Paisley to step down as head of church he founded

First Minister Dr Ian Paisley will not seek re-election as moderator of the church he founded more than 50 years ago, following…

First Minister Dr Ian Paisley will not seek re-election as moderator of the church he founded more than 50 years ago, following a meeting of its governing body in Belfast at the weekend.

Some sources claim that his decision to stand aside is linked to his decision to enter a powersharing arrangement with Sinn Féin at Stormont, but a church representative said that the decision was Dr Paisley's and that he was happy with it.

Around 200 church elders and ministers arrived at their decision to hold elections for the post of moderator after a five-hour debate. Their deliberations included discussions on a special report drawn up by the presbytery on Dr Paisley's roles as head of the church while sharing power with republicans at Stormont.

It is now expected that elections for the position of moderator will be held early in the new year.

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"It was agreed by an overwhelming majority of members that all presbytery offices remain as at present for the remainder of this calendar year," according to a church statement.

"In January, all offices will be vacated. Dr Paisley has indicated that he will not be standing for the office of moderator of presbytery."

However, the Press Association has quoted one church source as saying: "It became very obvious that if he did stand, he would lose and in those circumstances he pleaded with them not to humiliate him and just let it run to the end of the year and just walk away."

Dr Paisley's DUP has witnessed a string of resignations following his agreement with Sinn Féin to share power on May 8th, the most high-profile being the loss of European Parliament member Jim Allister.

The Free Presbyterian Church, which is fundamentalist and opposed to ecumenism, was set up on St Patrick's Day, 1951 in Crossgar, Co Down. With some 60 congregations in Northern Ireland and a further 100 worldwide, the church claims some 10,000 members.

Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward has played down the potential of any church opposition to powersharing to damage the stability of the Stormont Executive.

He told the BBC on Saturday that he firmly believed there was broad unionist support for Dr Paisley's decision to go into Government alongside Martin McGuinness.