Fisherwick Presbyterian Church
The Whole Gospel, Person, Church, World
HISTORY OF FISHERWICK
Welcome
In the following sections you have the option to either watch video or read about the History of the Church. We hope you find these informative.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we welcome you our church. We invite you to visit Fisherwick and look round the building, learn something of our work and take a little time to pray.
Fisherwick Place Church was founded in the early nineteenth century (1823) when it was one of four Presbyterian congregations in the city of Belfast. The original church was situated in Fisherwick Place and a photographs of the exterior and interior are below. The original photographs can be seen in the Session room.
By the end of the nineteenth century Belfast had expanded and the population had moved to the suburbs. In 1897 the Fisherwick Place congregation agreed to sell their building to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland to provide a site for their headquarters and to move to the present site on the Malone Road.
An architectural competition was held, which was won by S P Close, and this is the building you are now standing in. The church is in the neo-Gothic style, typical of the late Victorian/Edwardian period. Unusually for a Presbyterian church it is cruciform in shape.
The building was opened in 1901 and since then a number of refurbishments have taken place, altering the internal layout. The two most significant of these were in 1967 and 2004-6. The first saw the insertion of the central aisle, the addition of a pulpit canopy. The second saw the removal of some pews at the rear to provide more flexible space for conversation. The Tea Point and the Resources Area were added. New lighting was installed, the interior re-plastered and repainted, the side chapels were created and a new stained glass window and modern artwork were installed.
Fisherwick gathers its congregation from a wide area across Belfast and beyond. It has a varied programme to cater for a wide age range from our senior members to our children and toddlers. The church has a strong and varied musical tradition, including choral music and more contemporary.
Fisherwick has always been a congregation that has looked outwards. It has throughout its history been actively involved in God’s work overseas, both by members of the congregation serving abroad and by generous giving. It is also active in the local community through links with other local churches and a social outreach programme.
To follow the tour below, start at the entrance of the church and move to your right (ie., move around the church in an anticlockwise direction):
Welcome
In the following sections you have the option to either watch video or read about the History of the Church. We hope you find these informative.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we welcome you our church. We invite you to visit Fisherwick and look round the building, learn something of our work and take a little time to pray.
Fisherwick Place Church was founded in the early nineteenth century (1823) when it was one of four Presbyterian congregations in the city of Belfast. The original church was situated in Fisherwick Place and a photographs of the exterior and interior are below. The original photographs can be seen in the Session room.
By the end of the nineteenth century Belfast had expanded and the population had moved to the suburbs. In 1897 the Fisherwick Place congregation agreed to sell their building to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland to provide a site for their headquarters and to move to the present site on the Malone Road.
An architectural competition was held, which was won by S P Close, and this is the building you are now standing in. The church is in the neo-Gothic style, typical of the late Victorian/Edwardian period. Unusually for a Presbyterian church it is cruciform in shape.
The building was opened in 1901 and since then a number of refurbishments have taken place, altering the internal layout. The two most significant of these were in 1967 and 2004-6. The first saw the insertion of the central aisle, the addition of a pulpit canopy. The second saw the removal of some pews at the rear to provide more flexible space for conversation. The Tea Point and the Resources Area were added. New lighting was installed, the interior re-plastered and repainted, the side chapels were created and a new stained glass window and modern artwork were installed.
Fisherwick gathers its congregation from a wide area across Belfast and beyond. It has a varied programme to cater for a wide age range from our senior members to our children and toddlers. The church has a strong and varied musical tradition, including choral music and more contemporary.
Fisherwick has always been a congregation that has looked outwards. It has throughout its history been actively involved in God’s work overseas, both by members of the congregation serving abroad and by generous giving. It is also active in the local community through links with other local churches and a social outreach programme.
To follow the tour below, start at the entrance of the church and move to your right (ie., move around the church in an anticlockwise direction):
The
Candlestick of Peace was presented to the church by the United
Reformed Church, Brislington, USA. It recalls a visit of American
Christians to the former USSR: after a service in an Orthodox Church an
old lady pressed three roubles into the hand of the Pastor leading the
group, Dr. Blair Monie, and asked him to buy a candle and light it
during a ceremony in his church, as a symbol of peace. A little later,
members of the congregation of Dr. Monie (First Presbyterian Church,
York, Pennsylvania) sent candlesticks to other churches that would
repeat and extend this gesture of peace.
