Church Planting
Establishing new centres of Reformed Presbyterian
Witness...
...in Counties Tyrone & Fermanagh
Most of the congregations of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland
are located in Counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Donegal, Monaghan and
Londonderry. There is only one congregation in Tyrone and none in
Fermanagh.
This means there are large areas of Northern Ireland
and the Border Counties without any Reformed Presbyterian witness.
Synod has agreed that there is a need for new centres of Reformed
Presbyterian Witness to be established in these areas.
While recognising that God is Sovereign in the building
of His Church and that `Unless the LORD builds the house, they labour
in vain who build it', the Home Section believes that there is a need
for us to be active in the matter of establishing new centres of witness.
With this in mind four key locations where our denomination should
be actively seeking to establish a Reformed Presbyterian witness have
been identified. These are:-
-
Cookstown
-
Dungannon
-
Enniskillen
-
Omagh
LOCATION OF PROPOSED NEW WORKS
These are the major centres in the area, each having a population
in the town and surrounding area of 12,000 plus.
WHAT'S NEEDED
Synod has already agreed that to begin a new work
a minimum of three families will be required. (A family consists of
one or more persons.) These families, some of whom should have children/young
people, must demonstrate:
• A Christ-Centred Life They should show a
dear commitment to Christ and Christian growth. The Word of God should
have a central place in their lives and they should be conscientious
with regard to the observance of family worship.
• A Denomination-Rooted Life They must show a teachable and
submissive spirit to the teaching of Holy Scripture as set forth in
the Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland.
• A Community-Based Life
These core families should be settled in the area or be prepared to
move to the area in which they desire to see the new works begin.
• An Evangelistic-Oriented Life The families should be committed
to evangelism and have a vision for the growth of the work in the
area.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
At this stage we are making every member of our denomination
aware that we are actively seeking to establish new centres of Reformed
Presbyterian witness, with Cookstown, Dungannon, Enniskillen and Omagh
particularly in mind. We want you to
Pray
-
that God will open up the way for a new work
to be established in each of these towns.
-
that God will lay it on the hearts of people
to be involved as core families.
-
that ministers and elders will be amongst those
who offer to be involved in these new works.
-
speak to your minister if you are interested
in being associated in any way with the work in any of these places.
-
pass a copy of this leaflet to Christians you
know who may be interested in helping to establish a Reformed Presbyterian
witness in any of our target towns.
for further information contact
Rev.T H Coulter (on the directory)
NEXT STEPS
• Those who express an interest in a new work
will be invited to meet with the Home Section to ascertain more clearly
the extent of their interest and to consider the way forward.
• When sufficient suitable core families have expressed their
interest approval will be sought from the Mission Committee and then
the Synod for the commencement of a work at one or more of these places.
• When approval has been granted, the Home Section will discuss
the proposed new work with the Presbytery in whose jurisdiction it
may be considered to lie.
|
