Connor Presbyterian Church

History

Presbyterian worship at Connor dates from the middle of the seventeenth century, and the congregation's own history records older traces of a religious settlement on the site. Robert Dewart was reported to be on trials in March 1658 and was ordained soon after, but he was deposed in 1661. David Cunningham was licensed in October 1671 and, because the intolerance of the period made a public ceremony inadvisable, was ordained privately at Cairncastle on 27 March 1672 with Rev Patrick Adair presiding. He served until his death on 21 May 1697, and as late as 1688 the congregation's elder, James Brown, was promising the Presbytery that they would bestir themselves to get up arrears due to him.

Charles Masterton was ordained here on 17 May 1704 and was called to Rosemary Street in Belfast in February 1723. Henry Henry of Garvagh, installed on 9 December 1788, became Moderator of the Synod of Ulster in 1807 and died on 11 November 1840 after the longest ministry the congregation had then known. According to the congregation's own history, the Ulster awakening of 1859 began within the congregation at Connor during the ministry of John Hamilton Moore, who was ordained here on 6 July 1840 and moved to the newly built church at Elmwood in 1862.

A suite of church halls was added to the church building and opened on 8 April 1972.