A Brief History of Faughan Reformed Presbyterian Church
Our beginnings stretch back to the coming of Scottish settlers to Ulster in the early 17th century. Most of these settlers were Presbyterians who were naturally sympathetic towards their fellow Presbyterians in Scotland. The latter had drawn up a National Covenant in 1638 in protest against the autocratic policies of Charles I who, in 1643, had entered into the Solemn League and Covenant with the English Parliament. One aim of this Covenant was “to work for the reformation of religion in the three kingdoms” of England, Scotland and Ireland. The Solemn League and Covenant was warmly approved and signed by many of the Ulster Scots.
However the Stewart kings were not favourable towards Presbyterianism: government of the church by ministers and elders. They preferred another form of church government, Episcopalianism through which the church was ruled by bishops. By the king exercising his power, the church in Scotland, after some years, became Episcopalian in character. Many Presbyterian ministers conformed to this arrangement, but around 400 refused. These resigned their charges and began holding worship services known as “conventicles” in the open air. They ministered to those people who refused to submit to the ministry of the new Episcoplian pastors. A period of sustained persecution began in which ministers of conventicles and people who attended them, were sought out by government forces and put to death. By 1688 the nation had endured more than it could bear so that James VI, the King of Scotland, was deposed in the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688. The new king, King William III realised that, for peace to return to Scotland, the church would have to be re-established along Presbyterian lines once again.
The Revolution Settlement of 1690, re-establishing the national Church of Scotland as a Presbyterian church, was welcomed by most Ulster Presbyterians as a vindication of their struggle for religious freedom. A minority, however, objected to the terms of the Revolution Settlement which disregarded the Covenants and gave no specific recognition to the kingship of Jesus Christ. These “Covenanters,” ancestors of modern Reformed Presbyterians, stood apart from the Presbyterian Church and began to hold separate meetings for fellowship, called societies. These society people were dependent on visits from Scottish ministers from 1696 until 1757. In 1763 a “Reformed Presbytery” was formed and rapid growth led to the formation of a Synod in 1811.
The early history of what would become Faughan Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPC) is closely linked to that of Bready RPC. The Glendermott valley was a strong centre of Scottish influence, and visiting ministers from Scotland conducted services there from time to time. The earliest record of preaching by a Covenanting minister is that of Rev. John Thorburn at Cumber in 1759 and of Rev. John Fairley at Tirkeevney in 1761. Healthy and active Covenanting Societies kept the witness alive and by 1770 a congregation was established at Faughanbridge.
The first minister, Thomas Hamilton, was ordained in 1770. A native of Bovevagh, Co. Londonderry, he was a licentiate of the Derry Presbytery of the Presbyterian Synod of Ulster. After the death of Rev. William Hair, minister of First Glendermott Presbyterian Church, in 1766, the congregation was supplied by Mr. Hamilton. A minority of the Glendermott congregation wanted to call him, but a majority favoured another licentiate. When Presbytery ruled in favour of the majority, the minority seized the meeting house for a short period and refused to accept the ruling of Presbytery. Mr. Hamilton was deprived of his licence and applied to the Irish Reformed Presbytery and was accepted. The minority left the congregation and the Synod of Ulster and joined with the local Covenanting societies to form a new congregation in 1770. The precise location of the nascent congregation of that time is not known for certain, but there is significant evidence to point to the townland of Killennan. The congregation called Mr. Hamilton and he accepted and was ordained. After a short pastorate of about three years, he resigned because of the sudden drop in Covenanting ministers from 6 to 3 and spent the next six years of his short life as an itinerant preacher for the Reformed Presbytery until his untimely death in 1779. He was buried at Derryvalley Presbyterian Church in Co. Monaghan.
Samuel Alexander was ordained as minister of Bready in 1783. His charge included Faughan. He was a local man, from Tirkeeveney, who had been educated at Glasgow University and was licensed by the Scottish Presbytery in 1781. It is likely that the Faughan Covenanters worshipped with the Bready congregation on Sabbaths. These were difficult days for Dissenters in general, and for Covenanters in particular. Oppression and poverty had driven many to seek a new life in the United States of America. For those who remained, it was well-nigh impossible to get a site for a meeting house. The Faughan Covenanters were singularly blessed in this respect and secured in 1790 what many considered to be one of the most beautiful sites in Ireland: beside the old bridge at Drumahoe on the banks of the Faughan River, some three miles from the centre of Londonderry. Originally, this was a rural setting, but now in the 21st century, the Faughan meeting house lies at the heart of a major residential area as the nearby city expands and engulfs the village of Drumahoe. Mr. Alexander was much loved as a meek, generous man and was known as “the godly Alexander.” Always of delicate health, he died in 1793, aged 45.
Robert Young, after a short ministry to Covenanters in County Donegal, came to reside in the Waterside district of Londonderry. Mr. Young was never installed, but acted as stated supply from 1787 until his death in 1794. His name is perpetuated in a local charity, the Gwyn and Young Endowment, founded by one of his sons. It appears that Faughan was still united with Bready during this period.
The next minister was John Alexander, nephew of Rev. Samuel Alexander and brother of Rev. Josias Alexander. He too was educated in Scotland, and licensed in 1803. He was ordained and installed in Faughan on 19 May 1803, and the first minister to be ordained in the meeting house. He also ministered at Bready until 1809. During his ministry a congregation was organised in Londonderry and a meeting house built in Fountain Street in 1810. Mr. Alexander looked after both congregations. Faughan was strengthened by the addition of members of the Desertone society between 1811 and 1822. However, from 1821, due to the fall in food prices at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the congregations in Londonderry and Faughan were unable to keep up the minister’s stipend. Despite attempts to reach a settlement, Mr. Alexander accepted a call to Linenhall Street in Belfast in 1825.
