Archives for

Article

Statement from the Session of Hebron Free Presbyterian Church

Hebron Free Presbyterian Church, Ballymoney, Northern Ireland

The following statement was issued today by the Free Presbyterian Church in Ballymoney in response to a protest mounted by members of the Burke family against Mr Mervyn Storey, an elder in the Ballymoney Church.

The protest was about the hypocrisy of Mr Storey occupying the chair of the Board of the Education Authority (EA), which is charged with administering advice to pupils entitled ‘Guidance for Schools on Supporting Transgender Young People’. The ‘guidance’, we are told in the document is issued to, ‘represent emerging good practice regarding the support of transgender young people and should be considered carefully.’

It basically entails an endorsement of the perversion of today and encourages support for any pupils that desire to embrace them!

Mervyn Storey was appointed by his friend, Education Minister Paul Givan, with effect from 1 January 2025.

The following statement from Hebron Session has much to say about the manner of the Burke protest and I am sure there will be those who share, at least to some measure, misgivings about what happened during the protest.

However, there seems to a losing sight of the hypocrisy of Mr Storey, one of the members of the Session which issued the statement. He is neither defended nor criticised. There is total silence regarding him!

As I have highlighted again in my article :—

‘Mervyn Storey challenged – why no answer?’

This is not the first time that Mr Storey has acted in a fashion contrary to his ordination oath as an elder.

Why has the Session of Hebron church made no mention of the wrong-doing of Mervyn Storey?

Silence and smoke-screens are not part of a faithful Christian witness.

Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
8th August 2025

Statement from the Session of Hebron Free Presbyterian Church

8 August 2025

On Sunday night 3rd August 2025 our congregation in Hebron Free Presbyterian Church, Ballymoney, suffered an unseemly attack by some members of the Burke family from Co. Mayo. They entered our church property not to worship but create havoc, filmed without permission, and engaged in shouting and heckling, harassing those who had gathered to worship God. After a blessed day of Christian fellowship and gospel preaching, such behaviour on the part of the Burke’s was totally out of order. Their reprehensible conduct caused great annoyance to the entire congregation, especially to young children and some elderly who had to be evacuated through a side door to avoid their confrontational conduct. Their acclaimed purpose? To call into question our church’s integrity regarding its stance on the issue of transgenderism. Therefore, lest anyone should not be aware of the Burke’s methodology in placing doubt where it doesn’t belong, the Kirk Session of Hebron Free Presbyterian Church reaffirms unanimously our belief and acceptance of the Bible’s teaching on moral values.  (more…)

A warning from a reader

“Mr. Foster, your recent emails are going into the Junk Folder and could be easily missed—maybe alert your other supporters.”

Maybe any reader who has not been receiving my emails of late should check their ‘junk/spam’ folders.

In fact, it’s always a good idea to review your spam folder / junk mail folder on a weekly basis to see whether there are any legitimate emails that you would want to read. Don’t allow them to pile up!

This is the second reader who has had this problem in very recent days!

HERE IS ONE CURE!

1. Open your spam or junk email folder.

2. Review the contents of that folder to locate the misdirected email.

3. Open the email and look for an option like “Not junk,” “Not spam,” or “Move to inbox”.

4. This action not only moves the email to your inbox, but also signals to your email provider that the sender is legitimate.  Particularly if you are using Gmail, it will modify its spam filter to properly deliver emails from that sender to your inbox in the future.

Sincerely in Christ’s name,

Ivan Foster

“What can we do?”

That question has been asked of me quite a number of times since the video depicting two members of the Burke family challenging Mervyn Storey regarding his position on  ‘transgender ideology’.

(Mervyn Storey challenged — why no answer ????)

The ‘Belfast Telegraph’ report, which I quoted from in my article on the matter, states: ‘The pair accused Mr Storey of “enforcing transgender ideology” through his role as Chair of the Education Authority (EA) board. The ex-MLA was appointed to the role by Education Minister Paul Givan in 2024.The Burkes’ claims relate to an EA document entitled ‘Guidance for Schools on Supporting Transgender Young People’, a document first published in 2019.’

I understand that ‘The Chairperson role requires a three days-a-week commitment, with annual remuneration between £50,000 and £60,000 (subject to negotiation within this range). Travel and subsistence expenses will also be reimbursed for costs incurred while carrying out EA duties.’ (Education Authority website).

However, such remuneration will not compensate one who violates a solemn oath made to the Lord and who proves unfaithful to the Lord they profess to obey and follow on that ‘great day’!

The video and the newspaper report on the confrontation has caused quite a stir amongst Free Presbyterians.

In truth, it should come as no surprise since the two-facedness of Mervyn Storey has been known to Free Presbyterians for quite sometime.

I have highlighted his hypocrisy in the ‘Burning Bush’ on quite a number of occasions and have drawn Presbytery’s attention to his repeated violation of his ordination oath as an elder of Ballymoney Free Presbyterian Church. (more…)