The Bishops’
Bible in the glass case (made by Eddie McCormick) dates from 1568.It
was given to the church by Col. Fred Crawford to mark the opening of
the church in 1901.
Above the Resources Centre is the first of Helen Sanlon’s artworks – it celebrates the Word and the Spirit. The windows in the side aisles are original Edwardian decorative glass.
As
you turn to look towards the back of the church Helen Sanlon’s piece
the Bread and the Wine are above the tea point. The theme common to
this piece and the piece above the Resource Centre is through the Word and
Sacrament of Communion – ‘Taste and see that God is good’. 
At the end of the aisle you come to the south transept - the Memorial Chapel.
Dominating the Chapel is a splendid stained glass window by Sir Edward
Burne-Jones, depicting the Incarnation and the Nativity. The window is
a memorial to Frank McCaughey and his wife Sarah Remington Charles and
was installed by their family in 1930.
In
the Chapel note the unusual wrought ironwork of the First World War
Memorial, the memorials to Rev. John Waddell, Sir Robert and Lady
Anderson, Sir James Musgrave and Thomas Doig. A large brass memorial
lists the substantial donors to the building of the church and a brass
cross lists names of missionaries sent by the congregation overseas.
The absence of recent names reflects the change in the pattern of
mission work, as people now go abroad on short-term service.Take the door in the corner of the Chapel onto the Session Room. Here you will find portraits of the six ministers of Fisherwick and a picture of the first church. In almost 190 years Fisherwick has only had seven ministers!
Rev. Dr.James Morgan Rev. Dr. Henry Williamson Rev. Dr. Charles Davey
(1828-1873) (1870-1898) (1900-1919)
Rev. John Waddell Rev. Dr. Jack Withers Rev. Dr. David Lapsley
(1920-1945) (1946-1972) (1973-1993)
The current minister is the Rev. Derek
McKelvey.
The Communion Table and the Pulpit are superbly carved and their position reflects the reformed tradition in which the word and the sacrament are equally important. The Baptismal Font the other significant item in worship is made of Portland stone.
The Organ, made by
Walker, is considered to be one of the best in Ireland. It was
installed in 1901 and since then has had many additions and
modifications. It has 10 ‘speaking stops’ on the ‘great’ organ, 11 on
the ‘swell’ and 9 ‘pedal stops’. It has been brought up to concert
pitch.
The
panelling and the choir stalls are the congregation’s memorial to
those who died and those who served in the Second World War. The
oak-panelled memorial was installed in 1949; at the same time the choir
stalls were placed in antiphonal position. 
The oldest stained glass windows are the two in the centre of the choir. They are dedicated to the first two ministers of the congregation – to the left Dr. Morgan and to the right Dr. Williamson. The other windows were added between 1920 and 1940 and are dedicated to Dr. Davey, M. Henry Musgrave, Mr. And Mrs. Acheson Ferguson and Mr. Alexander Bulloch.
Moving
to the north transept you are in the Prayer Chapel. The Chapel and
the artwork throughout the church were made possible by a legacy from
Miss Marjorie Edwards, a former Clerk of Session.The layout of the chapel and the wooden screens were designed by John Baird. The North Window is Edwardian hand-painted glass, now quite rare.
Under the window is one of Helen Sanlon’s pieces of art – the Tree of
Life – producing fruit in all seasons depicted against a
background of the Ulster countryside. Hidden in the fields are verses
of scripture indicating our desire to plant God’s word deep in this
land. 
The scene of sky and sea depicting God’s Creation masks a
listing of the many names of God. The hand-woven carpet, designed
by Helen Sanlon and made by Donegal Carpets, depicts a cross – but is
also a set of stepping-stones across water into the presence of God
symbolised on gold. The leaves of the Tree of life swirl in the water.
We hope that you will take a little time to rest and pray in the Chapel.
The
modern stained glass window was installed in 2006. It depicts the
Resurrection – in the background is the cross, now empty, and from the
bottom left ascends the vibrant Resurrection life, at first quietly
known to only a few, but expands as it rises, into the ever wider
world. It was designed by Ann Smith of CWS Glass. It is a memorial to
Mr. Fred Poskitt and his family.
The
two pieces of Helen Sanlon’s art work ‘the Word and the Spirit’ and
‘the Bread and the Wine’ draw the eye to the West Window. It is by
W.F. Clokey and was installed in memory of Mr. John Bodel in 1956. A
notable feature of the window is the portrayal of workers and craftsmen
in the industries of Ulster.
