What is different about Baptist Churches ?    
  There are only BAPTIST CHURCHES in Ireland - There is no such organisation as THE BAPTIST CHURCH IN IRELAND. Does that make sense to you? We hope that by the time you have worked through this section it will.

A Baptist Definition of the church:
O ‘The local church is a company of baptised believers gathered under the headship of Christ for worship, fellowship, instruction and evangelism’.

Each Baptist church in Ireland is independent (under Christ), is self-governing (under the guidance of the Holy Spirit), and is free to associate and co-operate with other churches of like mind. There is an organization to which we belong called:

THE ASSOCIATION OF BAPTIST CHURCHES IN IRELAND
The Association, which comprises of 109 churches, is the means by which Baptists do together what we could not do separately; co-operating in -

  • administration: helping churches with the business side of their work, like buying property or acting as trustees;
  • education: training people for full-time work at home and overseas;
  • mission: we have workers in Ireland, France and Peru;
  • welfare: giving financial help to children whose parent or parents have died;
  • youth work: in Sunday Schools, Youth Groups and Clubs, uniformed organisations like Campaigners.

The main office of the Association is 117 Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 7AF. It has a number of full-time staff including the secretary of the Association, the secretary of Baptist Missions and the secretary of Baptist Youth. We call them secretaries but they are really managers. There is a President of the Association who is elected each year at a special meeting to which all the member churches send representatives. This meeting is when we do our business and make decisions about the life of the Association. The various secretaries impliment those decisions, with the help of other staff, during the following year.

The education work is carried on in the Irish Baptist College on the Sandown Road in Belfast. Here people can study different kinds of courses from A level to degree level and also Post Graduate studies. Some people go to the college to study specifically for mission or pastoral work and do special college courses.