St.. Mungo’s, Balerno, Scotland.
Tucked away in the Village of Balerno, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, this is the Church where I first publicly confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. An evangelical church that drew, and still draws, people from across the denominational spectrum. The building above seats less than a hundred, so with a congregation of 150 the decision was made in the early 80s to meet in local schools. From 1984 the church had its main meetings in Balerno High School and subsequently grew to about 500. A text book case in church growth!
St.. Mungo’s, Balerno, Scotland.
A photo from the 1980s, showing a clear sign of the charismatic renewal of the times – the projector screen! The circular window to the top predated the renewal but was certainly prophetic: The Holy Spirit as a dove dive-bombing with fire!
Barvas Parish Church, Isle of Lewis, Scotland.
It was at this church, on the Isle of Lewis, that Duncan Campbell started his mission in 1949, at the beginning of the Hebridean revival. Duncan Campbell described revival as “a community saturated with God”.
Former Highland Tolbooth, St. John’s Church, Edinburgh.
Originally built to house the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, it later became a parish church with both Gaelic and English services. It closed in 1979, and the building has found a new use as “The Hub”, the home of Edinburgh’s International Festival, and a cafe. It is typical of many closed city centre churches, whose demise is a complex mixture of causes: church decline, denominational merger, past over-building, decline of a language and depopulation of city centres.
Glenelg Christian Fellowship
I came across the sign for the Glenelg Christian Fellowship in 2016. They were meeting in a hall in Glenelg on the Scottish mainland just across from the isle of Skye. The sign creates a sense of anticipation that “something good is happening here”. Sadly, we were not here on a Sunday to find out. It is connected with the Skye Bible Church, which is affiliated with the Apostolic church. The Glenelg congregation does not appear open at present (2022). The church set-up reflects the challenges of church life in a sparsely populated area.
Glen Lyon Parish Church
Glen Lyon parish church is located in Innerwick, about halfway along the 25 mile long Glen Lyon. People from this glen were involved in the Breadalbane revival in the early 1800s. There was no church in the glen and inhabitants had to travel many miles to the revival centre at Ardeonaig, or to the independent church in Aberfeldy. Glen Lyon church was built in 1828 with government funds, probably to accommodate the converts of the revival. Later in the century, politics and economics caused outward migration from the glen so these days its population is low. Services are now rare at this church as much to do with declining populations as well as declining spiritual interest.
The Tron Church is a Glasgow city centre church with a strong evangelical theology. The left picture shows its building on Bath Street, one of three centres in the city. For generations the congregation met in the St George’s Tron building, right picture. In 2012, the congregation moved from St George’s after they chose to secede from The Church of Scotland because of that denomination’s increasingly liberal beliefs on sexual beliefs. The church is the people, not the building, and this church’s ministry to Glasgow continues despite the disruption.