Railway Street, Sloan Street,

Lisburn - First Lisburn Presbyterian Church
 

Rev. John Brackenridge Minister	Rev. Dr. Gordon Gray Minister Emeritus	Evelyn Whyte Deaconess

Lisburn City Centre.

Minister: Rev. John Brackenridge
Telephone: 9267 4871

Minister Emeritus: Rev. Dr. Gordon Gray
Deaconess: Evelyn Whyte

Sunday services:
Church on Sunday: Congregation meets for worship at 11.00am
All age worship: Last Sunday in the month
Worship first: First Sunday in the month at 6.30pm
During July and August we join with some neighbouring churches for Epilogue Services at 8.00pm.

Church Website: www.firstlisburn.org
 

The Rev. John Brackenridge - Minister of First Lisburn, Tom Whyte - Organist, Church Choir and a group of musicians (including three of the minister’s family) pictured during morning service at this beautiful Lisburn City Centre Presbyterian Church.

First Lisburn Presbyterian Church Noticeboard.	The stone tablet erected in the porch of First Lisburn Presbyterian Church.

Tom Whyte (Director of Music) and members of First Lisburn Church Choir pictured at the service of Nine Lessons and Carols by Candlelight at First Lisburn Presbyterian Church on Christmas Eve - 2006.

HISTORY

The first minister of this congregation cannot be ascertained. At a meeting of Presbytery held at Ballyclare on 5^th Apr. 1687, Messrs. William Livingston and John McKneight appeared as commissioners from Lisburn, and sought supply of ordained ministers “in order to their being planted with a Gospel minister”.  In the November following the people presented a call to Mr. Alexander McCracken who had been licensed by the Presbytery in 1684, and who was ordained to the pastoral charge of the congregation on 3^rd July 1688.  Rev. Patrick Adair of Belfast presided on the occasion and preached from 1 Cor. iv. 1,2.  Mr. McCracken had the promise of £40 yearly of stipend.  In 1707 the town of Lisburn was destroyed by a great fire, which consumed both the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Meeting-house, then located at the south end of Bow Street. The fire broke out on Sunday, 20^th April, a little before twelve o'clock.  The Meeting-house was rebuilt on the present site at Market Square at an expense of about £400.  The edifice destroyed was valued at £500.

Mr. McCracken had scruples about the oath of abjuration, which was understood to imply that the Pretender was not the son of James II, and was, in consequence of his refusal to take it, more than once brought into trouble.  He was a loyal subject and a staunch supporter of the House of Hanover, but he objected to some parts of the phraseology of the oath, and the High Church party most ungenerously took advantage of his scrupulosity to give him annoyance.  He died in Nov. 1730 and was succeeded by Mr. Gilbert Kennedy (lic. Armagh) who was ordained to the pastoral charge on 7^th June 1732.  Harmony did not prevail in the congregation and in 1733 Mr. Kennedy removed to Killyleagh.  The contention continued and involved the General Synod on numerous occasions before Mr. Kennedy was succeeded as minister of Lisburn by Mr. William Patton of Ervey and Carrickmaclin who was installed here on 7^th July 1736.

It was during the ministry of the Rev. William Patton that the Seceders made their appearance in the North of Ireland, and some of their earliest adherants had at one time belonged to the congregation over which he presided.  Those who joined the new-corners eventually established the congregation of Hillhall.  Mr. Patton removed to Plunket Street congregation, Dublin, in August 1745, and was followed in Lisburn by Mr. Patrick Buchanan (lic. Strabane) who was ordained to the pastoral charge on 29^th July 1747.  Mr. Buchanan was a Non-subscriber, died on 1^st November 1763, and was followed by Mr. James Bryson (lic. Armagh) ordained on 6^th June 1764.  During Mr. Bryson’s ministry the present meeting-house was built and opened for worship in 1768.  A call to Mr. Bryson from 2^nd Belfast was accepted by him on 28^th July 1774, and he became Moderator of the General Synod in 1778.  He was followed by Mr. George Kennedy (lic. Armagh) who had a short reign.  He was ordained on 15^th February 1775 but died on 5^th April 1779.

