by Alan Lorrimer-Riley
Alan is pastor of the Snowdonia Christian Fellowship (website here). In this personal testimony he looks back at his journey from a Catholic upbringing to his vocation as Evangelical preacher and pastoral leader.
Miners in County Durham in the 19th Century (photo: The Northern Echo)
I was born and brought up on Tyneside – a part of the post-war ‘baby boomer’ generation.
My dad was part of a family who had immigrated to the area from Ireland in the 1840s. They lived in an Irish enclave in one of the mining communities in County Durham. The Catholic Church was a central part of their community life. My dad, and his brother and sister, recalled getting abuse from other local children while they walked the 2 miles to the nearby Catholic school.
