Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster

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This Presbyterian denomination is not related to the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland or the Free Church of Scotland

The Free Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian denomination founded and moderated by the cleric and politician, Ian Paisleyยน. Most of its membership live in Northern Ireland.

Contents

[edit] Founding

The Free Presbyterian Church began in March 17, 1951 (St Patrick's Day), as the result of a conflict between the local Lissara Presbyterian congregation in Crossgar, County Down, Northern Ireland and the Down Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

The Down Presbytery at a presbytery meeting on January 8, 1951 banned the elders of the local congregation from using the church hall for a Gospel mission but the date when the Lissara elders were informed of this is disputed. The Presbytery met with the Lissara Session ninety minutes before the mission was due to begin on February 3 with an "Opening Witness March" and when two elders refused to accept the Presbytery decision they were immediately suspended. Rather than give in to the presbytery, 5 of the 7 session members, all the Sunday School teachers and 60 members of the congregation withdrew from the Down Presbytery and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

College lecturers of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland have suggested that the above, often quoted, story is incomplete. While the Gospel Mission was a reason for the breakaway church forming, the Presbytery objection was not to the Mission or the Gospel, but to the invited preacher, Ian Paisley. The Lissara mission went ahead with a different preacher.

The elders felt the denomination was inconsistent in allowing dances and parties to be held in the church halls, while at the same time refusing a Gospel mission. The Free Presbyterian Manifesto published in the lead up to the founding of the new church also mentioned issues such as the failure of the 1927 heresy trial to unseat Professor Davey, membership of the World Council of Churches, and poll irregularities for the election of elders as reasons for the secession (Moore and Dick, 26-30). In that year, under the leadership of Paisley, four congregations went together to form the Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster.

One of the inaugural elders of the new church George Gibson was subsequently expelled for his views on the doctrines of Holiness and subsequently re-joined the Lissara Presbyterian church in 1958. He had been the first secretary of the new Church, had served as the architect for the first purpose built church building in the new denomination and his office had been used as the registered offices of the denomination (Moore and Dick, 151-152).

[edit] Doctrine

Doctrinally, the church describes itself as fundamentalist, evangelical, and separatist. Baptism and the Lord's supper are recognized as sacraments of the Free Presbyterian Church. Members are allowed to determine the proper mode (dipping, pouring, sprinkling) and subjects (adult believers) that they prefer, but the church will not sanction Baptismal Regeneration. The Lord's supper is observed monthly, unless a local congregation prefers a more frequent observance. Alongside the Free Presbyterian Articles of Faith, the Westminster Standards are considered doctrinal standards subordinate to the Bible. On account of their additional adherence to the Articles of Faith, and because of their baptismal views, some regard the church as only nominally Presbyterian, and actually nearer to the Baptist Church, and more nearly allied to modern Fundamentalist Christianity than to the Presbyterian and Reformed tradition.

For many outside the church, political and religious opposition to the Roman Catholic Church, construed by the Free Presbyterians as Protestant reformation principles, represents the single most distinctive characteristic of this denomination, not least because this is the single most distinctive characteristic of the Rev Ian Paisley's own theological outlook.

[edit] Churches worldwide

From four churches in 1951, the denomination has grown to about 60 congregations in Northern Ireland, and a total of about 100 through the world, including England, Scotland, the Republic of Ireland, Canada, and the United States. According to the 2001 Northern Ireland census, it has around 12,000 members in that country. Missionaries are currently (2004) in India, Jamaica, Kenya, the Republic of Ireland, Spain, the Philippines and Germany.

The Church currently operates the Whitefield College Of The Bible in Banbridge, County Down, and the Geneva Reformed Seminary in Greenville, South Carolina, USA.

As from 2005, the church in North America has been independent of the Ulster Presbytery, having its own Moderator. Dr. Frank McClelland was the first Moderator, and he was succeeded in 2006 by Rev. David Mook (Minister in Phoenix, Arizona). The two Presbyteries are in full communion with each other and the inaugural Free Presbyterian International Congress was held from 19-23 June 2006 in Martyrs Memorial Free Presbyterian Church in Belfast. This event saw Free Presbyterians from all over the world gather in Northern Ireland for a week of meetings. The intention is to hold the Congress biennially, alternating between Ulster and the United States. A Congress is planned for 2008 in Greenville, South Carolina.

[edit] Books

Glynn Moore and Sharon Dick The History of Crossgar Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, A New Beginning ..(Crossgar, Co. Down: Crossgar Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, 2001) ISBN 1-84030-116-3

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnote

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