A distinguished career began when Mr. William Bruce, son of Rev. Samuel Bruce of Wood Street., Dublin, was ordained on 3^rd November 1779.  First Lisburn had him for three years till he removed to Strand Street, Dublin, in 1782.  He later still became minister of 1^st Belfast (N.S.), Principal of Royal Academy and a member of the Presbytery of Antrim.  He was followed in Lisburn by Rev. Andrew Craig of Moira who was installed here in June 1782.  Another Non-subscriber, he supported the Remonstrance presented to the Synod in 1829.  He died at Strawberry Hill on 9^th June 1833, but had been given an assistant in the person of Rev. James Morgan of Carlow who had been installed on 23^rd June 1824.  Destined to become one of the leading evangelical figures in the Church, Moderator of General Synod (1831) and of the General Assembly (1846), and Convener of the Foreign Mission 1840-73, Mr. Morgan was called to Fisherwick where he was installed on 4^th November 1828.

Mr. Alexander Henderson (lic. Belfast) was the next minister, ordained on 29^th June 1829.  He resigned on 4^th December 1855 when appointed Military Chaplain (1855-68).  He died at Warley, Essex, on 23^rd July 1868 and was succeeded by Rev. William Edmund Breakey of Loughbrickland, installed on 3^rd September 1856.  Mr. Breakey died on 6^th April 1872 and his successor was Mr. John Lawrence Rentoul (lic. Route), ordained on 17^th October 1872.  He resigned on 2^nd June 1876 when called to Perth, but in the end he declined the call and was installed again in 1^st Lisburn on 20^th December 1876.  The present manse was built during his ministry.

After another ten years Mr. Rentoul was called to St. George^'s congregation, Sunderland, on 22^nd June, and was followed here by Mr. John James Carlyle Breakey who was ordained on 11^th November 1886.  It was during his ministry that many of the stained glass windows were donated.  He retired in May 1927 and died on 17^th February 1938.

The congregation then called Rev. David Hay of Carlisle Road, Londonderry, who was installed on 16^th December 1927.  He was awarded a D.D. by the Presbyterian Theological Faculty, Ireland, in 1949, and in 1949 was nominated Moderator Designate of the General Assembly, but owing to ill-health he had to decline the honour.  He retired from this charge on 31^st August 1949 and died on 17^th March 1953.  He was followed by Rev. William Boyd, minister of Third Armagh congregation.  He had also served as Chaplain to the Forces during the 1939/45 War.  He was installed here on 27^th April 1950.  It was during his ministry that the buildings obscuring the Church were demolished and a new Church front added in 1970.  Awarded a Doctorate of Divinity by the Presbyterian Theological Faculty, Ireland, in 1967 Dr. Boyd became the first Moderator of the General Assembly to be supplied by the congregation.  He retired on 31^st December 1972 and was succeeded by the Rev. Robert John Gordon Gray who was installed here on 27^th June 1974, after serving as the General Assembly's Youth Secretary and previously as minister of Belvoir Park Church Extension Charge.

On Wednesday 5^th August 1981 a car bomb exploded in Market Street, just round the corner from the church, devastating the church and the entire town centre. The total cost of the restoration of church and windows was almost £100,000. The church required further restoration after a bomb in 1989.

The Resurrection Window

On Sunday 3rd May 1987 the new window was dedicated by the moderator of the General Assembly, The Right Rev. Professor John Thompson. It has been designated “The Resurrection Window” and was commissioned by the Congregational committee. It bears the following inscription:

This window is a memorial of the bomb-blast of 5th August 1981 and the subsequent restoration of our church and halls. It is a tribute to our neighbours in shops and offices and their will to overcome disaster. It is an echo of the motto of this town: "EX IGNE RESURGAM" (I will arise from the fire). It is a witness to our faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.

In the centre is the orb of the earth, surrounded by the red of human suffering, injury, sin and sorrow. But overcoming this are startling shafts of light radiating outwards like a great cosmic explosion. This symbolises the Resurrection of our Lord recapitulated in the spirit of the congregation, town and province rising from the ashes of destruction. Around it all are woven palm branches of victory and of peace. Here and there small triangles of light may be seen as splinters of flying glass or the tongues of fire of the Holy Spirit.

