Boards and Committees of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

The General Assembly is the supreme governing council of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, and it represents both all individual congregations and the various boards and committees that deal with the day-to-day running of the various aspects of church life. The General Assembly is the Church's supreme legislative, administrative and judicial authority, and like all other subordinate courts and congregation is governed by its own code.

It is the Assembly's responsibility to establish missions and agencies for Christian service and outreach. These are supported by the whole Church through prayer, gifts and personal service. The supervision of these missions and agencies is delegated to various Boards and Commissions, who can delegate smaller areas of the work to committees. All these are appointed with the authority of the Assembly and must report to the assembly via a member of the Board who is known as the Convener.

The head of the General Assembly is the Moderator. This is an elected post and changes yearly. The members of the Assembly are: all ministers (including retired ministers), an elder from each congregation, representatives of women's and youth organisations, deaconesses and delegates from sister churches who may speak but who have no vote.

This directory lists the Boards and Committees of the Presbyterian Church and will hopefully give you an overview of their areas of work.