Following Mr. Alexander’s departure, the Faughan and Londonderry congregations requested that they be separated. This was granted by Presbytery on 13th July 1826.
In May 1827 James Peebles Sweeney was ordained and served the congregation with distinction and devotion for forty-seven years. Born at Desertone in 1795, and brought up in the congregation, he received his education in Scotland and was licensed by the Western Presbytery on 7th July 1824. His long ministry saw vast changes in Ulster. Although the 11 societies that made up the congregation were affected by the disastrous Great Famine in the late 1840s, yet many of these societies were greatly blessed and increased in size through the revival of 1859. By the late 1860s, although the number of societies had fallen to nine, the membership of the congregation reached a peak of 270 (including 96 children). In 1874, Mr. Sweeney retired due to ill health. At the time of Mr. Sweeney’s death on 4th May 1877, a new generation had arisen to carry on the work.
Matthew Neill, born in 1850, brought up in the Dervock congregation and educated Queen’s College Belfast and the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Hall, was a licentiate of the Northern Presbytery. He was ordained on 17th February 1876. Due to emigration from the area, the congregation began to decline and had difficulty in meeting its obligations to Mr. Neill. In addition, Mr. Neill began objecting to certain principles of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. He resigned on 3 November 1880. He later served in the Irish Presbyterian Church.
In contrast, his successor, Samuel Ferguson, had a long and fruitful ministry in the congregation. Son of Rev. W. S. Ferguson of Grange, and great-grandson of the famous Rev. William Stavely, Mr. Ferguson was ordained on 15th December 1881. Born in 1854, and brought up in the manse at Grange, he was educated at Queen’s College Belfast and the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Hall, and licensed in May 1881. A gifted preacher, a devoted pastor and a fine historian, his long ministry left its mark upon the people. Older members recalled his work with affectionate gratitude for many years afterwards. During his ministry, despite continued emigration, the numbers of the congregation remained steady at about 55 families and 150 communicants. Mr. Ferguson died on 16th December 1928.
Rev. John McIlmoyle, then minister of Kellswater, was called to the congregation in July 1929. Upon acceptance he was installed on 31 October 1929. He was the first minister not to come to Faughan as his first charge. He is one of the few ministers of the denomination to have served the Church in each of the four Presbyteries. He was also Professor of Systematic Theology for 25 years in the Theological Hall. A gracious, godly and intellectual gentleman, his ministry was remembered with affection for a long time after his acceptance of a call from Dublin Road in May 1947.
Thomas Donnelly, a member of Grosvenor Road congregation and a licentiate of the Eastern Presbytery, began his ministry on 1st December 1949 and showed his fine talents, enthusiasm, kindness and good humour in a pastorate of seven years before moving to Ballyclabber in May 1956.
The congregation was well served and wisely led by Rev. William Norman McCune. Brought up in Trinity Street congregation and licensed by the Eastern Presbytery, Mr. McCune spent eight years in Convoy and Stranorlar before coming to Faughan on 13th December 1956. As well as attending diligently to the spiritual oversight of the Faughan congregation, Mr. McCune played a much wider role in the Western Presbytery, as Clerk and as Interim Moderator of every congregation within its bounds at one time or another, and as the organiser or conductor of several psalmody events. He retired from the active duties of the ministry on 5 February 1992.
On 2nd September 1994, David Joseph McCullough, brought up in the Newry congregation and a licentiate of the Southern Presbytery, was ordained and installed as minister of the congregation. He quickly established himself in the congregation as a gifted preacher and attentive pastor with a tremendous enthusiasm for evangelistic work. The congregation was saddened in May 2003 when Mr. McCullough accepted the call to be organising pastor of the Dromore Society of Covenanters.
In June 2008, the congregation made a call to Mr. Robert Steven Robinson, member of the Trinity congregation and a licentiate of the Eastern Presbytery and this was presented on 5 August 2008. The call was accepted and Mr. Robinson was ordained and installed on 18 October 2008 and is the present minister.
The Meeting House and Manse
The meeting house, built in 1790, was first renovated in the early 1830s, with a new roof, ceiling and side wall. In 1855 the session room was built, the church re-seated and the floor altered. Major renovations took place during 1898-1899. Central heating was installed, new rafters, ceiling and windows were put in place and inside and outside walls re-plastered. Electric lighting and heating was installed in 1951 and 1953.
In 1959 the old stables were converted into a Church Hall, which was extended in 1975. This Hall was demolished and a new one built in 1984 which in turn was considerably enlarged and refurbished in 2005.
The congregation first acquired a manse in 1883 – 4 Ebrington Terrace, in the Waterside, Londonderry. In 1898 Mr. Ferguson bought his own home at ‘Sunnymede’ on the Limavady Road. In 1930, during the ministry of Professor Mcllmoyle, the manse was in Victoria Park. Another manse was obtained in Hinton Park during the ministry of Mr. Donnelly. This was sold to finance the present manse near the church at 30 Drumahoe Road of which Mr. McCullough and his family were the first occupants.
Our Present Witness
The congregation is missionary-minded and is actively involved in reaching out to the local community. This takes various forms: a Pop-up Café, a Friday Night Club for primary school children, taking part in open-air services by the Peace Bridge during the summer, door-to-door witnessing and leaflet drops. A “Christianity Explained” course is offered to anyone who is seeking the way to eternal life. For the spiritual edification and building up of the unity of the congregation, a weekly Ladies’ Bible Study, a monthly Ladies’ Fellowship meeting and a Midweek meeting are held in the church hall.
We look to Jesus Christ, the King of the Church to continue to build His church amongst us. Like our forefathers we have one desire – that King Jesus will be given His rightful place in church and nation. As long as the Lord tarries we will seek to fly the banner of our church declaring Christ’s Crown and Covenant.