Obituary of Alexander Holmes REV. DR

WESTFIELD - Alexander Holmes was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on November 10, 1917. He was the eldest son of James B. and Mary Elizabeth Penney Holmes. Upon completing of his early education, Alex entered a managerial apprenticeship program with Richardson, Sons, and Owden, one of the foremost linen firms in Great Britain. During this time, he attended a church conference with Eric Liddell, the famous Olympic athlete of the 1924 Paris Games. They met and spoke of Alex's growing inner spiritual calling, and Alex responded by entering Lancashire Theological College of Manchester University in England. Upon graduation and ordination in the Congregational Church, he accepted a position in Coventry, in the south of England. He served congregations in Coventry and Surrey before becoming the senior minister of historical Cavendish Chapel Congregational Church in 1954. This position bestowed upon him the honorary title of Chaplain to the Queen. While in Manchester, his ministry of healing which he was introduced to by the famous spiritual healer, Harry Edwards, grow tremendously. This put him at the forefront of the Church's Healing Ministry which would later bring him to Canada in 1957. The United Church of Canada asked him to lead its newly formed Commission on the Church's Ministry of Healing. He was also appointed senior minister of All Peoples United Church in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. While in Canada, he lectured at theological schools and leading universities throughout North America. He joined Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, in a lecture series honoring Princeton Theological Seminary's sesquicentennial. Dr. Henry Smith Leiper, Director of Chautauqua Institution's Department of Religion, attended a service Alex conducted at Rutgers Presbyterian Church, New York City in 1959. Leiper, who was suffering from what doctor's called "an incurable eye condition," received the laying-on-of-hands and was healed. He immediately invited Alex to lecture at Chautauqua in Western New York State the next season. This began a life-long relationship and love affair with Chautauqua. Dr. Holmes lectured and preached at Chautauqua for 17 consecutive years, making his tenure the longest in the Institution's history. In 1966 Alex moved to The Presbyterian Church of Caro, Michigan. After being there for 18 years, he was asked to bring his ministry of healing to churches as an interim. He did this for the next 16 years in the United States and in his family church in Carrickfergus. The last church he served was in Westfield, New York at the Presbyterian Church. He was very proud to have become a United States citizen in 2002 at the age of 85. He is preceded in death by Dorothy Cowan Holmes (his wife of 49 years) and two siblings, Susan (Northern Ireland), and James (Australia). Sisters Molly Hart and Elizabeth Moore of Northern Ireland) survive him along with many family members throughout the British Isles, Europe and Australia. Their sons live in New York and Minnesota. Gavin in New York City with his son, Gavin Jr. and James, who is serving in the U.S. Air Force in Kuwait. Ewen and Holly live in Corcoran, MN with their children Oliver and Emma Riley. Their eldest, Colin, is serving in the U.S. Marine Corp. Friends are invited to attend the Memorial Services to be held on Saturday Dec. 5, 2009 at 11:00 AM in the Sanctuary of the First Presbyterian Church and Society of Westfield, So. Portage St., Westfield, NY, with the Rev. Stephen Morse, Pastor there, and the Rev. Dr. T. Ewen Holmes, son of Rev. Dr. Alexander Holmes , and Sr. Minister of the Plymouth Presbyterian Church of Plymouth, Minn. officiating. Private burial will be in Chautauqua Cemetery. In place of flowers the family has requested memorials be sent to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis TN 38105 or online at donors@stjude.org Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the MASON Funeral Home, 37 Clinton St., Westfield, NY. Log on to www.masonfuneral.com to send a message of sympathy to the family of Rev. Dr. Holmes.