Almost all of this new window is constructed from fragments of the old windows which could not otherwise be re-used. It is the congregation’s memorial of a past event and a proclamation of their faith in the victory of righteousness, love and life itself over the powers of darkness and of death.

Dr. Gray retired in March 2001 and is now the Minister Emeritus in First Lisburn.  His successor, the Rev. John Brackenridge, previously in Dundrod, was installed in First Lisburn on 28^th November 2002.

A full history of the church by W. I. Craig (Published in 1960) is shown on this web site.

Click on: Presbyterianism in Lisburn from the seventeenth century.        

Another history of the church by Wm. Richer (Published in 1998) is shown on this web site.

Click on: First Lisburn Presbyterian Church 1688 -- 1988.

Lisburn - Railway Street Presbyterian Church
 

Railway Street Presbyterian Church, opened in March 1864.

Rev. Brian Gibson Minister	The Very Rev. Dr. Howard Cromie Minister Emeritus	Rev. Bob Lockhart Pastoral Minister

Railway Street, Lisburn.

Minister: Rev. Brian Gibson
Telephone: 9266 2149

Minister Emeritus: The Very Rev. Dr. Howard Cromie
Pastoral Minister: Rev. Bob Lockhart

Sunday services:
Morning Service: 10.30am
Evening Service: 6.30pm
During July and August the congregation joins with some neighbouring churches for Summer Epilogue Services at 8.00pm.

Church Website: www.railwaystreet.org
The website is currently being designed and will be available July 2006 approx.
Junction website: www.junction.railwaystreet.org

Kirk Session
L to R: (front) Edith McConnell, Heather Henry, Gladys Brown, Gordon Lindsay - Clerk of Session, Rev. Brian Gibson- Minister, Maurice Gowdy - Treasurer, Sadie Meban, Freddie Hall and David Kime. (second row) Geoffrey Baird, George Toombs, Stuart Cameron, Norman McClelland, Billy Tease, Ian Barron, David Artt, Eric Scott and Margaret Coulter. (back row) Euan McConaghie, Kenneth Kyle, Aaron Curragh, Don Mitchell, Ian Wales, John Martin, Sam Mitchell, Billy Bittle, Bryan Nelson, Ian Menown, Brian Patterson, Roger Thompson and Len Murray.

Missing from the photo: Annesley Anderson, Norma Coggins, Myrtle Henderson, Tim Mitchell, John McBurney, Harold Patterson, Ron Thomson and Vivienne Weir.

Congregational Committee
L to R: (front row) Bertha Cowan, Elizabeth Bridgett, Elizabeth Menown, Robin Coulter - Secretary, Rev. Brian Gibson - Minister, Maurice Gowdy-Treasurer, Jean Murray and Janet Ferguson. (second row) Craig Adair, Geoffrey Reid, Ivan Woods, Geoffrey Rogers, Billy Braithwaite, Gordon Crawford and Colin McLean. (back row) David Milligan, Raymond Spence, Ian Mulholland and John Kelly.

Missing from the photo: Nigel Brown, Karen Elliott, John Gillespie, Robin Martin, William McClelland, Grace McCombe, Pamela Russell and Gordon Wallace.

Railway Street's Ministers Past and Present
 

The first minister Rev David John Clarke 1861 – 1878	The second minister Rev James Lyle Bigger 1879 – 1885	The third minister Rev Robert Wilson Hamilton 1885 – 1935	The fourth minister Rev. Thomas Henry Robinson 1930 – 1938

 

The fifth minister Rev John Knox Elliott 1939 – 1961	The sixth minister Rev Howard Cromie 1962 – 1993	Seventh and present minister Rev Brian Gibson 1994 - present

HISTORY

The Revival of 1859, coupled with the growth of Lisburn through expanding industries, resulted in the Presbyterian Church building in Market Square (1^st Lisburn) being inadequate to accommodate the numbers attending public worship.  In 1860 Wm. Barbour, founder of the linen firm that bears his name, and an elder in the Church, encouraged the formation of a new congregation in the town.

