#presbyterian — Public Fediverse posts

Ellinwood extols medical missionaries who brought vaccines, drainage, sanitation, and anesthetics to the developing world—heritage of all nations. Was this distraction from the gospel or its fruit? Certain Christians today pursue a rather different conquest, whose benefits appear less universally distributed.

#presbyterian #missions #missionaries #evangelism #development

Barnes: no topic receives more thorough biblical treatment than oppression, and slavery is its perfect embodiment. Everyone agrees oppression is civilization’s most urgent category. The disagreement is purely about which sufferers qualify. On-topic sufferers demand advocacy; mentioning off-topic ones is reframed as oppression itself. Barnes, reading scripture, did not appear to have a list.

#presbyterian #christian #examinedlife

On behalf of the Office of the Dean at Eden Theological Seminary, I congratulate Rev. Dr. Kris Schondelmeyer (M.Div. 2010) and Rev. Marta Pumroy-Cordero for their election as the #GA227 Co-Moderators of the @presbyterian Church (USA). Their vision of a #church as "being the leaves" of healing for the nations is what is necessary now. Congratulations and blessings on their leadership!

@theology @theologidons @reformedcomunio @pcusa #presbyterian

https://pcusa.org/news-storytelling/news/2026/7/2/pumroy-cordero-and-schondelmeyer-are-elected-moderators-first-ballot

On behalf of the Office of the Dean at Eden Theological Seminary, I congratulate Rev. Dr. Kris Schondelmeyer (M.Div. 2010) and Rev. Marta Pumroy-Cordero for their election as the #GA227 Co-Moderators of the @presbyterian Church (USA). Their vision of a #church as "being the leaves" of healing for the nations is what is necessary now. Congratulations and blessings on their leadership!

@theology @theologidons @reformedcomunio @pcusa #presbyterian

https://pcusa.org/news-storytelling/news/2026/7/2/pumroy-cordero-and-schondelmeyer-are-elected-moderators-first-ballot

One of my spouse's favorite Professors from seminary recent got a bobblehead in the National #National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum.

Woman was kind enough to let me take a photo of the Cindy Rigby bobblehead even though it wasn't shelf ready yet.

#CindyRigby #AustinPresbyterianSeminary #Bobblehead #NationalBobbleheadHallOfFameAndMuseum #b_religion #Religion #Presbyterian

One of my spouse's favorite Professors from seminary recent got a bobblehead in the National #National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum.

Woman was kind enough to let me take a photo of the Cindy Rigby bobblehead even though it wasn't shelf ready yet.

#CindyRigby #AustinPresbyterianSeminary #Bobblehead #NationalBobbleheadHallOfFameAndMuseum #b_religion #Religion #Presbyterian

M’Crie quotes an Inquisition victim who cried out to God, preferring cannibals to his baptized tormentors. M’Crie—a Reformed historian—neither flinches nor excuses it. The title says it all: the Reformation’s heirs were the primary targets, and they’re the ones who preserved the memory. If you’re Christian, don’t be a fiend. If you’re not, consider who kept this story alive, and why.

#reformed #reformedtheology #presbyterian #christian #inquisition

M’Crie quotes an Inquisition victim who cried out to God, preferring cannibals to his baptized tormentors. M’Crie—a Reformed historian—neither flinches nor excuses it. The title says it all: the Reformation’s heirs were the primary targets, and they’re the ones who preserved the memory. If you’re Christian, don’t be a fiend. If you’re not, consider who kept this story alive, and why.

#reformed #reformedtheology #presbyterian #christian #inquisition

Robinson—English Presbyterian minister—observes that wealth confers a particular capacity poverty does not: to relieve prisoners, feed the hungry, ransom captives. He frames this as mercy from God, an opportunity rather than mere possession. One notes that considerable contemporary wealth appears directed at the opposite project: persuading the rest of us to feel less compassion for those being imprisoned or starved. Same resource. Rather different application.

#presbyterian #puritan #blessing

Nott reads Job 29 against the poverty of his city. Job didn’t merely give aid; he rescued and delighted the suffering, made the widow’s heart sing. Nott applies this to scenes that would chill one’s blood: snow through roof holes, families without fuel. His response is prayer for relief, not theological satisfaction in the spectacle. Some contemporary commentary manages the opposite.

#presbyterian #christian #bookofjob #neighborlove

Hamilton—Scottish Presbyterian—unpacks “blessed are the merciful” with some precision. Blessed are those with eyes open to discern misery and ears to hear its cry. And blessed are those for whom love of Christ and concern for souls together actually produce endeavour. Not sentiment. Not awareness alone. Endeavour. What misery have you discerned this week, and what, specifically, have you done about it?

