each service runs smoothly and correctly. He also acts as sound engineer and cameraman (within the cathedral and on-line) and co-webmaster- all told, a rather nerve-racking job!
Parish Reader: Scott Elliott
A lifelong member of St. Macartin's, he was successful in obtaining a Bachelor of Theology (BTh) degree at Queen’s University Belfast and is pursuing a call to ordination. Scott has also completed his training as a Parish Reader and was commissioned by the Bishop of Clogher on Wednesday 16th June 2021.
The Honorary Secretary of the Select Vestry: Stephen Richmond
Appointed as Sam's assistant in 2023, Stephen has served the cathedral for a long time as Scoutmaster and also as a member of our sadly diminishing faithful bellringing team.
Assistant Hon Treasurer - David Graham
David was appointed to the rôle in 2023 as the treasurer's job is particularly onerous and often thankless! He previously gave good service as one of the churchwardens. He is husband to Mandy, a faithful member of our choir.
Ann was appointed to the rôle of Rector's Churchwarden at the 2024 Easter Vestry, replacing Vanessa Elliott at the end of her tenure. She is married to Albert and
has three children, Stuart, Lisa
and Louise.
Dwayne was appointed to the rôle of People's Churchwarden at the 2024 Easter Vestry, replacing Arnold Graham at the end of his tenure. He is married to Christina and has two children, Louisa and Jack.He has been married to Christina since 2014 and has been associated with the cathedral ever since.
Occasional Rector's Assistant: Rev. Colin Brownsmith
Rev. Colin rendered valuable assistance to the Dean throughout 2023 until February 2024 when Rev Edwin Aiken as appointed Curate Assistant. He is still available to be called upon if necessary. He is the husband to Olive, who serves as a valued choir member.
Adele takes on the rôle of Diocesan Pastoral Assistant (DPA) and also as a Parish Reader from January 2024.
A DPA is a lay person trained and authorised by the Diocese to provide pastoral work in a parish to help ordained clergy.
She is the wife of Glenn, our organist and Director of Music.
Curate Assistant: Rev. Dr Edwin Aiken
Rev Edwin joined our Parish at the beginning of February 2024. He has a PhD in geography from Queen’s University, Belfast and many academic awards. He is a former leader of Boys’ Brigade and a youth club and has worked in many spheres of church life, leading various groups and initiatives. He and his wife Alex have a young son, Orion.