The General Assembly approved the organization of such a congregation, and in 1860 the Rev. John Powell, a minister without charge from the South of Ireland, who was also conducting a classical school in the town, held services in a hay loft in Castle Street, granted by Mr. Jonathan Richardson of Killeaton. The first committee of the new congregation was elected in November 1860.

In 1861 the majority of the congregation, faced with the calling of a minister, favored Mr. David John Clarke (lic. Down).  On the latter being called Mr. Powell applied to the Original Secession Synod and founded the congregation now known as Sloan Street.  The Rev. D. J. Clarke continued to minister in Castle Street until the new Church was opened in Railway Street on Sunday 6^th March 1864.  During Mr. Clarke’s ministry, the Railway Street National Schools at the rear of the church were built in 1869.  Also at that time, a manse beside the church and an adjoining house (now 31 and 33 Railway Street) were built.  After an exacting and effective ministry Mr. Clarke died on 23^rd November 1878 at the age of 44 years.

The second minister of the congregation, Mr. James Lyle Bigger (lic. Derry) was a distinguished scholar.  He was ordained on the 16^th October 1879 and was appointed Professor of Hebrew and Biblical Criticism in Magee College, Londonderry, in 1885, and resigned Lisburn on 17^th July 1885.  Professor Bigger’s successor was Rev. Robert Wilson Hamilton of Burt, Co. Donegal.  He was later to be an outstanding figure in the General Assembly, becoming Moderator in 1924.  Installed here on 8^th October 1885, he was a most energetic pastor, keenly evangelistic and yet with warm and broad sympathies.  During his ministry, a new Lecture Hall was built in 1887.  Side galleries were added in the church in 1897 and a new organ in 1908.  A new manse was built at Fort Hill in 1900, the E.M.B. hall at Hilden in 1912 and the Brownlee Memorial School and Teacher’s Residence in 1913.  Electric lighting was installed in the church in 1929.

Dr. Hamilton exercised a highly esteemed ministry for close on 50 years, retiring on 6^th May 1930.  He died on 12^th October 1935.

The Rev. Thomas Henry Robinson, then minister of First Cookstown, was installed as assistant and successor to Dr. Hamilton on 10^th September 1830.  After a scholarly and effective ministry Dr. Robinson was appointed Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy in Magee University College, Londonderry.  He resigned this charge on 31^st August 1938 and died on 4^th August 1960.

On 11^th January 1939 the Rev. John Knox Elliott, formerly of First Islandmagee, was installed as minister.  In recognition of his services, not only in Lisburn but throughout the General Assembly, the Degree of D.D. from the Presbyterian Theological Faculty, Ireland, was conferred upon him in 1958.  During his ministry the interior of the church war renovated in 1945 and electric tubular heating installed.  In 1952, the old school house was renovated and became what is now known as the Minor Hall.  For several years Dr. Elliott edited the Presbyterian Herald.  He died on 3^rd May 1961.

The Rev. Howard Cromie, formerly of Enniskillen, was installed in Railway Street on 10^th January 1962.  Since then the congregation has continued to expand.  In 1961, the Fort Manse was sold to Friends School and the present manse at 31 Magheralave Road was purchased and renovated prior to Mr. Cromie’s arrival.  In 1965 the Church Extension congregation of St. Columba’s, Moira Road, was formed from Railway Street’s parish area.  A further new Church Extension Charge at Ballymacash was formed in 1976, also from the existing parish area.  Mr. Cromie, active on many General Assembly Boards and Committees, served for several years as Convener of the Irish Mission, and later in the responsible Convenership of Church Extension.  His versatile pen was evident in his editorship of the Christian Irishman and in a biography of David Livingstone.   In 1976, the Bicentennial year of the American Declaration of Independence, he published “Ulster Settlers in America”.

In 1984, Mr. Cromie became the second Railway Street minister to be appointed Moderator of the General Assembly.  The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by the Theological Faculty, Ireland, in Union College, Belfast.

