Welcome home Stephen!
Congratulations and welcome home to Revd Stephen Doherty who has been introduced as Community Pastor for his childhood church of St Andrew’s Ballyhalbert. Stephen was raised in Portavogie on the Ards Peninsula and grew up in the close-knit congregation known locally as Ballyeasborough.
Stephen’s introduction follows 12 years of church planting in Newtownards, initially in The Glen (2014) and then West Winds (2022). These new church communities were planted by St Mark’s Newtownards and the Diocese of Down and Dromore.
A former curate of St Mark’s, Revd Adrian Dorrian, gave the address at the service on Tuesday 24 February 2026. Adrian is rector of Conwal with Gartan in the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe and has known Stephen for over 20 years.
Adrian told the congregation that in Stephen they had a new leader of good humour who leads from within.
He continued: “Stephen’s ministry has been marked by innovation, energy and vision to go to those places others might not. But it’s never about him. His ministry is humble and authentic, it’s grounded in the written word of God and rooted in a real, deep relationship with the Living Word who is Jesus Christ.”
Preaching from Isaiah 55 and Matthew 6, Adrian expanded these themes, challenging all of us to “be diligent in seeking out and living out the written word of God, and faithful in seeking to encounter him through prayer and worship.”
Meet Stephen
"I came to faith in my early teens and it was when I turned 18, that my Rector, Canon Frank Bell, spoke to me about joining the Fellowship of Vocation and journeying towards ordination. However, even with attending two of the classes, I wasn’t feeling it one bit.
"Not only did I turn away from the church, I had my personal “Jonah” moment, when obviously God was calling in the direction of ordination, but I wanted to go my own direction in life.
"During this time, I met and married my wife, Gemma, who already had a faithful relationship with God. We joined St Mark’s Newtownards where I was eventually to be employed as the Youth Worker. We’ve been married for 33 years and have three sons.
"I was ordained presbyter in 2020 for local ministry in Glen Community Church. Looking back, I see God’s timing and planning as my experience of working with socially excluded young people in various settings was such a good grounding for my ministry in the Newtownards area."
Speaking of this next chapter Stephen said: “It is with great excitement and expectancy I look forward to fulfilling my calling back to the Ards Peninsula. It is, however, tinged with sadness as I say goodbye to the church communities of West Winds, the Glen and St Marks where I have had the privilege of serving over many years."
