On Monday, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland announced it has launched a statutory inquiry into the PCI and all its component elements.
The opening of the inquiry – the commission’s highest level of investigation – follows the Church’s recent announcement regarding safeguarding failings.
In a statement the Commission said the move reflects “the serious nature of the concerns raised” adding that they will work with the Church to ensure the safeguarding and governance issues are addressed and "appropriate remedial steps put in place".
It comes after former moderator Rev Trevor Gribben stood down after a review found “serious and significant failings” in central safeguarding functions from the period 2009 to 2022.
It emerged that failures included situations where the Church did not respond when people who had suffered harm sought help and instances where offenders returned to worship in church but were “inadequately monitored”.
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The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) subsequently launched a criminal investigation into the matter which remains active.
The PCI welcomed the police probe and said it would be cooperating fully.
Frances McCandless, chief executive of the Commission, said: “Safeguarding is fundamental to maintaining public trust in charities.
"Every charity must make the safety and wellbeing of those they serve their highest priority.”
In a statement, the PSNI confirmed its ongoing investigation into safeguarding concerns connected to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland remains active.
Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck said the PSNI is working closely with the Charity Commission.
“As previously confirmed, the Police Service has an ongoing investigation into safeguarding concerns connected to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland,” he added.
"This work remains active and will not be affected by the Charity Commission’s Inquiry processes.
“Safeguarding is a priority for the Police Service. We take any information suggesting risk or potential criminality extremely seriously.
“We are working closely with the Charity Commission and with other statutory and community safeguarding partners.
"This coordinated approach ensures that any concerns raised are fully examined and that appropriate steps are taken to address any criminality and to protect those who have been harmed and need help and support to access a wide range of services.”
Assistant Chief Constable Beck urged anyone affected or with information that may assist the police to come forward.
He added: “Dedicated specialist officers are available to ensure victims can access the criminal justice system and provide advice and support where necessary.
“Anyone with concerns can contact our dedicated team via email: PCIenquiry@psni.police.uk or by phoning 101.”
Following the announcement, the Church’s acting clerk Rev Dr David Allen, said the Church was “fully committed” to working with the Commission.
“Over the last number of weeks, we have been working with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and we welcome this announcement today,” Dr Allen said.
"PCI is fully committed to working with the Charity Commission to facilitate this inquiry and will cooperate fully in all aspects.
“As a denomination, we made an announcement on 12 November detailing significant failings in our central safeguarding processes and we have committed ourselves to doing whatever is required to regain the trust that we have lost.
"We believe that this inquiry will be one further step in this process.”
The church is set to hold a special General Assembly later this week.
A large gathering is expected at Assembly Buildings as ministers and elders meet in the wake of the church crisis.
The special assembly will be live streamed and be open to members of the public and the media.
Dr Allen added: “As part of our commitment to learn lessons and move forward, a number of resolutions will be proposed at the Special General Assembly, on Thursday of this week, which we believe will begin to make the changes required.”
Last month reporting by Sunday Life revealed the Commission has more than 550 open cases but only three people on its enquiries team.
In response to an FOI request the regulator admitted its “resources are not currently adequate to the scale of the task”.
It said it hoped to speed up the process but that was hampered by a legislative requirement that all decisions be made by commissioners.
It was also revealed that the average waiting time for the Commission’s enquiries team to assess a case and decide next steps is 186 days, but that a dossier of concerns about the PCI had been with the Commission for more than three years.
In November, the Commission said the time taken to investigate complaints varied from case to case.
It added: “While the commission aims to handle all concerns as quickly as it can, how long it takes depends on several things, like how complicated the case is, whether there’s any risk to the charity’s funds or the people it helps, how busy the commission is at the time, and whether other organisations are involved.
“Sometimes, the issues might also need to be monitored over a longer period.”
The PCI has around 180,000 members belonging to more than 500 congregations across 19 regional presbyteries across the island.