#presbyterian #beatitudes #mercy

Hamilton—Scottish Presbyterian—unpacks “blessed are the merciful” with some precision. Blessed are those with eyes open to discern misery and ears to hear its cry. And blessed are those for whom love of Christ and concern for souls together actually produce endeavour. Not sentiment. Not awareness alone. Endeavour. What misery have you discerned this week, and what, specifically, have you done about it?

#presbyterian #beatitudes #mercy

Downame—Westminster Assembly, on the godly life—invokes Micah 6 with precision. God is not pleased by thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil, nor even the sacrifice of firstborn children. What he wants is justice and mercy. One notes that certain Christian coaching fires on rather different cylinders: substantial financial sacrifice, time away from family, and a notably selective application of mercy. Micah apparently had different priorities than the current curriculum.

#presbyterian

Downame—Westminster Assembly, on the godly life—invokes Micah 6 with precision. God is not pleased by thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil, nor even the sacrifice of firstborn children. What he wants is justice and mercy. One notes that certain Christian coaching fires on rather different cylinders: substantial financial sacrifice, time away from family, and a notably selective application of mercy. Micah apparently had different priorities than the current curriculum.

#presbyterian

Grosvenor isn’t smuggling in works-righteousness — he’s simply noting that Christ, at the Judgment, asks about visiting the sick. That’s Matthew 25; it’s right there. One can debate the precise soteriological plumbing all one likes, but at some point the text does require you to have an answer for what you did with it, not merely what you thought about it.

#christian #presbyterian #christianliving #healthcare #matthew25 #biblestudy

Grosvenor isn’t smuggling in works-righteousness — he’s simply noting that Christ, at the Judgment, asks about visiting the sick. That’s Matthew 25; it’s right there. One can debate the precise soteriological plumbing all one likes, but at some point the text does require you to have an answer for what you did with it, not merely what you thought about it.

#christian #presbyterian #christianliving #healthcare #matthew25 #biblestudy

Wylie’s Reformed Presbyterian church didn’t merely wring its hands over slavery — they barred slaveholders from communion. Full stop. Some traditions today treat condemning slaveholders as unseemly overreach, as if the real problem were Christians being too exercised about buying and selling human beings. Wylie would find that puzzling. His church had a mechanism: you traffic in persons, you leave the table.

#presbyterian

Wylie’s Reformed Presbyterian church didn’t merely wring its hands over slavery — they barred slaveholders from communion. Full stop. Some traditions today treat condemning slaveholders as unseemly overreach, as if the real problem were Christians being too exercised about buying and selling human beings. Wylie would find that puzzling. His church had a mechanism: you traffic in persons, you leave the table.

#presbyterian

Brown of Edinburgh on 1 Peter 4:9: hospitality offered grudgingly loses more than half its value. Good deeds are acceptable to God only when they embody love; gratifying to recipients only when they appear to. God sees the intent; the recipient feels what is projected. One wonders what charity projects when dispensed with visible contempt for the undeserving.

#presbyterian #hospitality #deservingpoor #charity #godliness #bible

Brown of Edinburgh on 1 Peter 4:9: hospitality offered grudgingly loses more than half its value. Good deeds are acceptable to God only when they embody love; gratifying to recipients only when they appear to. God sees the intent; the recipient feels what is projected. One wonders what charity projects when dispensed with visible contempt for the undeserving.

#presbyterian #hospitality #deservingpoor #charity #godliness #bible

As a #liberal and as a former member of the #Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), I am delighted and encouraged by the information in the article #Hymns That #Resist #Christian #Nationalism from the Presbyterian News Service. 😊 https://pcusa.org/news-storytelling/news/2026/5/26/hymns-resist-christian-nationalism

As a #liberal and as a former member of the #Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), I am delighted and encouraged by the information in the article #Hymns That #Resist #Christian #Nationalism from the Presbyterian News Service. 😊 https://pcusa.org/news-storytelling/news/2026/5/26/hymns-resist-christian-nationalism

Boardman—Presbyterian, Philadelphia—describes John Howard’s mercy mission across Europe, city to city, until Howard dies of typhus contracted visiting a prison in what is now Ukraine. Paths still radiant with celestial light. One notes that figures currently described in celestial terms tend not to have acquired their reputation through prison visiting. Howard’s path remains unfashionable.

