Tribute to Cllr Lawrence Walker, by Brian Ashworth
Wednesday 1 December, 2010One of our highly esteemed colleagues, a trustee for the Assembly Christian Fellowship and beloved friend has found rest in the arms of Jesus this past month after a battle with illness. Lawrence Walker passed away on November 9th, 2010. He is survived by his devoted and loving family, Barbara his wife, his sons Graham and Clive and his daughter Aimee.
Lawrence was one of the founders of the Assembly Christian Fellowship. Lawrence and I, met at the 2003 National Prayer Breakfast at Westminster in London. We both attended a talk on how to start a prayer breakfast in your area. After meeting and realising God had placed upon both of our hearts to start a prayer breakfast in Northern Ireland, we met for coffee. As we prayed about our next step, both of us felt to arrange a meeting with Jeffrey Donaldson MP who had chaired the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship in London. We met with Jeffrey and the rest is history.
Lawrence was one of the most consciencious, most dedicated and most honorable men I have ever met. He will be sorely missed. My consolation is that he is that I know in whom he trusted, I know upon whom he relied, the Lord was his saviour. He didn’t just talk his christianity, he lived it. Those who worked with him knew the caliber of man he was, his integrity, his character, his devotion to his family and the uncompromising principles by which he lived. There wasn’t anything which would make him compromise those principles which had their grounding in his understanding of God’s Word.
At the Assembly he was a political adviser to the DUP, a member of the District Policing Partnership,¬†an active member of the East Belfast¬†Westminster Association and a member of Castlereagh Borough Council where he served as Lord Mayor between 2009-10. He was as solid a man as you might come by and truly served others with his gifts and talents.¬†¬†¬†As Councillor Vivienne McCoy said at a memorial service held¬†in Lawrence’s honour: ‚ÄúLawrence was a true gentleman and champion of the people and Castlereagh has lost one of its leading lights…”
Please remember Lawrence’s family in prayer… Barbara, Graham, Clive and Aimee.