Bready
Describe the congregation’s History.
Our congregation in Bready was founded in 1765 by the covenanters in a fairly widely spread area from Victoria Bridge, Trench Road, Cullion and of course the immediate Bready area. The first united meeting of those societies on the current site, halfway between Londonderry and Strabane was in 1771. The first building was built in 1786 and was rebuilt in 1924.
The Bready congregation amalgamated with the Clarendon Street church informally from 1977, and this was later formalised in 1989. The Bready RPC has a book on its history written by Dr William Roulston “Foyle Valley Covenanters.”
Describe the Congregation.
Our congregation is made up of a good mix of age groups represented, from the very youngest of families to older folks well into retirement. We are a rural congregation, but we also draw people from the city because of the links made with the Clarendon Street church in the late 1980s.
Our average attendance at a Sabbath worship service would be roughly 52, which is similar at evening services as well.
Describe the Session.
Our session is made up of 4 elders, along with our minister, the Rev. Paul Wallace, who has been in the congregation for 3 years after being ordained in 2022. We also have four deacons.
Describe the Building.
Our current building was built in 1924 and is still in generally great condition, and retains many of its original features from 1924. We have a large hall that was built in 1995 and is named the Clarendon Hall, after the amalgamation of the churches and the funds provided. This hall provides space for children’s clubs and many of our other events. It also contains a kitchen and sabbath school rooms.
A recent development in our building was the introduction of equipment for livestreaming our services.
Describe the Area.
We are located in a rural area midway between Londonderry and Strabane, with many of our congregation involved in agriculture. There are several other evangelical churches in the area, which we are thankful for. We are the only distinctly reformed church between Londonderry and Omagh.
Describe an average Sabbath.
Before the service, children of school age attend sabbath school before our service at 11:30 am. Our evening service is at 6:30 pm every week, and before this, we have a prayer meeting. Evening services are rare now in our area; we are one of the only churches (along with Faughan and Gateway within our own denomination) to continue it on a weekly basis throughout the year.
Describe an average Week.
Our average week follows the following pattern:
Monday: Good News Club at 6:30 pm for children of primary school age
Tuesday: Every other week, we have a bible study, and the other weeks in between We have a prayer meeting.
Thursday: Music & amp; Rhyme, a mothers’ and toddlers’ group that sings songs in both French and English, which has been a really good opportunity for witness in the area.
Friday: Women’s Fellowship meets regularly throughout the year
Saturday: Saturday Night Light meets every other week for secondary school age Children
Describe the congregation’s Evangelism.
Each year is different in terms of the evangelism and outreach of our church. Typically, We host bible clubs for children of both primary school ages. We also run Hope Explored courses for locals in the area who are interested in knowing more about faith.
As well as this, we hold topical meetings in the autumn and gospel mission weeks, etc. Our folk are active in personal witness in their own localities and workplaces, etc, as well.
Describe the congregation’s Online Presence.
We have an Instagram page www.instagram.com/breadyrpc and Facebook page www.facebook.com/BreadyRPC, which posts all our information about services.
We have also recently purchased equipment for livestreaming, and our sermons are posted on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/@BreadyRPC.
Describe the congregation’s recent Challenges.
In our congregation, we have recently struggled to see people coming into the church from the local area. Invitations are given personally and by leaflet drops and on social media, but only small numbers come.
Like most of our congregations, we see the apathy that many people have about church, who once had some kind of connection to local churches but no longer attend at all.
Describe the congregation’s recent Encouragements.
In spite of the wider challenge noted above, we have seen some local people coming and in regular attendance at our worship services, and have been able to make contacts via Hope Explored children’s Bible Clubs, etc. We would like to see many more!
How could others emulate the congregation?
We are very thankful to have members of our church who can help out massively in all aspects of the church, and more importantly, do help out. Everyone who is physically able to help and be involved in our various outreaches and ministries is getting involved, and so that is something that would be great to see in other congregations.
What can we Pray for?
Give thanks for unity and peace within our church and the engagement of our congregation within outreach and ministry.
Give thanks for the number of children and young people within the church who are a huge encouragement for the future of our church..
Pray for the children and young people of the congregation that they will be converted and will make Bready RPC their home church and their family’s home church in the future.
Pray that God will bless our outreach and ministry, that we will see the fruit of our labour and people in our area will be converted and become members of our church.
