I face bigotry for links to Catholics, says evangelist

A HIGH-profile Christian has told how he faces opposition for working with the Catholic Church.

Peter Lynas, the director of the Evangelical Alliance, said that he gets criticised for how his faith impacts on what he says and does.

In an interview, he added: “There is also some residual big- otry directed at me for working with the Catholic Church on areas of shared interest.

“Very few actually want to engage — there is a lot of virtue signalling, which is a shame.

“I am a fan of a plural public square, where we put our case and seek to persuade others of our view of what a flourishing and thriving life could look like.”

Mr Lynas (right) also revealed that one of his greatest regrets is not meeting his grandfather, Bobby Lynas, who died before he was born.

“He was an alcoholic and also a member of the Brethren, which was a strange mixture,” he said.

“He would stay sober for weeks and then go on a bender.

“Ultimately he was a good man and he did so much to shape the lives of my father Norman and the wider family.

“I would love to talk to him now, if I could.”

Bobby Lynas owned fishing boats which operated from the north coast at Portstewart and Norman owned a successful fish business before establishing the well-known Lynas Distribution Food Service, which is now run by his son Andrew.

Peter did not join the family business but became a barrister in Belfast. His aim was to be a minister of religion but his friends advised him first to gain experience of the “real world”.

At one point he was executive pastor of the Causeway Coast Vineyard Church, where he is still a trustee.

He said: “Some 400,000 people go to church each week in Northern Ireland, but only around 250,000 go to Danske Bank Premership football games in the whole season.

“You can see the large scale of the Church, but there are still 1.4 million people here to be reached.”