Paisley tells east Belfast congregation he intends to write his autobiography
Ian Paisley founded his breakaway church in 1951 after a split with the main Presbyterian church. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod
Ian Paisley has retired from ministry in the fundamentalist Protestant church he founded 60 years ago.
The 85-year-old has stepped down from his role as a minister in the Free Presbyterian Church.
Paisley told the Martyrs Memorial Church he helped build in East Belfast of his decision on Sunday. He intends to devote his time to writing his autobiography.
The former first minister of Northern Ireland founded his breakaway church in 1951 after a split with the main Presbyterian church over its embrace of ecumenism and greater links with the Roman Catholic church.
Addressing his congregation at the church on the Ravenhill Road Paisley informed them of his intention to finally pen his memoirs.
"I will be telling some stories that will make some people laugh and others blush," he said.
For most of its six decades in existence Paisley was moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church. Despite being a relatively small denomination it wielded enormous political influence on rightwing unionist politics. During the years of the Troubles the Free Presbyterian Church became the Democratic Unionist party-at prayer.
Almost all the leading figures of the party, which Paisley founded in the early 1970s, were members of the church. The exception was his closest aide and confidant Peter Robinson, the current first minister, who was a member of the Independent Methodist church.
During his long tenure as head of the Free Presbyterians, Paisley embarked on several high-profile moral crusades, including an unsuccessful battle to oppose the legalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland. In response to Paisley's Save Ulster From Sodomy campaign the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Movement depicted the DUP leader as an "ayatollah" who was the enemy of individual freedom in Northern Ireland.
Free Presbyterians in the DUP also used their influence on councils to close parks and playgrounds on Sundays and even opposed a rock concert by ELO in a Ballymena leisure centre because it was being held on a Sunday.
The 85-year-old has stepped down from his role as a minister in the Free Presbyterian Church.
Paisley told the Martyrs Memorial Church he helped build in East Belfast of his decision on Sunday. He intends to devote his time to writing his autobiography.
The former first minister of Northern Ireland founded his breakaway church in 1951 after a split with the main Presbyterian church over its embrace of ecumenism and greater links with the Roman Catholic church.
Addressing his congregation at the church on the Ravenhill Road Paisley informed them of his intention to finally pen his memoirs.
"I will be telling some stories that will make some people laugh and others blush," he said.
For most of its six decades in existence Paisley was moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church. Despite being a relatively small denomination it wielded enormous political influence on rightwing unionist politics. During the years of the Troubles the Free Presbyterian Church became the Democratic Unionist party-at prayer.
Almost all the leading figures of the party, which Paisley founded in the early 1970s, were members of the church. The exception was his closest aide and confidant Peter Robinson, the current first minister, who was a member of the Independent Methodist church.
During his long tenure as head of the Free Presbyterians, Paisley embarked on several high-profile moral crusades, including an unsuccessful battle to oppose the legalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland. In response to Paisley's Save Ulster From Sodomy campaign the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Movement depicted the DUP leader as an "ayatollah" who was the enemy of individual freedom in Northern Ireland.
Free Presbyterians in the DUP also used their influence on councils to close parks and playgrounds on Sundays and even opposed a rock concert by ELO in a Ballymena leisure centre because it was being held on a Sunday.
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