Info supplied by Bertie Hogg - Start of Omagh Free Presbyterian Church. In November 1968, Mr Ernie Monteith of Tullyrush Omagh, invited Dr IRK Paisley to conduct a Gospel tent mission at Coneywarren, on the outskirts of Omagh, his intentions were to start a Free Presbyterian Church. Dr Paisley came and erected a large marquee tent for the occasion. Great gatherings of people came along to hear the Gospel preached without fear or favour . Sylvia my wife, and mother attended that mission. I remember the big marquee full to capacity every night we were there. Around the sides of the canvas tent, straw blaes were lined up to keep out the draft and cold, and a big oil burner blasting out hot air.. We enjoyed great Gospel preaching, and made many friendships, and saw many precious souls, glorious saved by the grace of God. The 8th of December 1968 saw the last service in the big tent, for some evil people came in the cover of darkness, and set it alight, burning it to the ground. It was after that,that the people of Omagh and surrounding district came together to form a congregation of the Free Presbyterian Church .. Negotiations were made with the Omagh Orange Order for to get the use of their Orange Hall at Drumra Avenue, for our Sabbath services. We also got the use of a little band hall, that was situated in Johnston Park for to have our prayer meetings in. ( Present day, that area is now a car park ) The prayer meetings were held there once a week, and you had to make sure to be there in good time to get in, as every prayer meeting was always packed out. I remember sitting in the meetings packed in like sardines in a tin,and one prayer after another, continually,shooting it's way to heaven. Sometimes the next person starting to pray before the first one had finished. Everyone was on fire for God, and eager to pray, the presence of God was in that place. At that time Sylvia and I were attending the Londonderry Free P Church, but as Omagh was going to be much nearer, we got transferred to it. We attended the the Sabbath services in Omagh Orange Hall, for about six months until Dr Paisley purchased us an mahogany sectional Hall he had bought from an Oil Company which was originally erected at the Balmoral show grounds at Kings Hall Belfast. The sectional building was brought down to Omagh, and on the 17th May 1969 we got a volunteer work crew, which included myself to erect the building at Coneywarren, almost opposite Nestles factory on Omagh Newtownstewart Rd. Sand gravel, building blocks sand cement were purchased and erecting the hall commenced. Everyone worked with great enthusiasm to get the building up. It reminded me of Nehemiah in the Bible and the building the and repairing the walls of Jerusalem, our tent had been burnt down with fire, and all the contents within destroyed by the evilness in our tomes.We guarded the building night and day, two men would volunteer each night to stay until morning, this carried on for some time. We had Labourer's, Builders, Electricians, Plumbers, Farmers, Factory workers, etc in our workforce, all willing to voluntary give their services free to the furtherance of God's work. The building was completed in a short space of time and made ready for the opening ceremony. In the month of May 1969. the Moderator of The Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster Dr IRK Paisley arrived to officially open the building and made the comments during the service about how we got around him to sell us the building very cheap. I think it was around £300. I don't know what Dr Paisley paid for it, but ever since he always maintained that we cheated him in the price. ( Joking of course ) A Gospel campaign was then commenced. Albert G Hogg Killen Castlederg.
Primary Speaker: Rev. Colin MercerRev. Colin Mercer was converted to Christ at the age of eight. He commenced attending his local Free Presbyterian Church in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, as a young teenager and soon became involved in the ministry of that congregation. He served as a Sunday... | more..
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