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New congregation begun in Ireland via Internet

May 25, 2011

SLIGO, Ireland (BNc) - On Lord’s day May 22, a new congregation began meeting in Sligo, Ireland.

After James Warnock (right) baptized Keith Scanlon and Laura Hayes into Christ on May 22, 2011, they met together to break bread in memory of the Lord for the first time.

The story began many years ago when, as a boy, James Warnock was beaten by his teacher (it was allowed then). What had he done? He had refused to kiss the Bishop’s ring! When the Catholic Bishop visited the schools, all the pupils had to file up and kiss the Bishop’s ring. James refused.

Later, as a young man, he noticed things in the Bible that were in conflict with Catholic practice. He asked his priest about this and was told, “Well, son, the Bible is a very old book, so you shouldn’t take it too seriously.”

This launched a search for truth that took many years. He was baptized in a Pentecostal church in 1995, but eventually left because they were not following the Bible. He investigated the Methodist and Baptist churches and was told that one church is as good as another. He could not accept that. He was impressed by a Brethren fellowship not far from where he was living at the time, but was amazed that they would have to vote to decide if he could be a member.

He said, “I was so discouraged that I was ready to give up. But I prayed that the Lord would help me find people who were following the Bible.” Shortly thereafter he came upon articles by Roy Davison in the Old Paths Archive (http://www.oldpaths.com/RD). He commented, “I started reading the articles thinking, ‘Well, I wonder what will be wrong with this?’” As he read article after article he thought, “It’s based on the Bible!” In December of 2010 he sent an e-mail to brother Davison.

He also started listening to radio sermons by V. E. Howard (http://www.vehoward.net/) not realizing that the two were of the same fellowship. He listened to sermon after sermon until he had listened to most of the 200 lessons on the Internet! (Even regular listeners of brother Howard during his lifetime heard only one lesson each week. Via the Internet James listened to more than 100 lessons within a few weeks!)

He contacted Chuck Richardson, who had digitized brother Howard’s lessons for the Old Paths Archive, and Chuck forwarded his message to brother Davison in Belgium.

From the articles and audio sermons James concluded that his baptism in the Pentecostal church was not valid. He needed to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins.

Brother Davison put him in contact with Colin Graham in Northern Ireland, who went down and baptized him on 18 January 2011.

James served the Lord as best he could as an isolated Christian, and prayed that he would find others in his area. Via Skype he started having weekly Bible studies with brother Davison and also began teaching the gospel to two local people who showed an interest.

On Sunday, May 22, James baptized Keith Scanlon and Laura Hayes into Christ. Afterward the three of them broke bread in memory of the Lord, and James discussed from the Scriptures what it means to be a Christian.

The website for the church of Christ in county Sligo, Ireland is  http://www.churchofchrist-ireland.com/ if you wish to get in touch.

Written by Roy Davison · Filed Under Missions 

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