Rev. McGeown has sworn to uphold the doctrines of the Scriptures, as these are summarized in the Reformed Creeds (the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dordt), and by word and example to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Head of the church, which God has chosen in love and Christ has purchased with His own blood.
Our pastor is originally from County Tyrone. He grew up in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI), and although he was an active member in that church, and even considered the ordained ministry in that denomination, he became distressed by its rampant apostasy. Sadly, the PCI has departed from the faith once delivered to the saints. Higher critical unbelief of the Holy Scriptures, Arminianism, false ecumenism (notably with Rome, but also with other apostate “Protestant” bodies), women office bearers, unbiblical worship and other errors mar a church which once stood faithfully on the Word of God as they are summarized in the Westminster Confession and Catechisms. Mr. McGeown initially hoped, as many do who discover apostasy in the church of their youth, that the church could be reformed by a conservative, evangelical element from the inside. However, it became apparent to him that the so-called “Evangelical Wing” of the PCI was ineffective at best and compromised at worst. These factors forced Mr. McGeown to reconsider his membership in the PCI and eventually with a heavy heart to resign.
Having found a church in Ballymena, Covenant Protestant Reformed Church (CPRC), which by the grace of God bears the three marks of a true instituted congregation of Jesus Christ (the pure preaching of the gospel, the proper administration of the two sacraments and faithful church discipline), Mr. McGeown joined the saints there to worship God according to His Word. In October 2005 he became a full member of the CPRC. In September 2006, Mr. McGeown began a four year course in the Protestant Reformed Theological School in Grandville, Michigan, USA. There he was instructed in Reformed doctrine (Theology, Anthropology, Christology, Soteriology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology), Church History and Biblical Languages, and trained to preach (Homiletics), interpret the sacred Scriptures (Hermeneutics, Exegesis), teach the covenant children and young people (Catechetics) and minister to the needs of God’s people from the Word of God (Poimenics) as well as other disciplines.
In June 2010, Mr. McGeown graduated from the Seminary, having been examined by the Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches. On his return to N. Ireland he was called by the CPRC to be their missionary-pastor to Limerick, and having accepted that call and having been ordained by the elders of the CPRC (July 2010) he now works with the Limerick Reformed Fellowship under the oversight of the Council of the CPRC.
Rev. McGeown has sworn to uphold the doctrines of the Scriptures, as these are summarized in the Reformed Creeds (the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dordt), and by word and example to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Head of the church, which God has chosen in love and Christ has purchased with His own blood.
