William Hayes is a minister of a Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
When did you trust Christ?
I was approached by a group of teen missionaries one evening when I was 14. I did not believe in God then, and after a lot of back-and-forth discussion, I felt a sudden conviction that I should follow Jesus.
What have been the defining moments of your Christian walk?
My defining moments have been a series of calls: 1) the initial call to follow Jesus I spoke about above, 2) the call to serve in my local church and community, 3) the call to preach, and 4) the call to leave home and study in Scotland. Through a series of failures in my life, God brought me away from Ireland and allowed me to start again in Scotland, where I rediscovered my faith more maturely and met my wife. 5) The call to ministry. That initial call to preach developed into a call to the Presbyterian ministry. This was affirmed by my home church and tested by the Presbytery and the Presbyterian College. This has brought me to where I am now in full-time ministry in a small Irish Presbyterian Church.
What do you hope to gain from participating?
I hope to learn from the experiences of others in ministry. I especially want to hear from other churches involved in migrant ministry and whether other ministers are speaking into the public sphere in other post-Catholic countries.
What is your ministry?
I serve as a parish minister in a small-town Irish church, providing preaching ministry and pastoral care. I work as a missionary to the local Muslim population and provide care and support to refugees and immigrants. I chair a committee of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, which makes statements and shares contributions into the public sphere in the Irish Republic, seeking to proclaim Christ and present biblical views on a wide range of political issues. I speak for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland occasionally on local and national broadcasters as issues and needs arise.
What is your leadership role or what were your past leadership roles?
From 1992-1993, I led and organised a travelling teen music ministry for Youth For Christ Northern Ireland. From 1994-1997, I was a Christian Union executive and was in a music ministry at Glasgow University Christian Union. From 1995-1998, I was a Youth Work volunteer and organiser at Ruchill Parish Church. From 1998-2000, I was one of four cell church leaders in Leslie Baptist Church. From 2000-2003, I trained in Presbyterian Ministry at Union Theological College in Belfast. From 2003-2005, I was the assistant minister at Gardenmore Presbyterian Church in Larne and Ballyclare Presbyterian Church. From 2005 to the present, I am the minister of Tullamore Presbyterian Church. Since 2006, I have been the Presbyterian Chaplain to RTÉ Ireland's National Broadcaster. Since 2022, I have been the Convener of the Republic of Ireland Panel of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland's Council for Public Affairs.
Why should someone invest in your ministry?
The work here in Tullamore is a beautiful example of God opening doors that only God could open. From Bible studies in secular schools to the leaders of the local mosque describing us as ‘a church that loves Muslims’ through to the ease and openness with which national and local broadcasters give us the time to share the Good News of Jesus. Tullamore is a powerful example of how the fields are ripe unto harvest in Europe, but the workers are very few.
