A new minister has been appointed to serve at Dunfanaghy and Carrigart Presbyterian Churches. He is the Rev Dario Leal and a service of installation will take place at Carrigart Church on Sunday May 25.
Mr Leal, who is originally from Chile, said he was looking forward to taking up the new post because he had always believed he would be called to minister somewhere in the Republic of Ireland.
Currently the minister of First Ballynahinch in Co Down, Mr Leal was the unanimous choice of the Donegal congregations, which have been vacant since 2021.
Mr Leal (55) and his wife Denise, who is English, have four grown-up children, two boys and two girls, all of whom were born in Northern Ireland.
A one-time tennis coach, Mr Leal enjoys sport and has served as chaplain to Cliftonville Football Club in Belfast. He also has a keen interest in music.
Mr Leal and his wife first came to Ireland in 1994-95 when they were working with the Ship Ministry Logos 2 and helped organise the visit of the ship to Dublin.
The Leals, who had got engaged in Gibraltar, were married in England in 1995 and immediately flew to Chile for a traditional wedding blessing celebration with friends and family.
In August 1995 they moved to Northern Ireland where Mr Leal undertook a theology course at Belfast Bible College, now called Belfast School of Theology. He went on to study theology at Queen’s University, where he obtained a Master’s degree in 2005.
“After spending almost three years working as a Youth Pastor in Madrid, I was appointed as an assistant minister at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in the Rosetta area of Belfast,” he said.
“I then moved to north Belfast to lead the church-planting work of the Living Room Church at Carlisle Circus in 2009, where I was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church.
“We spent almost eight years working in and around Cliftonville Road, and this was when I became a Chaplain for Cliftonville Football Club. Then, in 2018, came the call to First Ballynahinch.”
Mr Leal said he and his wife did not know Donegal particularly well, but had once managed to get lost in Carrigart, having brought the family there for a break in a remote caravan site.
“This means we are aware of how beautiful the area is, and that’s why it is so exciting that we are coming to explore, discover, and live in Donegal,” he said.
“I’m really looking forward to meeting people, exploring the region and praying for the land. I want to know its history and to dream about a move by God.
“Since leaving Dublin in 1995, I have always believed that we will be back to serve in the Republic of Ireland one day. Through much prayer, God has opened the door for us to start this new adventure in Dunfanaghy and Carrigart.”
Fifty per cent of Mr Leal’s working week will be spent on mission and outreach work. He said he believed God was already working in Donegal and he wanted to join him in doing what he was already doing.
“In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us that he only does what he sees and what his father is doing, and I believe that if we start outreach and mission based on this principle of being sensitive to the voice of God, then outreach and mission will be sustainable,” he said.
“How will this pan out? This is something that I want to invite both congregations to pray for.”
Mr Leal said that when he first came to preach in Dunfanaghy and Carrigart one Sunday in February, he and his wife were delighted by the warm welcome they received. He said: “It was actually very moving, Denise and I felt so welcomed by both congregations.”
The Rev Tommy Bruce, minister of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Letterkenny, and convenor of the vacancy, said they were looking forward to the installation service, which takes place in Carrigart at 5pm on May 25.
He said: “We look forward to formally welcoming Mr Leal into his new post as minister of Dunfanaghy and Carrigart and to working with him. This is an exciting time of opportunity for both congregations and the wider community.”
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