ALF MCCREARY
In conversation with REVDR LESLIE HOLMES
Rev Dr Leslie Holmes is a distinguished Ulster-born preacher and academic in the USA, who once played with Van Morrison. He has been married to Barbara for 56 years and they have two children, Gary and Erin, and two grandchildren, Hannah and Cameron.
Q Can you tell us about your background?
A I was born in Belfast in 1945. My parents were Robbie and Isobel. My sister, Pauline Hanna, is married to Walter and lives in Lisburn. My other sister, Sandra Potter, is married to Billy and lives in Moira. I attended Queen Victoria Primary and Suffolk Primary and, later, Larkfield Secondary School and Belfast Tech. My wife, Barbara, and I were in the same class at the old Queen Victoria Primary. We connected later when we both worked at the Belfast Co-op in York Street. In 1965, we were married at the College Square Presbyterian Church in Belfast, where we both had been baptised. We have two children — Gary is a commander with the US Navy at the Walter Reed Hospital and Erin is a purser with Delta Airlines. Our grandchildren are Hannah and Cameron.
Q What about your clerical career?
A Prior to becoming Moderator of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in America, I was Provost and Professor of Preaching and Pastoral Theology at Erskine Theological Seminary in South Carolina. For over 40 years, I was pastor to congregations from 30 to 4,300 members in Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, California, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. I also offered the opening prayer to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC. This is the 50th year of my ministry.
Q How and when did you come to faith?
A My parents sowed gospel seeds early in my life, but many times I allowed weeds to supplant them. When I was about eight, I had a real sense that God had His hand on me, but spent much of my early adult life running away from that. I was brought to a keen understanding of the Christian gospel soon after Barbara and I emigrated to the United States in 1967 with our then-infant son, Gary. Until then, I had a working understanding of religion to which I knew that I could never measure up. My uncle, Sam Heslip, a Belfast man, who was the pastor of a Presbyterian congregation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, brought me to a new understanding of salvation. Not long after that, Barbara also came to faith.
Q Have you ever been angry with God?
A No. However, many times I tried to understand why certain things happen.
When, for example, a couple who have lost a child call on me for pastoral care, I find myself asking God why children, even little babies, sometimes die. In early ministry, my first two funerals were for people younger than me. I was 26. A young mother, just 25, died of cancer. A young man, just 17 and full of life, who seemed to be on the verge of getting saved, was run over and killed by one of his friends. They were just horsing around.
There are many things that I do not understand, but not to the point of being angry with God. Still, I become frustrated and I realise that God knows the answers and that one day I will know them, too.
Q are you afraid of hell?
A No, but I deserve it. However, Christ Jesus, through His death on the cross and resurrection, has saved me from it. I believe in the resurrection of God’s son, Jesus, and His words: “Because I live, you also will live.”
Q Would you be comfortable in trying to learn from other people?
A I have met many people whose understanding of God is different from mine. None of us has a monopoly of truth. More than once, these meetings provided an opportunity to learn. Often, they also opened an opportunity to share my belief that Christ Jesus alone is all truth.
Q Do you think that the Churches here are fulfilling their mission?
A Before the pandemic travel restrictions, it was my privilege both to worship with and to preach to northern and southern Irish Christians each year. What I witnessed there greatly encourages my heart about Irish Churches being faithful in fulfilling their mission.
Q Why are so many people turning their backs on organised religion?
A We live in an age of searching. We think we are better educated than any prior generation, yet we are also greatly unsettled. On both sides of the Atlantic, our rates of chemical and alcohol abuse are stunning. Sexual immorality is rampant. Sometimes, people turn from the Church because they have judged it by the imperfections of its people, rather than the perfection of its saviour, Jesus.
Q Has religion helped, or hindered, in Northern Ireland?
A Christianity has helped in Northern Ireland and, indeed, the world for centuries. The Christian Church has given birth not just to churches, but schools, hospitals and agencies that benefit the whole of humanity. However, religion improperly presented, or not fully understood, has many times been a hindrance and Northern Ireland has seen its share of that. Let’s be fair, however, and recognise that, in Northern Ireland alone, more institutions to help people have been established by followers of Jesus Christ than by all other forces combined.
Q What is your favourite film, book and music?
A The film is Chariots of Fire. The book? Still the Bible. Music? Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. I’m a fan of almost all kinds of music. I learned to play the cornet in the First Old Boys’ Band. Later, I played trumpet with The Monarchs, including Van Morrison. I still love a rousing march from a good brass band, or the skirl of the pipes.
Q Where do you feel closest to God?
A In the mountains, whether it is Divis, the Mournes, or the Great Smoky Mountains not far from where we live. In any of these places, my heart echoes Psalm 121.
Q What inscription would you like on your gravestone, if any?
A I plan to give my body to medical science. I do not expect a gravestone, but I am hoping that people might say, “He was not much, but he had a wonderful saviour.”
Q have you any major regrets?
A Frank Sinatra sang, “Regrets, I’ve had a few.” I can neither say nor sing that, for I’ve had more than a few. However, by His grace, none were so major that Christ’s grace on Calvary’s cross did not cover them.