HISTORY
The formation of the present Baptist Church in Larne can be traced back to late 1954 when a number of people with Baptist convictions who had moved into the Larne area began to meet together. On December 20th a deputation from the Baptist Union of Ireland visited Larne and it was agreed to commence holding services as soon as possible. A room was hired in the Victoria Hall, Curran Road, and the first service was held on Sunday February 13th 1955 at 8.00pm and the Church was formally constituted at a meeting held on Tuesday 19th April. The vision of the Church is recorded in the first Secretary’s report, 19th April 1956, “that God might bless and use us to the furtherance of His Kingdom and to the glory and honour of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”.
After one year the Church purchased a site on Grammar Brae upon which the Forbes Memorial Hall, a temporary wooden structure, was erected and officially opened on April 6th 1957. This site was sold to the Grammar School in 1963 when the Church moved location to Craigyhill. In 1978 a permanent building was completed and in 2003/4 the Church building was completely renovated and updated and a new extension was added.
Since its beginning in 1955 the Church has been pastored by:
- C. Lutton (1957 – 1958)
- J. Henry (1959 – 1965)
- W. Rea (1967 – 1974)
- B. Reid (1974 – 1991)
- J Gault (1993 – Sept 2016)
- S Curry (Sept 2016 – present).
In addition, during the lifetime of the Church, works were commenced and Churches established in Glenarm in 1976 and Whitehead in 1987, Church members have gone on to serve the Lord in a variety of positions and places and particularly in recent days a number have been involved in short term mission work throughout the world.
In April 2005 the Church celebrated fifty years with a week of special meetings conducted by Pastor Liam Goligher, whose wife Christine is the daughter of Dr and Mrs Hughes, founder members of Larne Baptist Church.