Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland

Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland
The official logo of the Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland.
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Presbyterian/Liberal Christianity
Polity	Presbyterian
Associations	Irish Council of Churches, European Liberal Protestant Network, International Association for Religious Freedom
Region	Northern Ireland, Ireland
Origin	1910
Merger of	Presbytery of Antrim with Remonstrant Synod of Ulster
Congregations	34
Members	4,000
Official website	http://www.nspresbyterian.org/

The Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland has its origins with those early 18th-century Presbyterian ministers who refused to subscribe at their ordination to the Westminster Confession, a standard Reformed (Calvinist) statement of faith; and who were placed, in 1725, the Presbytery of Antrim. A similar disagreement led to the creation of the Remonstrant Synod of Ulster in 1830. In 1835 the two bodies together with the Synod of Munster formed the Association of Irish Non-subscribing Presbyterians.

The Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland (NSPCI) was consolidated in 1910 when the Presbytery of Antrim, the Remonstrant Synod of Ulster and those congregations that had formed the Free Congregational Union (a radical group made up of a few congregations who had left the Remonstrant Synod or the Presbytery of Antrim) for a few years, formed the General Synod. By 1910 only three congregations of the original Synod Of Munster remained in the south of Ireland. Although (like all the other elements that came to form the General Synod in 1910) the Synod of Munster was and remained a member of the Association of Irish Non-subscribing Presbyterians, it did not formerly join the General Synod until 1935.

The Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland became part of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches on its foundation in 1928 and remains so to this day, although it is recognized as a fully functioning denomination in its own right. Non-subscribing Presbyterians continue to maintain a strong commitment to the worship of God, the person of Christ, and to the centrality of Scripture. This is in accordance with 'The Constitution and Code of Discipline' (1997) of the denomination, which states:

'That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the rule of Christian Faith and Duty under the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ' and

'That it is the inalienable right of every Christian to search these records of Divine Truth for his own instruction and guidance, to form his own opinions with regard to what they teach and to worship God in sincerity, agreeably to the dictates of his own conscience, without privation, penalty or inconvenience by his fellow-men.'

The Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church is therefore best defined as a non-creedal Christian Church, which maintains a great emphasis on individual conscience in matters of Christian faith. Whilst it continues, for historic reasons, an Accord with the Unitarian General Assembly it does not share the latter's 'post-Christian' outlook and remains firmly part of the Christian family of faith. In common with most Protestant churches they affirm the two Biblical Sacraments of the Lord's Supper (Communion) and Baptism. Traditionally Baptism was not performed using the wording from Matthew 28, however, its use has increased in many places in recent years.