During Dr. Cromie’s ministry, the Lecture Hall was completely refurbished in 1962 and the choir and pulpit area at the front of the Church redesigned.  In 1978, the link area between the church and the minor hall was reconstructed, creating a more spacious entrance, cloakroom and a choir room upstairs.  In 1980, a new extension to the property adjoining the church was added for youth organisations.  On Sunday 6^th December 1987, the Very Rev. Dr. Howard Cromie dedicated seventeen new stained glass windows depicting a selection of scenes from the Bible, represented the culmination of a year of fund raising by the congregation and several generous donations.  Dr. Cromie retired on Sunday 9^th May 1993 and is now Minister Emeritus of Railway Street.

The present minister, the Rev. Brian Gibson, formerly of Windsor Presbyterian Church, Belfast, was installed in Railway Street on Wednesday 26^th January 1994.  During Mr. Gibson’s ministry the lecture hall at the rear of the church was refurbished and opened and dedicated by the Right Reverend Dr. Harry Allen - Moderator of the General Assembly on Saturday 15^th March 1997. Following his retirement from Elmwood Presbyterian Church in April 2003, the Rev. Robert Lockhart was appointed Pastoral Assistant in Railway Street in September 2003.

On Thursday 27th July 2006, work commenced on the complete re-roofing of the church and after just eight weeks work, the job was complete on Friday 22nd September 2006. Work on the refurbishment of the church interior, which commenced in October 2007, involved repairs to and strengthening of the ceiling, re-vamping of the dais area including relocation of the organ console, rewiring and the installation of emergency lighting and alarms, new pews and gas-fired heating. The church was re-dedicated by the Very Rev Dr Howard Cromie, on Sunday 1st June 2008.

A book by the Very Rev. Dr. Robert Wilson Hamilton’s grandson - James Victor Hamilton, is shown on this web site. For Dr. Hamilton’s book click on: A short family and personal history 1851 - 1935.

Also, a book by the Very Rev. Dr. Howard Cromie is also shown on this website. For Dr. Howard Cromie’s book click on: Through Changing Scenes.

Listen to one of Dr. Cromie's sermons Morning Service broadcast 22 march 1981

For a short history of Railway Street Church up to 1930, click on: "A Short History of Railway Street Presbyterian Church, Lisburn up to 1930." by Robert Victor (Robin) Hamilton 13/09/2005

For a short history of Railway Street Church 1930 - 1956, click on: “A Short History of Railway Street Presbyterian Church, Lisburn 1930 - 1956.” by the Rev. John Knox Elliott. 13/09/2005

For details of the War Memorial Windows and Marble Tablets at Railway Street Church, click on: Memorials

For a short history of the Y Club, Lisburn, click on: History of the ‘Y Club’ and the Inter Church Camps

The Keightley family - Fort House, Lisburn and Drum House, Drumbeg
Captain Philip Russell Keightley, R. G. A. was one of the twenty-two men from Railway Street congregation who laid down their lives in the Great War. He was the elder Son of Sir Samuel Keightley, Drum House, Drumbeg. He died on 2nd March 1919 (aged 24 years) after 3 years heroic service in France and is buried with his mother Lady Keightley in grave 314, St. Patrick’s Parish Church graveyard, Drumbeg. In about 1920, his father, Sir Samuel Keightley - barrister, poet and novelist published, ‘Among the Guns, Intimate Letters from Ypres and the Somme’ written by Captain Keightley.

To see an online article compiled by John Kelly showing research work into the Keightley family, click on: The Keightley family – Fort House, Lisburn and Drum House, Drumbeg.

Among the Guns, Intimate Letters from Ypres and the Somme
To read Captain Keightley’s book online, click on: Among the Guns, Intimate Letters from Ypres and the Somme.

Railway Street’s dead from the First and Second World Wars
Twenty-six men from Railway Street congregation laid down their lives in the First and Second World Wars. Twenty-two members of the congregation died in the Great War 1914-1919 and four were killed during the 1939 - 1945 war. This article compiled largely with the assistance of Pat Geary, History Department, Friends’ School, Lisburn, records their name, age, rank, regiment, when they were killed and where they are buried. To see this information, click on: Railway Street’s dead from the Great War 1914 – 1919.

Lisburn’s dead from the Great War
To see Mr Pat Geary's full research on Lisburn’s dead from the Great War, click on: Lisburn’s dead from the Great War 1914-1919.

