Hillhall Presbyterian Church
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| Hillhall Presbyterian Church, opened in September 1902. |
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Rev Dr Jack Richardson MBE Minister Emeritus |
Rev Paul Jamieson Minister |
Hillhall Road, Lisburn.
Minister: Rev Paul Jamieson
Telephone: 9260 2362
Minister Emeritus: Rev Dr Jack Richardson MBE
Sunday services:Morning: 11.00am.
Evening: 6.30pm.
Church Web Site www.hillhallpc.org
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| The Rev Paul Jamieson and the Rev Adrian McLernon (Convenor of vacancy) pictured with Hillhall Office Bearers L to R: (back row) Mrs Anne McConnell (Secretary), Mr John Connor (Clerk of Session) and Mr Harry Stewart (Treasurer). |
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| Newly ordained elders pictured with
the Commission from the Presbytery of Dromore at
Hillhall Presbyterian Church on Sunday 6th November
2005. L to R: (front row) Russell Andrews, Alan Beattie, Hazel Campbell, Margaret Graham, Winston Graham, James Stewart and Phyllis Walker. (back row) The Rev. Jack Richardson - Minister of Hillhall and Acting Clerk of Dromore Presbytery, Rev. Kenneth Smyth - Drumbo Senior Minister, The Rev. Bobby Liddle - Moderator of Dromore Presbytery, Rev. Adrian McLernon - Minister of Drumbo, John Connor - Hillhall Clerk of Session and Representative Elder, Noel Adams - Legacurry Representative Elder and Roy Patterson - Drumbo Representative Elder. |
Newly
ordained elders and existing elders pictured with
the Commission from the Presbytery of Dromore at
Hillhall Presbyterian Church on Sunday 6th November
2005. L to R: (front row) The Rev. Adrian McLernon - Minister of Drumbo, the Rev. Jack Richardson - Minister of Hillhall and Acting Clerk of Dromore Presbytery, Russell Andrews, Alan Beattie, Hazel Campbell, Margaret Graham, Winston Graham, James Stewart, Phyllis Walker and the Rev. Kenneth Smyth - Drumbo Senior Minister. (second row) Roy Patterson - Drumbo Representative Elder, Noel Adams - Legacurry Representative Elder, Edna Jebb, Georgie McNeill, Alan McNeill, John Connor - Hillhall Clerk of Session and Representative Elder, Kenneth Scott, Elizabeth Nesbitt, Lorraine Smyth, Tommy Dixon, Jim Spence and the Rev. Bobby Liddle - Moderator of Dromore Presbytery. (back row) Harry Stewart, Ronnie Crawford, Harry Simpson, Robert Pauly, Norman McConnell, Joseph Lockhart, Roy McNeill, Bertie Nesbitt and Jackie Bell. |
HISTORY
For many years this congregation was called “Lisburn” in the records of the Seceders. It was the first place in Ireland to write across to Scotland for help, and the early history has been carefully traced in Stewart’s The Seceders in Ireland.
In 1750 a call was offered to Mr. John Tennent bearing nearly 120 signatures, but he preferred another, signed by 250 persons of another congregation, and this he accepted. Moira and Lisburn (Hillhall) joined forces and received Mr. John Hume from Aberdour, Fifeshire. It so happened that a few months previously Synod had received an urgent appeal from the Rev. Alexander Craighead, minister at Middle Octarara, Pennsylvania, beseeching them to appoint some ministers to labour in that State. The Synod had destined Mr. Hume for this work and had appointed the Presbytery of Ireland to ordain him and send him forth. Meanwhile, Mr. Hume had received a call from the congregation of Moira and Lisburn, which under the circumstances the Synod refused to sustain, and ordered Mr. Hume to proceed to America. Mr. Hume refused to complete his trials for this purpose and stated his objections. In reply the Synod threatened to suspend his license to preach, but milder counsels prevailed and he was released from the appointment to Pennsylvania on apologising to the Presbytery for “the absolute and dogmatical manner of his declining compliance”.
Mr. Hume was in this way left at the disposal of the Presbytery and was ordained to the pastorate of Moira and Lisburn on 30th January 1753. Ten years later he resigned Lisburn (Hillhall) portion of his charge, which forthwith became a distinct congregation. While in the town the congregation does not seem to have obtained a site for a meeting house.
It was probably about this time that the congregation removed from Lisburn to a site given them by Mrs. Law of Hillhall. From this period the congregation has continued to bear this name. After a vacancy of five years a call was given to Mr. Alexander Grier (lic. Moira Sec. 1769) and he was ordained on 22nd March 1769. His ministry here was brief as in 1773 he removed to the new congregation of Millisle.
