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There has been a huge increase in the number of Protestant
evangelical churches in Dublin.
A recent Irish Times story revealed that 130 evangelical
churches have sprung up in Dublin in recent years. Of these,
63 per cent have been formed in the past 25 years.
According to Stuart Kenny, a spokesman for the Evangelical
Alliance of Ireland, there is a myth that the rise has been
driven by non-Irish nationals arriving in the Republic of
Ireland in recent years.
"That is actually not strictly the case. Although the
survey suggests that some 22 per cent of the membership of
evangelical churches in Dublin are non-nationals, the vast
majority of these emerging congregations are Irish-born,"
said Mr Kenny.
Although evangelicals account for only one per cent of the
population of Dublin, the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland
says that hundreds of people are joining these congregations
on a weekly basis.
The Evangelical Christian churches come from a variety of
Christian traditions, including Baptist, Assemblies of God,
and other Pentecostal or Charismatic churches, and independent
fellowships.
It includes churches within Protestant denominations such
as the Church of Ireland and Presbyterian, where the local
church sees its ethos as evangelical.
All these churches share "a dual commitment to the final
and exclusive authority of the Bible and to the saving power
of the gospel as achieved in the atoning death of Jesus Christ".
Stuart Kenny said that the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland
estimates the total weekly congregation in evangelical churches
has risen to 13,000 members each week in the Dublin area alone.
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