#christian #mercy #heroes #faith #presbyterian

Boardman—Presbyterian, Philadelphia—describes John Howard’s mercy mission across Europe, city to city, until Howard dies of typhus contracted visiting a prison in what is now Ukraine. Paths still radiant with celestial light. One notes that figures currently described in celestial terms tend not to have acquired their reputation through prison visiting. Howard’s path remains unfashionable.

#christian #mercy #heroes #faith #presbyterian

#MCDOWELL #PRESBYTERIAN #CHURCH www.perplexity.ai/search/new?q... SEO - Creates Semantic Nodes and Clusters. AÉPIOT ( #aePiot ): INDEPENDENT SEMANTIC WEB 4.0 INFRASTRUCTURE (EST. 2009): headlines-world.com

Perplexity

Hildersham—Puritan, expounding Psalm 51—identifies reluctance to give to the poor as a faith problem. If you genuinely believed God’s promises, giving would present no difficulty. Preachers regularly deploy “if you truly believed, you would” for tithing and attendance. Curiously rarely for the poor. Hildersham would have found that selective.

#puritan #values #faith #presbyterian #giving

Hildersham—Puritan, expounding Psalm 51—identifies reluctance to give to the poor as a faith problem. If you genuinely believed God’s promises, giving would present no difficulty. Preachers regularly deploy “if you truly believed, you would” for tithing and attendance. Curiously rarely for the poor. Hildersham would have found that selective.

#puritan #values #faith #presbyterian #giving

Justin Perkins—Presbyterian missionary to Persia, not a man without evangelistic credentials—makes an argument that should interest anyone whose primary concern is spreading Christianity. American slavery, he says, was not merely sinful but the single greatest human obstacle to that very project. One notes that some Christians prefer a gospel uncomplicated by current issues. Perkins suggests that in his era, ignoring the obstacle didn’t make it less obstructive.

#gospel #justice #presbyterian

Justin Perkins—Presbyterian missionary to Persia, not a man without evangelistic credentials—makes an argument that should interest anyone whose primary concern is spreading Christianity. American slavery, he says, was not merely sinful but the single greatest human obstacle to that very project. One notes that some Christians prefer a gospel uncomplicated by current issues. Perkins suggests that in his era, ignoring the obstacle didn’t make it less obstructive.

#gospel #justice #presbyterian

Sibbes—Puritan, encouraging the backslider—offers a self-check for election. Colossians 3:12: put on bowels of mercy toward the fatherless and needy. That’s how you demonstrate you’re one of the elect. Modern conservative Christianity has developed different assurance criteria. Mercy toward the needy as evidence of election has been quietly retired. Sibbes didn’t get that memo.

#puritan #grace #presbyterian #empathy #compassion #salvation

Sibbes—Puritan, encouraging the backslider—offers a self-check for election. Colossians 3:12: put on bowels of mercy toward the fatherless and needy. That’s how you demonstrate you’re one of the elect. Modern conservative Christianity has developed different assurance criteria. Mercy toward the needy as evidence of election has been quietly retired. Sibbes didn’t get that memo.

#puritan #grace #presbyterian #empathy #compassion #salvation

Van Doren—Presbyterian, commenting on the Good Samaritan—makes an observation of devastating simplicity. The Samaritan did not assess nationality before acting. He saw a man lying in his own blood. That was sufficient information. One notes we have developed elaborate frameworks for determining whether persons of various categories merit assistance before proceeding. The Samaritan apparently skipped that step. It seems not to have occurred to him.
#presbyterian #christian #samaritan

Van Doren—Presbyterian, commenting on the Good Samaritan—makes an observation of devastating simplicity. The Samaritan did not assess nationality before acting. He saw a man lying in his own blood. That was sufficient information. One notes we have developed elaborate frameworks for determining whether persons of various categories merit assistance before proceeding. The Samaritan apparently skipped that step. It seems not to have occurred to him.
#presbyterian #christian #samaritan

Llewelyn John Evans— #Presbyterian minister, seminary professor, expounding Galatians 6—identifies every man for himself as earthly, sensual, and devilish. Not merely sub-Christian. Devilish. He adds that even natural humanity protests against it—meaning you don’t need scripture to recognise it as wrong; basic human instinct will do. One notes we appear to have entered an era where certain Christians are arguing against the dictates of natural humanity. Evans would have had a category for that.

Llewelyn John Evans— #Presbyterian minister, seminary professor, expounding Galatians 6—identifies every man for himself as earthly, sensual, and devilish. Not merely sub-Christian. Devilish. He adds that even natural humanity protests against it—meaning you don’t need scripture to recognise it as wrong; basic human instinct will do. One notes we appear to have entered an era where certain Christians are arguing against the dictates of natural humanity. Evans would have had a category for that.

