Pastor T C McCurry, minister

of The Glasgow Evangelical Church,Cathedral Square;

born May 26, 1926, died May 25, 1998

PASTOR Thomas Caleb McCurry, who died in the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley, was minister of The Glasgow Evangelical Church, Cathedral Square, from 1989-98.

Thomas McCurry was born in Belfast. His father was a merchant naval officer, and both he and Mr McCurry's older brother lost their lives during the Second World War.

Throughout his ministry Mr McCurry maintained a keen interest in the armed services and the

Merchant Marine, and the annual Remembrance Day Service at the Glasgow Evangelical Church was always a significant event.

He was educated at the School of the Holy Trinity and at Whitla in Belfast. He became a Christian at

the age of 17, and was a member, first of Clifton Park Baptist Church, and then of the Elim Pentecostal Church, Melbourne Street.

It was there that he met his wife, Elizabeth, whom he married in 1954. During this period of his life he engaged in evangelical work in the Old Lodge and Peter's Hill areas of Belfast.

He moved to Scotland in 1960 to become Scottish manager of Northern Foods Ltd, a company for which he had already worked for several years in Northern Ireland.

Throughout his life he maintained a strong interest in Christian work, and was, for many years, a member of the Church Session of the Elim Pentecostal Church, Govanhill.

Following early retirement from business, he was invited to accept the pastorate of the Glasgow Evangelical Church, and was inducted to this position in August 1989.

The Glasgow Evangelical Church had been formed some years earlier by a group of evangelical Christians who had become dissatisfied with the ecumenical and liberal trends

in many denominations.

For some years the congregation worshipped in the East End of the city, before acquiring the former Barony North Church in Cathedral Square.

From this vantage point in the centre of Glasgow, the Church has maintained a distinct and consistent witness to the Reformed Faith,

Mr McCurry's period of ministry was characterised by his forthright preaching, his clear adherence to the principles of the Protestant Reformation, and his pastoral care for the well-being of the congregation.

His death has brought a flood of tributes from the members of the Church, and others, to his support, interest, and concern, shown especially in times of need.

Mr McCurry's interests were wide. As well as his devotion to evangelical theology, he was widely read in Church history. He had a love for literature in gen-eral, particularly poetry, and was himself a poet of no mean ability, whose verses have been published in various periodicals. He was also keenly interested in music, and was a gifted violinist.

He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and by three sons, two daughters, and four grandchildren.