Our History
Ballymoney Church of God
The Ballymoney Church of God congregation was formed in 1946 when a small group of people met in the home of the late William Clarke at Dungorberry.
1953
This was the year Mr George Adams asked for and was kindly granted the use of the Independent Orange Hall at Dunaghy in which to hold services.
Such was the blessing of God upon that small group of people they realised they had to move into the town of Ballymoney in order to centralise and expand.
At this point Mr Sandy Livingstone kindly offered the use of a hall he owned at the rear of Henry Street.
1954
Saw a ground breaking two week crusade conducted by James Connolly and Edward Taylor, ably assisted by the musical teams and singers from Belfast.
Many accepted Christ as their Saviour and the fledgling congregation began to grow. Other crusades followed, a notable one being held in the Town Hall which was packed every night. The Church of God was certainly expanding and on the move!
1955
An important year in the Church’s history, when James A.Connolly was inducted as its first minister. For 18 months he worked faithfully, assisted by Edward G. Taylor who travelled from Belfast on Sundays’ when possible.
1956
During December of 1956, Pastor Connolly assumed leadership of the East Belfast Church and Pastor Taylor was installed as the new minister of the Ballymoney Fellowship. Under his leadership, the Church continued to grow until the little building seating around 80 was too small for comfort.
By this time ground has been purchased at Meetinghouse Street and the growing congregation forged ahead with plans to build. Men and women worked together tirelessly and sacrificially to turn the vision into a reality. The new Meetinghouse Street Church was opened on the 4th July 1959 by Mr George Graham.
Eventually this building seating around 200, proved too small and was sold to the locals corps of the Salvation Army.
1967
The Ballymoney Church of God congregation secured a two acre site on the Garryduff Road and Mr William Hunter of R.Robinson & Sons was instructed to prepare plans for the present complex of buildings.
Phase One; a 300-seater hall was opened by the Mr. John Blair (church elder), who was also one of the bricklayers. He along with Mr. James McCook (church elder) were employed full-time on the project. Also employed were two joiners; Mr. Hubert Blair and Mr. James Peden.
1972
Phase two; the large church sanctuary was opened in 1972 by Mr Hugh Patterson (church elder) representing all the workers who freely donated labour.
By this time the church had formed Girls’ and Boys’ Brigades as well as a thriving youth club and coffee bar. Due to the growth of the organisations and the social needs of the increasing congregation, the church board felt that they could no longer delay the construction of a two storey multi-purpose centre to include a Youth Hall, pastoral offices, three-bedroom caretakers flat, committee rooms and a large kitchen to link into the existing hall.
It was an ambitious programme that was entered into enthusiastically by a sacrificing congregation. This new Youth Hall, without doubt one of the finest in the country was opened in 1978 at by Mrs Flora Taylor, the minister’s wife.
In May 1986 Pastor Taylor invited Pastor Fairley to be his assistant and help with the visitation work. He resigned in 2005.
Over the past five decades the church has grown steadily as God has moved and blessed through the anointed preaching of the Gospel Message.
2005
September 4th 2005 was a memorable date in the church history calendar when Jonathan and Yvonne Payne were inducted as full-time Pastors. This gave the congregation security to know that emerging from the ranks were two young, vibrant, full-time pastors who would take the church forward to even more exciting days!
2009
We purchased a substantial part of the former Sherwood Medical Factory adjacent to our existing complex. Twelve months later the old factory buildings had been demolished and replaced by an expansive new car park along with an acre of new lawn to accommodate the Big Tent Crusades, and other open-air activities. The old office block was transformed into the brand new Happy Days Community Childcare Centre.
2011
Happy Days was officially opened by Mr. James McCook (church elder). God has truly blessed this ministry which currently enrols over one hundred and forty children and employs over forty staff.
2015
In 2015, Pastor Jon Ogle was invited to join the existing Pastoral Team and he remained in this position for eight years.
2024
Major Refurbishment of the Main Sanctuary Building.
Our refurbishment of the Sanctuary has truly transformed what was becoming a very dated 1970’s building into a modern, bright and comfortable space that should serve our congregation well for many years to come.
This included: new seating, heating, flooring, lighting, sound equipment, the re-shaping of our platform including new emergency exit doors and the installation of
new fire safety equipment. The outside roofing was entirely re-felted and the whole sanctuary and foyer were also painted and decorated.
It really does look amazing and is testament as to what can be achieved when God’s people work together to build something wonderful to the Glory of God.
“This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.”
Psalm 118:23
For eighty years the Church has faithfully served its local community well, from evangelistic Tent Crusades to Cherish a Child projects.
People, young and old, from all walks of life, have over the years settled in our fellowship. It is testament to the ministry of Ballymoney Church of God that, to date, five generations within several families have chosen to faithfully settle and serve God.
It was prophesied in the early days that we would be a ‘lighthouse, a beacon on a hill in the Town of Ballymoney and beyond’. This has surely come to pass and we rejoice in our spiritual heritage!