Congregation of Central Belfast welcomed into Presbyterian family with service as it 'flourishes' after nine years of growth
Central Belfast, a Presbyterian congregation which began as a team of just nine people to pray together in 2016, now attracts well over 300 people on a Sunday.
The congregation has been welcomed into the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) as its newest congregation, with an inaugural service of thanksgiving in the church last Sunday.
Located in what was the old May Street Presbyterian church building in Belfast’s city centre, this is the first time that PCI has welcomed a new congregation into the Church since Donabate Presbyterian congregation in Co Dublin was admitted in 2010. ‘Central Belfast’ now joins more than 500 congregations which make up the all-Ireland denomination.
David Dickinson, who leads Central, and is training for the PCI’s ordained ministry, explained that the Church’s General Assembly in June authorised the Presbytery of South Belfast, to ‘establish ‘Central Belfast’ as a Presbyterian congregation.
“In the way PCI works, all congregations are part of one of its 19 regional presbyteries across Ireland. We fall within the bounds and oversight of the presbytery of South Belfast, which formally agreed to establish Central as a PCI congregation at its meeting last month.”
Mr Dickinson added: “Today has been another significant milestone in what has been the most astonishing journey of God’s faithfulness, goodness and grace. It is also evidence of God’s heart for the city of Belfast to see the Church renewed and to see the city changed.
“Central has flourished and stands today as a congregation full of life, so it is important that we give thanks for where we are, and for what God has done over these last nine years. Through all the twists and turns to get to this point, it has also been a time of hope-filled expectancy for all that God is yet to do in us and through us.”
Established in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter in October 2016, Central began life as a ‘church plant’ of Carnmoney Presbyterian church, meeting on Wednesday nights in various spaces in The MAC theatre in Newtownabbey.
Originally a fellowship of nine people, numbers began to grow as a result of five years of outreach in the city, which included running the well-known evangelistic resource called the Alpha Course.
The community grew and in February 2018 services moved to a Sunday afternoon on the ground floor of Assembly Buildings in central Belfast where numbers grew to around 40.
By Easter of 2019, with around 70 attending the services, they moved to Sunday mornings and were now taking place in the old May Street Presbyterian church, which had closed the year before. Having gone online during the Covid pandemic, when doors opened again in 2022, numbers had swollen to over 120.
With nearly 400 attending each Sunday, for the first time they now need to open the church’s gallery.
Speaking of the future, Mr Dickinson said: “My hope for the future is that congregational status within PCI is not a destination, but merely another marker on the journey, as we continue to follow the Spirit’s lead on the Mission of God. My prayer is that Central would continue to be a living-giving source in the heart of the city, from which followers of Jesus would be scattered to every sphere of city life, as agents of change and the increase of God’s Kingdom.”
Rick Hill, secretary of the Presbyterian Council for Mission in Ireland, also took part in the inaugural service.
He said: “Today, we give thanks to God for His goodness, faithfulness and sustaining power, as He been at the heart of this whole process.
"As we welcome Central into the PCI church family, I also want to honour everyone who has been involved in this journey for their faith, dedication and vision.
"As the PCI Council which has responsibility for strategic mission and supporting new church development, we will support and work with Central as they move forward.”
Mr Hill added: “While we hear too often a narrative of decline, there is another narrative that we are also seeing within our work through the Council for Mission in Ireland.
"As a denomination, we are carrying a vision to see 10 newly constituted congregations plus 10 new church planting projects in the next 10 years.
"We have been seeing growth and development in other church planting projects in Balbriggan and Wexford in the Irish Republic, among others.
"It is an exciting time, and I hope that we will have many more services like this in the future.”