Albert Barnes—Presbyterian, bible commentator, reading Acts 4 carefully—notes that the early church grew because of unity, generosity, and actively supplying the needs of the poor. This opened hearts. Won people over. He ties it directly to resurrection preaching: the doctrine produced the behavior.

Today we’re told the opposite: that concern for the poor distracts from core doctrine. Barnes’s words suggest these people have read a different Acts than he did.
#easter #presbyterian #christian

Albert Barnes—Presbyterian, bible commentator, reading Acts 4 carefully—notes that the early church grew because of unity, generosity, and actively supplying the needs of the poor. This opened hearts. Won people over. He ties it directly to resurrection preaching: the doctrine produced the behavior.

Today we’re told the opposite: that concern for the poor distracts from core doctrine. Barnes’s words suggest these people have read a different Acts than he did.
#easter #presbyterian #christian

Samuel Crothers—Presbyterian, Ohio, 1854, preaching against slavery’s corrupted gospel—makes a pointed comparison. Jesus also called himself Master. But what did he do with that title? Instructed, clothed, fed, protected. The disciples gloried in calling themselves his servants. They’d have refused Caesar’s title in exchange. It humbled and cheered them simultaneously. Slavery took that word and made it monstrous. Crothers noticed. Apparently this required pointing out.
#presbyterian #christian

Samuel Crothers—Presbyterian, Ohio, 1854, preaching against slavery’s corrupted gospel—makes a pointed comparison. Jesus also called himself Master. But what did he do with that title? Instructed, clothed, fed, protected. The disciples gloried in calling themselves his servants. They’d have refused Caesar’s title in exchange. It humbled and cheered them simultaneously. Slavery took that word and made it monstrous. Crothers noticed. Apparently this required pointing out.
#presbyterian #christian

First Presbyterian Church of Monterey, a Presbyterian Church USA congregation (e.g., https://pcusa.org/about-pcusa/who-we-are/social-witness), had a presence at #NoKings event in Monterey. Photos courtesy of Elaine Cole.

Solar-powered, bike-friendly FPC-MRY (fpcmonterey.org) is our home church of 36 years. Its Jay Bartow Memorial Garden is a peaceful rest stop near downtown: https://bikemonterey.org/rest-stop-tip-jay-bartow-memorial-garden-monterey.html

#PalmSunday #NoKingsMonterey #Presbyterian #Christian #Christians #WWJD #WhatWouldJesusDo

First Presbyterian Church of Monterey, a Presbyterian Church USA congregation (e.g., https://pcusa.org/about-pcusa/who-we-are/social-witness), had a presence at #NoKings event in Monterey. Photos courtesy of Elaine Cole.

Solar-powered, bike-friendly FPC-MRY (fpcmonterey.org) is our home church of 36 years. Its Jay Bartow Memorial Garden is a peaceful rest stop near downtown: https://bikemonterey.org/rest-stop-tip-jay-bartow-memorial-garden-monterey.html

#PalmSunday #NoKingsMonterey #Presbyterian #Christian #Christians #WWJD #WhatWouldJesusDo

Nicholas Byfield was a Calvinistic, Puritan minister. Here he speaks of compassion as being a proof of our spiritual state, citing bible passages about generosity, watering other peoples, aiding those needing warmth, visiting orphans and widows. These qualities in us prove that we are true neighbors and good Samaritans

Are you following religious leaders who point to other spiritual metrics at the expense of the biblical ones?
#chistian #puritans #calvinist #biblical #colossians #presbyterian

Nicholas Byfield was a Calvinistic, Puritan minister. Here he speaks of compassion as being a proof of our spiritual state, citing bible passages about generosity, watering other peoples, aiding those needing warmth, visiting orphans and widows. These qualities in us prove that we are true neighbors and good Samaritans

Are you following religious leaders who point to other spiritual metrics at the expense of the biblical ones?
#chistian #puritans #calvinist #biblical #colossians #presbyterian

Adolph Saphir—Jewish convert, Presbyterian missionary, not a man hedging his bets—makes a sharp observation: secular modernity’s cherished values of fraternity, equality, human dignity? Borrowed. From Israel’s scriptures. Without a receipt. He inverts Exodus: Israel once took Egyptian gold; now the world takes Israel’s moral furniture and acts like it invented the stuff. Revelation first. Enlightenment later.
#presbyterian #christian

Adolph Saphir—Jewish convert, Presbyterian missionary, not a man hedging his bets—makes a sharp observation: secular modernity’s cherished values of fraternity, equality, human dignity? Borrowed. From Israel’s scriptures. Without a receipt. He inverts Exodus: Israel once took Egyptian gold; now the world takes Israel’s moral furniture and acts like it invented the stuff. Revelation first. Enlightenment later.
#presbyterian #christian

John McDowell, Presbyterian preacher, noted that oppression often looks quite respectable: lawsuits designed not to win justice but to exhaust the other party into surrender. One might say this still happens. Yet mention “oppression” in church and people gasp—as if the Bible itself hadn’t brought it up first. The question, then, is awkwardly simple: are we defending justice, or merely protecting our profits?

