Who are we?
We are a Church.
We are part of the visible church, the Body of Christ in the world.
We are a presbyterian church. We believe that the Bible gives the pattern for the local church to be overseen by a body of presbyters, or elders. Currently there are eight ruling elders who oversee the congregation. They, together with the minister, make up our Kirk Session.
We are part of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, associated to the Presbytery of Iveagh.
We are broadly reformed and evangelical. What that means is this:
- we are reformed because we hold to the five “solas” of the sixteenth century reformation: we believe a human being can stand before God by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone; that the Scriptures alone are the rule God has given; and, that all is for the glory of God alone.
- we are evangelical because we hold to the need for personal faith and repentance unto life, and because we believe it is the duty of the church to declare the Gospel that “Jesus Christ is Lord” and to call men and women to repent from sin and believe the good news.
- we are broadly reformed and evangelical because we exercise charity in views on secondary matters. There are many points on which members of the church differ, but the love of God binds us together and holds us as one.
We are made up of families and individuals. Some of our families have been connected to the church here for generations; others have joined us in the last few years. Roughly speaking, we live within the diamond of Moira, Dromore, Banbridge and Lurgan. There are over 200 households connected to us. That translates into about 600 individuals of all ages. On average, about 165 will be found here on a typical Sunday morning, and 40 or so on a Sunday evening. We are a collection of different people - different faces, different accents and different backgrounds, brought together by the grace of God through the power of His Word.