Lisburn - Sloan Street Presbyterian
 

Rev. John Keefe Minister	Sloan Street Presbyterian Church, Lisburn, built in 1900.

Sloan Street, Lisburn.

Minister: Rev. John Keefe
Telephone: 9266 3837

Sunday services:
Morning: 11.30am
Evening: 6.30pm
During July and August the evening service is held in the Church Hall.

Presbyterian Church in Ireland Website:
www.presbyterianireland.org
 

Kirk Session of Sloan Street Presbyterian Church, Lisburn. L to R: (front) Paul McCarroll, Nelson Small, Ivan Wiggam and Gary Wilson. (back row) The  Rev. John Keefe - Minister, James McDowell - Clerk of Session, Robin McCulla, Jim Hamilton, James Martin, Dr. Brian Craig and Kenneth Irvine.	Notice Board at Sloan Street Church.

HISTORY

In 1860 the General Assembly gave approval to the forming of a new congregation in Lisburn. Services were held in a Hay Loft in Castle Street, led by the Rev. John Powell, a minister without charge from the Presbytery of Dublin.  He had formerly been minister of Carlow.  A staunch Protestant, his intolerance of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church became widely known.  His utterances had been resented by the Roman Catholic people of Carlow and they threatened to boycott the merchants belonging to the Presbyterian congregation unless they would have him removed.  So strong was the pressure that Mr. Powell hurriedly resigned in 1855 and was issued with credentials by the Presbytery of Dublin.  He came North and started a classical academy in Lisburn and consequently he was available to take services there.

In 1861 the new congregation proceeded to make out a call to a minister.  It was found that the majority favoured Mr. David John Clarke (lic. Down).  Within the congregation there were also those who were equally anxious to call Mr. Powell.  Those who were offended by his rejection seceded with Mr. Powell and began holding services in a carpenter's shop, fitted up for the purpose.  When he had organised a congregation Mr. Powell applied to the original Secession Synod for admission and was installed in 1861.  In 1863 a Mr. Sloan kindly offered a site for a meeting-house of the new congregation.  This was accepted and in due time a building was erected.  In 1880 Mr. Powell resigned owing to ill health and on 8^th August 1880 the Rev. John William Gamble of Cootehill Original Secession congregation was installed.  In 1887 he and the congregation of Lisburn (Sloan Street) were received into the General Assembly and a new church was built in 1900.  Mr. Gamble died on 23^rd January 1921 in the seventy-seventh year of his age.

The next minister was the Rev. James Morrow (lic. Limavady).  He resigned in 1930 on receiving a call to Warrenpoint, after a ministry of nine years.  His successor was the Rev. Wilbur W. Pyper of Killymurris who was installed on 3^rd July 1930.  He accepted a call to Belfast: Agnes Street on 21^st March 1932.  The Rev. Andrew Fullerton of Aughnacloy was called to succeed Mr. Pyper and he was installed here on 27^th July 1932, to exercise a fine ministry until he retired on 30^th September 1951.  He died on 28^th December 1951.

Mr. James McAllister (lic. Ballymena) was called to succeed him.  Ordained on 28^th November 1951, it was during his ministry that extensive renovations were carried out in the church, and a new Church Hall was built.  He accepted a call to Megain Memorial Church, Belfast, on 15^th April 1964 to be followed by Rev. James Walker Neilly, formerly of Tobermore.  A new manse (23 Clonevin Park) replaced the former one (Belsize Road) at this time.  After his installation on 16^th September 1964 Mr. Neilly accepted a call to Immanuel Church, Belfast, on 20^th June 1973.

The next minister - the seventh - was Rev. David Johnston of Donacloney.  He was installed on 15^th November 1973 and amid much regret accepted a call to Orangefield congregation, Belfast.  He resigned on 18^th May 1976.

The present minister, the Rev. William John Keefe, formerly of Upper and Lower Clonaneese was installed in Sloan Street on 2^nd December 1976.  During his ministry several auxiliary rooms were added to the rear of the meeting-house in 1992 and in 2001 a new church hall was erected and improvements made to the original church hall complex.