Sunday Worship 11.00 am and 6.30 pm Minister: Dr William (Bill) J M Parker
OUR GOVERNANCE AND STRUCTURE
OUR GOVERNANCE
AND STRUCTURE
Sinclair’s, as it is affectionately known, is one of 22 local fellowships in the North Belfast Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI). As a fellowship, Sinclair’s yields submission in the Lord to the higher Courts of PCI. There are two:
1. The General Assembly.
It meets each year and consists of all ministers plus representative elder(s) from each congregation and is the highest governing body.
2. Presbytery.
It meets at least seven times each year. There are 19 Presbyteries in Ireland.
At the local level is the Kirk Session of the congregation. Sinclair’s Kirk Session, a court of the Church, meets approximately nine times in a year. It consists of all the elders elected by the members of Sinclair Seamen’s and ordained by the Presbytery of North Belfast. The main responsibility of the Kirk Session is spiritual oversight of the congregation of Sinclair’s.
Sinclair’s Congregational Committee meets regularly, and its main responsibility is to oversee and manage the finances and buildings that belong to the congregation.
Full communicant members of Sinclair’s are those who have been received on profession of faith by the Kirk Session or by transfer from another fellowship of believers. Communicant members have a voice in calling a minister or associate minister, electing elders and committee persons, and in regular or special congregational meetings concerning church initiatives that require the backing of the congregation before being taken to the next level of decision making (if necessary). To be a voter and have such a voice, a communicant member must be a regular contributor to the Free Will Offering scheme in the congregation.