5 Paulett Avenue · East Belfast
“They shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations.” Isaiah 61:4
Includes £150,000 already given
See the building today
Help us bring it back to life. One minute inside 5 Paulett Avenue – the pews, the organ and the stained glass, waiting under the dust.
A one-minute slideshow set to slow, melancholic strings, with no speech. It opens on the stone church at 5 Paulett Avenue and its overgrown yard, then moves inside: dusty pews and a broken organ console, the gallery seen from above with rows of empty pews under tall windows, peeling plaster, a framed portrait of a former minister and brass memorial plaques, and stained-glass windows still glowing through the dust. It ends on the empty sanctuary and its gallery.
The building
The former First Ballymacarrett Presbyterian Church was built nearly 190 years ago; its last service was held in 2010. They shall build the old wastes – and this time, you’re one of the builders.
How your gift rebuilds
From £1, once or monthly. If you pay UK tax, Gift Aid adds 25% – from HMRC, not from you.
Every gift lays a brick on the Wall – with your name on it, or given quietly.
Phase 1 makes 5 Paulett safe, watertight and usable – the hall first, aiming for spring 2027.
The story in numbers
Ballymacarrett was a district of hand-loom weavers with no place of worship of its own until, in 1835, local Presbyterians resolved to change that. The church at the end of Paulett Avenue opened on 23 April 1837, its Lecture Hall followed in 1928, and after 173 years of worship the last service was held in 2010 and the building was sold. For sixteen years it stood empty and silent. In October 2026, Place of Victory for All Nations purchased 5 Paulett Avenue, and its doors are ready to open again. Read our history.
Church opened
1837
23 April 1837, at the end of Paulett Avenue, in a district of hand-loom weavers.
Lecture Hall
1928
Built for the congregation’s young people, opened by the Duchess of Abercorn.
Last service
2010
12 September 2010, after 173 years of worship. Listed that December.
Keys received
7.10.26
Purchased by Place of Victory for All Nations. The roof, the stone and the windows are still ahead.
Hall open by
Spring ’27
Six months’ notice on our current venue – so the hall comes first.
Imagine it restored
Stained glass with no one to see it. Pews with no one to sit in them. That is what we inherited. What we see is a house full again – music through the whole building, generations gathered beneath the same roof, and doors open to East Belfast all week long.
“Let us rise up and build.”
Nehemiah 2:18
Pick your brick
For example, here is what a gift could help with.
Take your part of the wall
Tap or hover a brick to see who laid it. Gold bricks were given quietly.
Fundraisers
As a familyFamilies, alumni, ministries and friends each take a section of the wall.
Start a fundraiserThe vision
Prayer rising for Belfast, for Northern Ireland and for the nations.
Generation after generation gathering to lift His name.
Teaching that disciples, equips and sends people out.
Children find Christ, young people find purpose.
Marriages strengthened, families supported, everyone belongs.
Doors open to serve and bring hope to East Belfast.
A church built nearly 190 years ago, honoured and passed on.
People of every culture worshipping and building together.
Every gift – direct or through a fundraiser – goes into one restoration fund for 5 Paulett Avenue. Gifts go to RCCG Place of Victory for All Nations, Belfast, NI charity no. NIC102584.