Former Church of Ireland Primate's 50 years of service are honoured at St Columb's Cathedral
They were joined by a number of bishops from the three dioceses where Lord Eames served, namely Derry and Raphoe, Down and Dromore and Armagh where he was archbishop and primate from 1986 to 2006.
Parishioners from the Derry and Raphoe Diocese also attended yesterday, the Feast Day of St Columba, which is celebrated by both main religious traditions. In Ireland, Columba is also remembered as a patron saint of poets, and is associated with the Book of Kells.
The sermon was preached by the current Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, the Rt Reverend Andrew Foster, who earlier paid tribute to Lord Eames.
He said: 'Lord Eames has been a blessing to our diocese, to the Church of Ireland as a whole, and to the wider society on this island during his decades in ministry. He has been a distinguished and courageous church leader who has made an immense contribution to peace-building and reconciliation.
'We in Derry and Raphoe give thanks for Lord Eames' stewardship of our diocese in a troubled period of its history in the late Seventies.
'We are thankful for his leadership of the Church of Ireland over two decades during which our society went from the darkness of the Troubles into the light of a new, admittedly fragile peace. Even in the darkest days, Lord Eames preached a message of hope, born out of his faith in God. He is someone who can always see the good in humanity.'
During his five years as Bishop of Derry before he moved to Belfast, Lord Eames worked closely with the Catholic Bishop of Derry, Edward Daly, and the late SDLP leader John Hume. He also made a special point of visiting homes in the Bogside area. He said: 'I wanted to hold out the hand of friendship to the whole Catholic community in Derry.'
During his long career, Lord Eames, who is now 88, travelled widely to help solve problems in the worldwide Anglican communion.
News Catch Up - Tuesday 10th June
'It was my experience in Derry which taught me much about bridge-building and reconciliation and this benefitted me greatly in subsequent stages of my ministry, including my time as Bishop of Down and Dromore and also in Armagh,' he said.
When he retired as primate, he became a cross-bencher peer in the House of Lords and continued to foster the interests of Northern Ireland, and to continue his widespread ministry through preaching.
With Sir John Major, he paid tribute at a thanksgiving service in Westminster Abbey for Peter Brooke, a former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Last year, Lord Eames was injured in a fall, but is making a steady recovery.
He said prior to the Derry service yesterday that 'it was one of the most touching invitations of my career which brought back memories of the vast changes in church life and politics in the last half century'.
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