Christ Church Rathgar Closed Now

How does one ‘briefly’ report the history of a congregation that is celebrated its 150^th birthday in 2009? So much has happened and so much is still happening that this can only be a snap shot of a congregation, which has faithfully sought to witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ over a century and a half.

In 1859 there were at least a score of Presbyterians living in the Rathmines Rathgar area and in September of that year, six men petitioned the Presbytery of Dublin to establish a regular Sunday evening service in the old school house in Rathmines. Early in November of the same year, permission was granted and the congregation was born. At the first meeting of the Church committee £725 was pledged by 20 members and the decision was taken to seek out a suitable site for a Presbyterian Church to be built. By December, steps were being taken to acquire the present site.  A call was issued to the Rev. William Fleming Stevenson and in January 1860, he began his ministry in Rathmines.