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Rathcoole Baptist Church History
Around 1950 Mr. Jack Dougan and his wife Sadie came to live in the Newtownabbey area. They were members of the Great Victoria Street Baptist Church. After enquiries Mr. Dougan found several other Baptists living in the area, among them Mr. & Mrs. William Smith of the Great Victoria Street Church and Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Law of the Strandtown Church.
The three men met together on a Sunday afternoon in June 1951 and decided to invite all the Baptists and other Christian friends to a meeting in Mr. & Mrs. Dougan's home in Princes Crescent. Eighteen people attended the meeting. It was suggested that a Gospel Meeting should be held on Sunday evenings should a suitable meeting place be found. This exercise was met with all present promising their whole hearted support.
The group met every Thursday in each other's homes for prayer and fellowship and after two months the use of Cloughfern Protestant Hall was kindly granted by the Committee. This news was received by the young group as an answer to prayer and an indication that the Lord had brought them together for the purpose of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ on the New Estate and the surrounding district.
Services were held in Cloughfern Hall for six years while a search for a permanent building site proved fruitless.
The Move to Rathcoole
In 1956 the church requested the Officers to consider the merits of Rathcoole. By that time this estate had grown to around 3,000 homes. It was soon learned that the Northern Ireland Housing Trust was to erect a Hall almost in the center of the Estate. This Hall was to be known as Ardeen Social Centre. An approach was made to the Trust management, and they agreed to the use of the Hall each Lord's Day at a cost of £2 per day.
The matter was brought before the church in August 1957 and the members were informed that if the work was moved to Rathcoole not only could Sunday services be held but for the first time a children's Sunday school could be held and possibly children's meetings during the week.
At the Quarterly Business Meeting held in November the church decided to move the entire work to Rathcoole and the first services were held in Ardeen Hall on the first Sunday in December, 1957. The preacher was Mr. Robert Lyness-Secretary of the Irish Evangelization Society. The Church was renamed, "Rathcoole Baptist Church." The membership at the end of that year numbered 45.
The first gospel mission was held in 1958 and was especially geared to reach children and young people. The mission lasted two weeks. The Hall was packed each evening; many were unable to get in and stood around the open windows and doors. Children and young people came and many brought their parents. The closing meeting was held in the nearby Alpha Cinema, and just over 700 people were present on the Sunday afternoon. Many were counseled and quite q few professed faith in Jesus Christ. Mr. S Seymour and "Uncle" Ray of Child Evangelism Fellowship were a great help during the special effort.
In 1958 negotiations were re-opened with the Housing Trust regarding the possibility of obtaining a suitable building site. At the Annual Buisness Meeting the Secretary announced that a site had been allocated near Rural Avenue of the Doagh Road. A Plan showing the proposed development was on view that evening. The ground was later purchased for nine hundred and thirty-five pounds. Pastor J. Thompson and Mr. W. J. McCormick played an important part in this matter.
Building The Church
After a special meeting that was held in Rantallard House, Newtownabbey, on 23rd May 1960 an unanimous decision was taken to proceed with the development of the site and to proceed with the erecting of the Church Building as far as possible with voluntary labour.
The church building fund stood at £3,000. Another £4,000 interest free loan was acquired from the Irish and English Unions Building Funds to be paid back over ten years. Other donations were received from individuals and other Baptist Churches.
The work commenced on 26th May 1960 and the first bricks were laid on 10th December. There were no brick layers among the congregation at Rathcoole. Mr Kernaghan from the Monkstown Church engaged a number, among whom, was Mr. Sam Close who supervised the brickwork from the commencement of the contract. The whole team co?nsisted of about twenty men who had "a mind to work" and each did what they could do unto the Lord. The ladies of the church were responsible for the provision of meals for the men who worked on the contract in their spare time for over three years. Each Saturday night for six years at twelve midnight until two am. the officers of the Church attended Cloughfern Hall and later for a further six years Ardeen Hall, to scrub floors and prepare the Halls for the Sunday meetings. This was necessary as the Halls were used for social activities such as dances etc.
This work ended on the first Sunday in October 1963 when the Church celebrated it's twelfth anniversary by entering the new building at Mornebeg Drive. The opening ceremony was conducted by Pastor W. Wilson. Mr. T. Robinson (Architect) presented the key to Mr A. Mairs who then opened the doors and declared the building open for the Ministry of the Word of God and the preaching of the gospel.
At the Dedication Service Pastor L.E. Deens presided and the preacher was Pastor W. Weir. Others taking part were Pastors W. Lyttle, R. Clarke, H. Magill (Abbots Cross Presbyterian Church) and Mr. N. Porter. Mr Jack Dougan read a financial statement and Mr. J. Law welcomed the visitors and gave a brief history of the work and the erection of the building at a cost to the Church of 12,500.00, inclusive. Over 500 friends attended the ceremony.
On the Lord's Day the preacher was pastor L.E. Deens. Mr T. Bailie gave the right hand of fellowship to a number of new members bringing the total in membership to seventy-four. Special addresses were given from Monday till Friday 7th-11th October 1963 by Pastor J. Johnston on the "Eternal Security of the Believer in Christ", Pastor H.H. Orr "The Responsibilities of Church Members", Pastor J. Ravey "The Lord's Supper", Pastor Robert Clarke "Baptist Beliefs" and Pastor G.F. Blayney "The Gospel", proved to be of great interest and was a benefit to many who attended.
In August 1964 the first Gospel Campaign was held in the new building. The evangelist was Pastor W. Mullen of Lurgan. Special prayer meetings were held in this connection every Lord's Day fro April to August. Three thousand leaflets were distributed at the end of July and two weeks before the mission three thousand homes were visited by the Church members and the residents invited to attend the meetings. The building was packed to capacity every evening. The power of the Holy Spirit accompanied the preaching of the Word of God from the beginning and forty-five people professed faith in Christ by the end of the three week Mission. Some time later pastor Mullen returned and conducted a Baptismal Service when eighteen people were baptized, a number of whom joined the Church.
Since these early days special meetings have been held from time to time by, Mr. N. Porter, Mr. Ivan Thompson (one of our members) and Mr. George Bates. These efforts all bore fruit to the glory of God as men, women, and young people professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.