CPRC Church
Building
Our
new church building is now completed and being used for divine worship.
It is situated on a piece of land we own of approximately ¾ acre at the
west end of Clarence Street off the Cullybackey Road in Ballymena. Tommy
Hamill was our project manager.
The
total area of our building is 432m2. The downstairs consists
of two main parts, both 12m by 12m. One part is the sanctuary for public
worship which will hold up to 130 people. The other part includes a
prayer or Bible study room, a kitchen, three WCs
(for males, females and disabled), a crèche and a
boiler room, with another room containing the oil tank. From the crèche, one
can see into the main hall through sound-proof glass. A speaker carries the audio from the worship service into the crèche.
Half of the downstairs is vaulted: the main
auditorium or sanctuary.
A lift or stairs takes one
from the other half to the first floor which includes the council
room, a catechism room and a gallery from which people can see down
into the main hall through a double-glazed screen.
For
pictures of our site before it was cleared, click here.
For
pictures
of our site being cleared of rubble, tree stumps, etc., and being
covered with 4 inch stones, click here.
Photo
below left: the sod-cutting—William Graham (deacon), Rev. Stewart,
Brian Crossett (elder) and Ivan Reid (elder).
Photos
below centre and right: starting to dig the
foundations.
Photos
below left: the foundations are completed.
Photos
below centre and right: after the foundations were laid, the
steel was put up.
Photos
below left and middle: laying of blocks (15 September, 2009).
Photo
below right: building the (internal) walls between rooms (24 September,
2009).
Photo
below left: walls up and windows completed (16 October, 2009).
Photo
below middle: stairs leading from ground floor to the first floor (16
October, 2009).
Photo
below right: inside walls for rooms and lift shaft on the first floor (19
October, 2009).
Photo
below right: the end wall of the sanctuary (7 November, 2009).
Photos
below left: all the blocks are in place, so it's time to
start the roof (7 November, 2009).
Photo
below middle: soffit and fascia board are added (23 November, 2009).
Photo
below right: all the felt has been laid on the roof; next comes the
slates (30 November, 2009).
Photo
below centre: the slates and most of the windows are complete (22
January, 2010).
Photo
below left: the main entrance (22 January, 2010).
Photo
below left: another angle of the outside of the building.
Photo below centre: the plasterers have finished the upstairs (22
January, 2010). Notice the opening from which one can look down into the
main auditorium.
Photo below right: the pebble-dash and some of the
guttering has been put on the outside of the building (8 February, 2010).
Photos below: outside and main entrance (4 March, 2010).
Later
pictures were added individually or in groups to the CPRC
Facebook page. These were subsequently gathered together on one
special Facebook album page, consisting of 91 photos from early
March to early August, 2010.
The
official opening of our church building was held on Thursday, 5 August,
2010, with Prof. Hanko bringing the Word of God, entitled
"Ichabod," available on-line in both audio
and video.
A report of the evening and the programme
are also on our website.
Those
who wish to help us financially with our church building may contact one
of the two below:
Ivan
Reid
26
Hawthorne Grove
Glynn
Larne
BT40
3HE
N.
Ireland
(make
cheque payable to “CPRC”)
or
Protestant
Reformed Churches in America
Theological
School of the Protestant Reformed Churches
4949
Ivanrest Ave.
Grandville
MI
49418
USA
(make
check payable to “PRCA” and include a memo that the donation is for
the CPRC [N. Ireland] Building Fund)
“Every
man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not
grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is
able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all
sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work … Thanks be
unto God for his unspeakable gift” (II Cor. 9:7-8, 15).
By
divine grace, this building is used for the proclamation of the
biblical and Reformed gospel of Jesus Christ to the glory of the Triune
God.
