Enniskillen Methodist Church has recently appointed their first female Superintendent Minister.

In her new role, Rev. Lorna Dreaning will oversee the area circuit which, along with Enniskillen, includes the Methodist churches of Letterbreen, Florencecourt, Knockninny and Blacklion.

Rev. Dreaning said: “I am the first female minister at Enniskillen Methodist Church. There has been a long line of male ministers here so it is a big change for the church as well. I feel very accepted and welcome here already, the folk have been absolutely tremendous.”

Commenting on the increase of females being called to ministry, she said: “There are more female Methodist ministers now than there ever has been. There are two students in college training to be ministers at the moment and they are both females. The tables have turned quite a bit.”

The mother-of-five moved to Enniskillen with her husband Roy and three youngest children in July after completing a five-year ministerial term in Newry. Rev. Dreaning was appointed the ministerial position at Enniskillen Methodist Church following the departure of Rev. Samuel McGuffin.

Rev. Dreaning said: “It’s been a big move for us, a big change, but I’m not unfamiliar with the area as my mum and dad are from Fermanagh, from Brookeborough and Tempo. I am delighted to be in Enniskillen and it takes you a wee while to settle in but so far we are very happy here and we’re really looking forward to see what God’s going to do.”

Talking about her call to ministry, Rev. Dreaning said: “My husband and I, before we were married back in 1989, actually had a concrete business. The year after we were married we were called in to Faith Mission. We worked as missionaries for 15 years with Faith Mission and were trained in Edinburgh. We then spent some time in Canada and when we came back again, my husband went into Queen Street, Lurgan as the Lay Pastor and he was there for 10 years. It was during that time that I felt the call from God into ordained ministry.”

Taking a ‘hands-on approach’ with her ministry, Rev. Dreaning believes that she needs to connect with the community. She said: “I try to put into ministry what I have learned over the years and a lot of ministry involves the experience you have gone through. I think that it is important in any ministry that you are relating to the people that you are working with. That you are not just standing preaching at them but that they can see a genuineness there of what you are talking about. That’s very important to me in ministry.” Rev. Dreaning continued: “The ministry at the moment is a very interesting journey and it's not the easiest. There are a lot of issues out there you have to face on a worldwide scale but I think the message of the gospel is the most important thing that we need to get out there. There’s a lot of people searching for hope and good news and hopefully in some way we’ll be able to present that to them.”