Free Presbyterian church of Ulste

Free Presbyterian church of Ulste, founded in 1951, ostensibly in protest against ecumenism and alleged apostasy in Irish Presbyterianism. Ian Paisley, pastor of the Ravenhill Evangelical Mission church in Belfast, a breakaway from Ravenhill Presbyterian congregation, was invited to conduct an evangelistic mission in the vacant Presbyterian congregation, was invited to conduct an evangelistic mission in the vacant Presbyterian congregation of Lissara in Crossgar. The Down Presbytery refused to countenance Paisley as missioner and, in protest, five Lissara elders published a Free Presbyterian Manifesto and formed a new congregation, ‘free’ from Irish Presbyterian oversight. The Ravenhill Evangelical Mission church became a second Free Presbyterian congregation and there are now more than 50 congregations with a membership in Northern Ireland of 12,362 (1991 census). The Free Presbyterians also claim to have churches in England, Germany, Spain, Australia, the United States, and the Republic of Ireland. They are unashamedly fundamentalist in doctrine and practise both believers' and infant baptism. Ian Paisley, whose own denominational background is Baptist, remains permanent moderator. His Ravenhill Evangelical Mission church has been replaced by the commodious Martyrs' memorial church in honour of the Protestant martyrs, illustrating the anti‐Catholicism of the Free Presbyterians. Since 1979 the Whitefield College of the Bible, situated near Gilford in Co. Down, has trained Free Presbyterian ministers. The church remains closely linked to the Democratic Unionist Party.

R. F. G. Holmes