It is just over 10 years since the constitution of our new congregation here in Maynooth. As we prepared for, and then enjoyed, our 10th birthday service at the end of last year, it was very encouraging to reflect back over this first decade and realise afresh all that God has done amongst us.
I can still remember driving west from Lucan to our very first Bible study gathering in Maynooth and wondering if anyone would show up. To see God working amongst us since then, and taking us from being a small group of enthusiastic, but uncertain, believers to a stable congregation in which people have come to know the Lord and have grown in their faith, has truly been a privilege.
Along the way, we have been so blessed through the prayers and support of our wider PCI (Presbyterian Church in Ireland) family and we want to say a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to you all for your partnership with us in this journey.
New Building Project
Our big news at the moment is that we are hoping that 2018 will see the beginning of our new church building project. Maynooth Community Church has met in six different locations since our beginning and currently meets in a corridor over Dunnes Stores in Manor Mills Shopping Centre, Maynooth.
All our venues, including our current one, have been a blessing but we are delighted that Kildare County Council has agreed to sell us a 3.2 acre site just off Main Street in Maynooth and that circumstances have allowed us to move towards building the first phase in our longed-for permanent home there.
As part of its growing residential size, Maynooth has over 2,000 secondary school pupils and 12,000 university students who gather here. These demographics bring with them a wonderful opportunity to bear witness to the gospel and we are very excited about the possibility of having more space and more access to it, to enable us to expand our service and outreach to our wider community in the years ahead. If our fundraising goes well, we hope to apply for planning permission before the summer.
Future Plans
As the year moves forward, we would love you to continue praying for us as we seek to follow God’s leading about our building plans and also for our ongoing efforts to build a connection with, and bring the good news of Jesus to, those around us here in north County Kildare.
In particular, we would value your prayers:
For our leaders, that God would strengthen and equip them through this time of change and development.
For our home groups.
For our youth ministry as we love and disciple our own kids.
For our outreach, as we seek to bring the gospel to the many others who live here, and for our work with students at Maynooth University, especially as we try to develop our role within the campus chaplaincy service.
For our Alpha courses and those from our community who come along to explore the basics of Jesus’ message.
We are honoured to be a small part of our wider PCI family and thank you again for all your prayers and support for our work.
Rev. Keith McCrory is minister of Maynooth Presbyterian Church in County Kildare, which is known locally as Maynooth Community Church or MCC. This blog first appeared as an article in the February 2018 edition of the Presbyterian Herald.
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