Christianity: Details about 'Free Presbyterian Church Of Ulster'
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The Free Presbyterian Church is a nominally Presbyterian denomination founded and moderated by the cleric and politician, Ian Paisley¹. Most of its membership live in Ulster.
FoundingThe 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. 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). In recent times, the Free Presbyterian Church has been further rocked by its own internal scandals, the most significant of which being the cover-up of a number of acts of child molestation in its Toronto Assembly by close relatives of the leadership. DoctrineDoctrinally, 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 (infants, 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. 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. Churches worldwideFrom 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, 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, Republic of Ireland, Spain, 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. It organises protests against Belfast's annual gay pride parade. BooksGlynn 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 1840301163 See also
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