Press Releases08 Dec 04

Bishop Mitchell memoir

BISHOP MITCHELL MEMOIR

An unpublished typescript memoir by Frederick Julian Mitchell (1901-79), Bishop of Down and Dromore, 1955-69, has been discovered and presented to the Representative Church Body Library, Dublin, by Bishop Gordon McMullan and Archdeacon Billy Macourt both of whom served under his leadership.

Bishop Mitchell, who was educated at Campbell College, Belfast, and Trinity College, Dublin, was ordained in 1924 and after curacies in St Mary?s Belfast, and St Polycarp?s, Finaghy, was appointed as Dean of Residence in Queen?s University in 1932. He became Rector of Ballymena in 1936 and in 1950 was elected Bishop of Kilmore.

In 1955 he was elected by the House of Bishops as Bishop of Down and Dromore in succession to W.S. Kerr. His years in Down and Dromore were marked by a substantial programme of church extension, the application of the principles of Christian Stewardship, and a dedication to nurturing vocations to the ordained ministry. He was also responsible for the development of the annual commemoration of St Patrick in Downpatrick which drew together people from many parts of the Church of Ireland and from across the various Christian traditions within Ireland.