‘Christianity is not a jacket to wear for special occasions’: What I Believe with Reverend Derek Johnston

Tell me about your background I was born in 1965, the youngest son of Errol and Elsie, from Portadown (and still supporting Portadown football club, and Leeds Utd). I have a brother, Malcolm. Dad was an administrator and accountant. For three years we lived in Papua New Guinea, as he worked with the Methodist Missionary Society for the Uniting Church on Bougainville. Both parents served God in numerous ways throughout their lives. We moved to Warrenpoint when I was nine, and I was educated at Newry High School. I felt a call to ministry at the age of 18. I have been married for over 35 years, with three grown-up children, and I have been a Methodist minister from 1989. I have been a full-time chaplain at the RVH Belfast, from 2004, and lead Chaplain Belfast HSC Trust since 2008.