09/02/2025
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Derry & Raphoe news:The Rector of Castlerock and Dunboe, Rev Chris MacBruithin, will be leaving the parishes in late summer to take up a new role as Lecturer in Systematic Theology at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute (CITI) in Dublin. The news was shared with parishioners at today’s services in both churches.
Rev MacBruithin, who’s been the incumbent in the north coast group of parishes since 2019, described it as a “bittersweet” moment, but said the family would be leaving one beautiful part of the island for another. The institute’s located in the leafy Dublin 14 district where Chris spent three years studying in preparation for his ordination. He graduated in 2016 with a Master’s in Theology with Distinction.
The move south will be something of a wrench for the MacBruithin family. Chris’s wife, Sarah, says it’ll be sad to leave a parish where they have so many friends. And while the couple’s young son will be disappointed not to finish Hezlett Primary School, Chris says Noah is excited at the prospect of living closer to the Aviva Stadium.
“The plan is to move sometime in August,” the Rector said. “As a family, we feel really sad to be leaving Castlerock because, even though we know it is God’s calling, we really love this place and its people. We’d absolutely no idea that this was coming. There certainly was no desire or intention to leave the parish.”
Chris said learning that he had been appointed to the lecturer’s position at CITI came as something of a shock. “When I saw the advert, I said to Sarah, ‘It’s a pity that didn’t come up in a few years' time because I would apply,’ and I wasn’t going to apply originally, because I thought it was too soon. And then I did [apply], thinking this kind of thing doesn’t come up very often. I thought, well if people in theological circles see that I’m interested in it, maybe some other time in the future they’ll recognise the name. I was shocked and surprised to be offered the position. I feel really privileged.”
The lectureship at CITI will take Chris into a new area of ministry in which he has long been interested. “I have always felt a calling to theological education. I’m from a teaching background. I’ve always felt comfortable in the classroom. I’ve always loved teaching – not just telling people information that they need to memorise but helping people to learn and develop, and seeing them come on. So, I had a feeling I might end up doing something like this down the line, I just didn’t think it would come any time as soon as this.”
Chris’s new job description will include responsibility for training aspiring OLM ministers. “It’s really exciting because it’s an exciting time in the life of the Church of Ireland. There’s a lot of change afoot, new things like pioneer ministry and ordained local ministry, so ministry looks different and the challenges are different – the relationship between church and wider culture – it’s all very different, with more patterns of ministry.
“I think that we need more good theology because it’s not a matter just of lifting the prayer book and conducting the service, there’ll be lots of contexts where it takes a bit more innovation or creativity and so ministers [will] need to know what they’re doing. I think we need good theology to resource all the good things that are happening in the wider church. And I think it’s exciting because, in that light, theology’s not just ideas in books, it has to be connected with real life. We need to be able to talk coherently and engage with the questions people are asking. Our theology has to be more flexible and more creative, it’s not just memorising facts, it’s being able to innovate and be creative in a way that’s faithful to the unchanging truth of God.”
While news of the CITI appointment came suddenly and unexpectedly, it won’t interfere with Chris’s participation in March’s parish mission trip to east Africa, which has long been in the planning. “I’m still going to Rwanda next month,” he says. “We go out for two weeks and it’ll be a bit of a dry run because I’ll be lecturing in theology at the East African Christian College [in Kabuga], I’ll be teaching theology to ordinands, so it’ll be good practice for starting in August or September.”
The Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Rt Rev Andrew Forster, has congratulated Rev MacBruithin on his appointment, even though it comes as sad news for the Castlerock Group and for the diocese. “I congratulate Chris on his appointment to this new role at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. I am delighted that the institute is getting someone with such theological wisdom and pastoral experience. He will, I’m certain, prove a great blessing to CITI in the critical work of preparing ordinands for ministry in a changing and challenging world.
“I’m sure that Chris’s parishioners will be sad to lose him and certainly we, as a diocese, will be sorry to see him go. Our loss will be a considerable gain for God’s church on this island, though, and I take consolation from that. I pray that Chris, Sarah and Noah will settle quickly in their new surroundings, and that Chris’s ministry at CITI will prove personally fulfilling and fruitful for our church.”
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