To make sense of this post read the earlier one from October 21 about my visit to the Great Western Auction Rooms, now located in what used to be Whiteinch Baptist Church. As noted there, the church closed in 1975/6, and I said something about what might have brought that about.
In George Yuille’s History of Baptists in Scotland, published in the mid 1920’s, the following account is given of Whiteinch Baptist Church – we are talking only 80 years ago, so the church closed 50 years after the following was written. Read and ponder:
The church was formed in 1906, with a membership of 14. the Pioneer Mission took the Church under its care, and the Rev W J Batters of the Ayrshire Christian Union, was called to the pastorate. mr batters rendered yeoman service to the cause and during his ministry the present iron and wood buildings were erected at a cost of £670. The Sunday services previous to this were held in the Whiteinch Burgh Hall, and the week night services in the Co-operative Hall. The lack of suitable premises, and the burden of hall rents made progress difficult during this period. In August 1908, the Church took possession of the new buildings and the membership considerably increased. In 1910 there were over 100 members. After seven years of faithful work, mr batters resigned, and in 1913 Rev J V W Thynne was settled as Pastor. Mr Thynne did well, but his pastorate was brief and in 1915 he was succeeded by Rev John Campbell, of Burra isle. In 1922 much to the regret of the Whiteinch congregation, Mr Campbell accepted a call to George Street Baptist church, Paisley. After a long vacancy of 19 months, the present minister, Rev J S Andrews, of Londonderry, was called to the pastorate. The present membership is 220, and the building is now quite inadequate to the needs of the church. A new Building Scheme costing £6000 has been launched and the members are working heartily to complete it. The record of the Church from the beginning has been one of hard work in face of many difficulties, and progress has been slow. A brighter day seems now to have dawned. Difficulties have been overcome, new opportunities are presenting themselves. A new spirit pervades the Church, and the future is full of hope.
And within 50 years it was closed. Why churches close is as important a question as how churches begin. How does ‘a future filled with hope’ last only 50 years? This isn’t a question about this one church, but a question whose answers, and there will be a good few of them, need to be discerned, considered and, excuse the grammar, learned from.
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