Stranorlar Reformed Presbyterian Church, in the Western Presbytery, is located in the small town of Stranorlar, Co. Donegal, in the Republic of Ireland. Stranorlar, along with its neighbouring town Ballybofey, locally known as the ‘Twin Towns’, have a population of around 5,000 people. This area is renowned for its excellent sporting facilities and rich agricultural land of the Finn Valley.
Stranorlar RPC was founded in 1877. Since then, the building was refurbished in 1995 and again this past year in 2017, with further building and repair work being carried out. We are very pleased with the progress to date.
Here, at Stranorlar RPC, we are a small congregation of about 20 members, who meet for regular times of worship and fellowship. Although, we are small in number, and are currently without a pastor, we like to think we’re warm-hearted and welcoming and would hope our visitors agree! With the Twin Towns being popular tourist stops and with a local hotel across the street, we often get visitors at our Sabbath services, particularly during the summer months. We enjoy meeting these visitors and taking the opportunity to speak with them during a cup of tea after the service.
Congregation and Romanian friends at our Guest Evening
The church also engages with locals through the work of the Parent and Toddler group (P&T), Covenanter Youth group (CY) and various outreach events. The P&T and CY initiatives have been running for many years in our church, providing social and devotional opportunities for those who attend. We have been deeply encouraged by the numbers who attend these groups, year after year. This year, we have been blessed with a young ladies’ desire to join the church. She was firstly introduced to the church through CY and then became a regular attendee at our Sabbath services and other church events.
It is our prayer that this young lady will come into full membership in 2018. We also pray that the Lord would bless our efforts to reach out to many others in the Twin Towns, that they would hear the gospel message, be saved and added to Christ’s kingdom. We pray that the Lord may, in His time, direct the church to call a pastor so that the church might grow under the leadership of a settled ministry. We ask that you would remember our requests in your prayers too.
Vicki Blackburn, member of Stranorlar RPC
