Churches Worldwide
From four churches in 1951, the denomination has grown to about 60 congregations in Northern Ireland and a total of about 100 throughout the world, including England, Scotland, the Republic of Ireland (chiefly in both County Donegal and County Monaghan), Canada, the United States and Australia. According to the 2001 Northern Ireland census, the church has around 12,000 members in that region of the United Kingdom. As of 2004, Missionaries were serving 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.
The church in North America has been independent of the Ulster Presbytery since 2005, and has its own Moderator. Dr. Frank McClelland was the first Moderator, and he was succeeded in 2006 by Rev. David Mook (a minister in Phoenix, Arizona). The two Presbyteries are in full communion with each other. The inaugural Free Presbyterian International Congress was held 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.
Read more about this topic: Free Presbyterian Church Of Ulster
Famous quotes containing the word churches:
“Here, the churches seemed to shrink away into eroding corners. They seem to have ceased to be essential parts of American life. They no longer give life. It is the huge buildings of commerce and trade which now align the people to attention. These in their massive manner of steel and stone say, Come unto me all ye who labour, and we will give you work.”
—Sean O’Casey (1884–1964)