For another period of five years the congregation remained vacant, largely through disappointments, as calls presented to the Rev. James Martin, Messrs. George Whyte and Francis Archibald, at different dates, found them pre-engaged. At length, Mr. John Bell, a Scotsman, was ordained on 20th May 1778 and proved himself “a faithful and godly minister”. He died in 1792 after a ministry of fourteen years. Mr. Bell’s successor was Mr. Henry Hunter (lic. Belfast) who was ordained on 23rd March 1795. In 1823 he sought leave to retire pleading ill-health, but statements were made concerning him which were such that the Synod, after due investigation, deposed him in July 1825. The next minister was Mr. Samuel Dunlop (lic. Derry) ordained on 25th August 1825. He left a distinguished family of four sons, one of whom was Rev. Robert Dunlop of Nassau (St. Andrew's). The Rev. S. Dunlop died at Derriaghy Cottage on 10th August 1865.
It was during Mr. Dunlop’s ministry that the original earthen-floored, thatch-roofed meeting house (54 feet long, 37 feet broad and 20 feet high) was renovated (1826). It was rebuilt in the time of his successor, Rev. James Dawson Crawford of Drum, and some stones in the old church record these dates. The Rev. Mr. Crawford was installed on 29th March 1866 and remained till 22nd May 1881 when he received a call to Albert St. Congregation, Belfast. During this time he had a manse built in 1868 and received various tokens of the congregation’s appreciation. He was “a keen controversialist and ready debater in the General Assembly”. He was followed by Rev. Robert Robson of Mountnorris who was installed on 2nd July 1883 and who died in office on 12th October 1906. The present meeting-house (1902) and Church Hall (1893) were built during his term of office.
The congregation now called a licentiate, Mr. Gilmour Neill, son of Rev. M. Neill of Urney and Sion, and he was ordained on 8th May 1907. He formed a Boys’ Brigade Company in 1911 and accepted a call to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Portsmouth, on 9th May 1913.
The Rev. William McNutt of Drumachose was the next minister. He was installed on 13th August 1913 and on 9th December 1917 he was given leave of absence for War Chaplaincy work. The Rev. W. C. Cowden took charge of the congregation during his absence and tribute was paid to him by the congregation on 9th March 1919 on Mr. McNutt’s return. On 8th June 1925 Mr. McNutt accepted a call to Scotland (Olrig Parish Church, Castletown). The Rev. Archibald Duff of Edenderry, who had started off as an agent of the Belfast City Mission, was installed here on 28th July 1925. He married Miss Ann E. Turner, daughter of Sir William and Lady Turner, Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Belfast for some years. He initiated Scouts and Guides to cater for the needs of young people. Mr. Duff died on 24th June 1946.
The next minister - the eleventh - was Mr. Walter Kennedy (lic. Ards) and he was ordained on 20th November 1946. After six active years he resigned on 30th December 1952 when he accepted a call to Paris, Ont., Canada. He was followed by Rev. Hugh Young of Toberkeigh, son of the Rev. Dr. W. P. Young of Clones. He was installed on 27th May 1953. In 1956 a pipe organ was installed. Mr. Young retired in 1981 and became the Minister Emeritus. He went to live in England and died in April 2006. .
The Rev. Jack Richardson, previously in Carland and Newmills, was installed in Hillhall on 4th June 1982 and during his ministry a new suite of halls were opened in May 1987 and a manse in 1995. The church halls were destroyed in an arsonist attack in November 1999 and built and reopened in September 2002.
The Rev Dr Jack Richardson MBE, now Minister Emeritus, retired in December 2006 and was succeeded by the Rev Paul Jamieson, formerly minister of Christ Church Presbyterian, Dundonald, who was installed on Friday 29th February 2008.
Brief history as recorded in a book ‘Lisburn’s Rich Church Heritage’ by John Kelly
This was a Seceder congregation and its members were among the first to write to Scotland for help. It was originally called Lisburn and joined with the Seceders in Moira to call Mr John Hume who was ordained in 1753. Ten years later Mr Hume resigned the Lisburn part of the charge and about the same time the congregation removed from Lisburn to a site given them by Mrs Law of Hillhall and from this period the congregation became Hillhall. The first minister of Hillhall was Mr Alexander Grier, ordained in 1769. The original earthen-floored, thatch-roofed Meeting House was renovated in 1826 and rebuilt again in 1876. A manse was built in 1868, the church hall in 1893 and the present church in 1902. The Rev Hugh Young was installed in May 1953 and in 1956 a pipe organ was installed. The Rev Jack Richardson was installed in June 1982 and during his ministry a new suite of halls was opened in May 1987 and a manse in 1995. The church halls were destroyed in an arson attack in November 1999 and built and reopened in September 2002. Dr Richardson, now Minister Emeritus, retired in December 2006 and was succeeded by the present minister, the Rev Paul Jamieson, who was installed on Friday 29th February 2008.
