182 years of worship at Upper Cumber

THIS evening is a historic evening that everyone associated with Upper Cumber Presbyterian Church has been looking forward to for approximately twenty years.

Some of the initiators of this project have since gone on to meet their creator and their efforts will never be forgotten amidst the folklore of this community.

It has taken many months to complete and everyone has been watching as the dream rose from its foundation.

However, the vision for Presbyterianism in the village of Claudy began back in 1828. The congregation of Cumber was unmanageable. The Parish was too large and the number of families too great for one man to exercise a reasonable measure of personal contact and individual supervision.

The high proportion of nearly one third of the families had only a nominal connection with the Church proving additional shepherding was urgently required.

There was also a spiritual awakening everywhere manifest over the Church, and a subsequent hunger of the people for God's word.

These produced a demand for increased facilities for hearing the Gospel, and a desire that the children should not be debarred by distance from attending the Sabbath School.

So the formation of Upper Cumber congregation was sanctioned. Both Cumber and Upper Cumber remained under the care of Rev. J. Allison until the Rev William Brown was ordained and appointed to the new charge on April 22, 1834. It was during his ministry the church was built.

The exact date is unknown but it is thought to be around 1853. Prior to the building of the meeting house the congregation met in a loft at the farmyard of the landlord John H. Brown.

The visitation of Presbytery, of which we have a record, was held on August 3, 1847. They reported as follows: "112 families in the congregation; 100 to 136 present at Communion; 33 raised for stipend; Fishmongers' Company gave 5 per annum; average Sabbath collections, 1s 10d; amount raised for Missions, 5 10s; and that there were three students for the ministry, Archie Robinson, afterwards Professor in Assembly's College, Belfast, Wm C. Robinson, afterwards minister of Ballykelly, and Samuel Hamilton, afterwards minister of Buckna."

In estimating the life and work of the Rev. Wm Brown it must be remembered that the Upper Cumber congregation was largely composed of families remote from the Mother Church of Cumber, whose Church connection was more or less nominal.

To bring a congregation such as this into full communion with the Church, must have been a difficult undertaking. Mr Brown's private life was blameless and in keeping with his calling.

A visitation of Presbytery on May 2, 1876 revealed there were 100 families (-12) in the congregation. Up to this time there was no manse; the Rev. James Smith William Brown's successor set about building one. A piece of ground was bought for 100. The deed of this ground is dated April 24, 1878; a loan of 300 from the Board of works supplemented by congregational and other local subscriptions enabled him to have a large and striking manse erected.

In addition to building the manse he made improvements in the Church by furnishing it with modern pews and a pulpit finely executed in pitch pine. In manse and renovated Church Rev. Smith left an abiding memorial of a strenuous ministry; on March 22, 1910, saw the ordination of the Rev. A. Scott.

Before coming to Upper Cumber. Feeling the handicap of the lack of a Lecture Hall he set about providing a suitable building; a piece of ground adjoining the Church was secured by deed dated August 26, 1914. The cost of building the hall was 658; and the larger part of this amount was collected by Mr Scott.

Rev Hugh McKinty was ordained on February 20, 1919. It was during his ministry, which like that of his predecessor, was greatly blessed to Upper Cumber people, that the praise service was enriched by the introduction of an organ.

May 21, 1926, was the beginning of the ministry of Rev Wm J. Nelson, BA. During his ministry the manse was renovated and a water supply provided.

On March 16, 1933 the Rev Robert J. Moorhead was installed. It was during his ministry the church was finally completed by the addition of a boundary wall and entrance gates. From inception to completion the project spread over approximately eighty years.

On March 1976 Cumber and Upper Cumber was once again united under the care of Rev William McKinney.

At the end of Rev McKinney's ministry it was decided to demolish the manse and rebuild on the same site.

The manse was completed during the ministry of Rev Ivan Wilson in 1988. It was also during the Rev Wilson ministry it was decided to build a new Church.

However due to legal battles with Government Heritage department the project was shelved until September 2009 when the Heritage department relented and allowed the restoration of the present building to take place, a project gladly undertaken by Maurice Craig and Uel Carmichael (congregational members) to whom we as a congregation owe a vote of thanks.

As for all to see the construction is of the highest quality - a much higher standard than one would expect from an unsupervised contractor.

This I pray will be a new beginning for Upper Cumber not in a sense that we lose our theological tradition cast in scripture but that we lose the baggage that causes us to be exclusive.

This is an opportunity to worship with the freedom of Biblical times and become not the church but brothers and sisters in the family of God.