Canon William Reginald (Reggie) Twaddell MBE, a former Rector of St Mark’s Portadown and Precentor of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, passed away on 3rd June 2017.
We express our sincere sympathies to his wife Eveline, sons Stephen and Mark, daughters-in-law Pauline and Jo and to his grandchildren Niall, Sarah, Helen and Teddy.
His funeral service was held in St Andrew’s Parish Church, Milltown, Portadown on 5th June and he was led to rest in the adjoining Churchyard.
The
service was led by the present Rector of Milltown, Revd Matthew Milliken who advised the large congregation of Canon Reggie’s wishes that his funeral service should not go into the biographical details of his life and indeed he had asked Matthew to speak very little about him, but instead to simply preach the gospel, the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew suggested “that this humble request tells us much about the man that Reggie Twaddell was. A man who loved Jesus first and foremost, a man who sought to faithfully follow Jesus and honour God in every part of his being.”
Canon Twaddell’s dedicated ministry and the pastoral care of his flock was emphasised as Revd Milliken went on to say “we all gather to remember Canon Reggie, we remember someone who has helped so many of us gathered here, and countless many more over the years, to draw closer to God. For Canon Reggie was a wonderful servant of God, a faithful Bible teacher and preacher, a sincere Pastor, a faithful friend in the Lord to so many and for many of us, is the reason we can even say we believe in Jesus Christ, and are seeking to follow him in our lives today.”
It was fitting that the hymn ‘To God be the glory, great things He has done’ was sung at the funeral service, as this hymn in so many ways sums up what Canon Reggie Twaddell’s ministry was all about.