The four words of our name, Covenant Protestant Reformed Church (CPRC), provide a helpful way of introducing ourselves to you.
1. We are an instituted church of the Lord Jesus Christ, a body of believers with our own pastor, elders and deacons. The CPRC preaches the Word of God, administers the two Christian sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and exercises church discipline according to the Scriptures. Thus we manifest ourselves as a part of Christ’s one, holy, catholic or universal, and apostolic church.
Central to our Lord’s day worship services is the preaching of the whole counsel of God as revealed in the Old and New Testaments. Through the faithful explanation and application of the Bible, we teach what God requires us to believe and how He calls us to live as His children and heirs. By His Word and Spirit, Jehovah creates our worship and fellowship with Him so that we enjoy the communion of the saints with Christ and, therefore, with one another. We invite you to join us!
2. We are a Protestant church. This means that we maintain the biblical gospel recovered in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation which is summarised in five famous “alones.” The sixty-six books of the inspired Scripture alone are the Word of God, the only infallible guide for faith and life (II Tim. 3:16-17). The Bible reveals that all our salvation is in Christ alone, as the only redeemer, mediator and head of the church (I Tim. 2:5). The Lord Jesus delivers His people from the guilt, power and pollution of sin by grace alone, without our having to work for it (Eph. 2:8-9). Salvation is received, known and enjoyed by faith alone, only by believing in Christ crucified and risen according to the gospel (John 6:47). The truths of Scripture alone, Christ alone, grace alone and faith alone serve the glory of God alone. This is what the church must proclaim and promote: the honour and glory of the Triune God revealed in Jesus Christ (Isa. 43:21)!
3. We are a Reformed church. We stand with that branch of the Reformation particularly associated with John Calvin and the doctrines of God’s sovereign grace. We believe that fallen man is totally depraved and completely unable to deliver himself—or even contribute to his deliverance—from the bondage and misery of sin (Rom. 3:9-20). But, before the foundation of the world, God, in His great mercy, chose some to salvation in Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:4). In the fullness of time, the Lord Jesus laid down His life on the cross for His elect, suffering for all of the sins of all of His sheep (John 10:11, 15). In due time, God grants a new spiritual heart to each of His elect so that they all trust in His Son alone (John 1:12-13). Every true elect believer, being kept by the power of the Holy Spirit, perseveres in faith and holiness, and will enter the joy of the Lord in the world to come (I Pet. 1:3-5).
As a Reformed church, we believe that God’s Word regulates and governs not only all of the church’s doctrine but also its worship, including its prayers and praise. Thus we sing the Psalms of David, the man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), for we know that these songs are inspired by our heavenly Father and accepted by Him through Jesus Christ (Ps. 95:2; II Sam. 23:1-2; James 5:13).
Being Reformed, we hold to the early Christian creeds (the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed) and these creeds of the Calvin Reformation: the Belgic Confession (1561), the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) and the Canons of Dordt (1618-1619). Thus all can see clearly what we believe the Bible teaches and that our faith is in accordance with the beliefs of Christ’s church in former ages.
4. We are a covenant church. The covenant is God’s intimate bond of family friendship with His sons and daughters in Jesus Christ. As the Triune God, who is one in Being and three in Persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), Jehovah enjoys an infinitely rich and blessed life of fellowship in Himself. God’s salvation of us is His including us in His own covenant communion of joy and peace, for we are His people and He is our God who tabernacles and dwells with us in love (Rev. 21:3).
In His amazing mercy, Jehovah also includes our elect children in His covenant (Gen. 17:7; Acts 2:39; II Tim. 1:5), for this is the blessed gospel promise: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31)! Those whom God embraces in His covenant fellowship are called to love, obey and cleave to Him, and to live a new and holy life by His grace.
If you desire to know the forgiveness of sins and peace with God or if you want to learn more about the Christian faith and life, and the contents and message of the Bible, please contact us. You are very welcome to come to our Sunday services in our new church building. We also have two weekly Bible studies and several weekly children’s catechism classes, plus special lectures and fortnightly or monthly meetings for men and women.
About the CPRC
We are a church in Ballymena that bears a clear and distinctive witness to the glorious, biblical and Reformed faith. We believe in and preach the great doctrines of God’s sovereign, unconditional and particular grace, in the tradition of Augustine, Wycliffe and the Reformers, such as Luther, Calvin and Knox.
We distribute the Covenant Reformed News, a short monthly periodical, in English by post (in the UK) or e-mail (globally), and Hungarian and Spanish by e-mail. We would gladly send the News free to you.
Visit our extensive main website (www.cprc.co.uk) where you can listen free to over 2,500 sermons, speeches, interviews, debates, podcasts, etc., and browse our on-line catalogues of books, attractive CD and DVD box sets, and free pamphlets. Our website contains information on our meetings in Ballymena and elsewhere, plus the Covenant Reformed News, our creeds and church bulletins, many articles and quotes, special resource pages (e.g., on assurance, civil government, God’s almighty grace, the last times, marriage, prayer, etc.) and much more.
We have about 4,300 items in over 200 other languages, especially Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Hungarian, Polish, Burmese, Russian, Afrikaans, German, Indonesian, Dutch, French, Swahili, Chinese, Tagalog, Korean, Ukrainian, Greek, Czech, Danish, Slovenian, Croatian, Romanian, Swedish, Hindi, Albanian and Slovakian. These have been produced by our many translators from all around the world.
Check out our YouTube channel where we have over 3,400 videos of sermons, author interviews, lectures, debates, etc., which can be watched on-line free. You are also welcome to sign up as a friend on the CPRC Facebook page.
Covenant Protestant Reformed Church (CPRC)
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena
Northern Ireland, BT43 5DR
Lord’s Day Worship: 11 AM & 6 PM
(services streamed live and free in video or audio at www.cprc.co.uk/live-streaming)
Tuesday Bible Class: 11 AM
Wednesday Doctrine Class: 7:45 PM
Rev. Angus Stewart
7 Lislunnan Road
Kells, Ballymena
BT42 3NR
Tel. (028) 25 891851
E-mail: [email protected]
www.cprc.co.uk
www.youtube.com/cprcni
www.facebook.com/CovenantPRC
(the above details are correct as of February, 2024)