#presbyterian #reformeddoctrine #law #holiness

John McDowell, Presbyterian preacher, noted that oppression often looks quite respectable: lawsuits designed not to win justice but to exhaust the other party into surrender. One might say this still happens. Yet mention “oppression” in church and people gasp—as if the Bible itself hadn’t brought it up first. The question, then, is awkwardly simple: are we defending justice, or merely protecting our profits?

#presbyterian #reformeddoctrine #law #holiness

The WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CEMETERY, off North Street in Mifflintown, was our favorite playground as children, particularly during sledding season. It is the resting place of local shero Nancy Kulp, "Miss Jane" of "The Beverly Hillbillies;" '60's kidnapper of Peggy Ann Bradnick, William Hollenbaugh; and my parents. Sunset, 1973. #cemetery #cemeteries #graveyard #graveyards #burialground #burialgrounds #westminsterpresbyteriancemetery #northstreet #mifflintown #presbyterian #nature

The WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CEMETERY, off North Street in Mifflintown, was our favorite playground as children, particularly during sledding season. It is the resting place of local shero Nancy Kulp, "Miss Jane" of "The Beverly Hillbillies;" '60's kidnapper of Peggy Ann Bradnick, William Hollenbaugh; and my parents. Sunset, 1973. #cemetery #cemeteries #graveyard #graveyards #burialground #burialgrounds #westminsterpresbyteriancemetery #northstreet #mifflintown #presbyterian #nature

Matthew Anderson, a Presbyterian pastor, arrived in a new town hungry and weary, asking where he might find food. He was told the town had no place for anyone without work—the very reason he had come. He later reflected on 1 John 3:17: if we have plenty yet shut our hearts to a brother in need, how does God’s love dwell in us? The danger is explaining compassion while need stands before us.

#christian #presbyterian

Matthew Anderson, a Presbyterian pastor, arrived in a new town hungry and weary, asking where he might find food. He was told the town had no place for anyone without work—the very reason he had come. He later reflected on 1 John 3:17: if we have plenty yet shut our hearts to a brother in need, how does God’s love dwell in us? The danger is explaining compassion while need stands before us.

#christian #presbyterian

William Swan Plumer, a big Presbyterian voice in the 1800s, told pastors something quite shocking: better to be fooled by a few freeloaders than accidentally send away someone truly desperate.

Today we’ve flipped it—terrified of helping the wrong person, so we help… practically no one at all. Brilliant system, really!

#presbyterian #charity #reformeddoctrine #christian

South Carolina beats USC Upstate in college baseball https://www.rawchili.com/mlb/605525/ #Baseball #CollegeBaseball #CollegeOfCharleston #NCAA #NCAABaseball #presbyterian #SouthCarolina #USCUpstate

Albert Barnes, Presbyterian expositor, reads James and addresses the wealthy with sober gravity. Let every rich man ask how his estate was gained. What we applaud as success may summon heaven’s displeasure. This life is probation, not indulgence. Self-examination is not class warfare; it is Christian duty. Will you search your ways before the Lord?

#christian #rooted #presbyterian #bible #presbyterian

John Livingston Nevius, a Presbyterian missionary in China, observed that Chinese hearers judged Christianity partly by Western conduct. The Opium Wars—forcing opium trade at gunpoint—undermined gospel credibility and hindered evangelism. Nevius asks us to consider whether tolerated injustices today likewise weaken Christian witness.

What are you supporting?
#evangelism #presbyterian

Edward Leigh, a member of the Westminster Assembly, warns that “pinching pennies” from mercy doesn’t protect your household—it invites trouble. Citing Proverbs 11, he says hoarding multiplies burdens, while generosity lightens them. It’s almost comic: the tighter the grip, the fuller the calendar. How might mercy actually free you?

#presbyterian #reformedtheology #stewardship #christian

The thread about Junction Road Church in Leith and its long and complicated journey through different church and congregation schisms and mergers

This thread was originally written and published in March 2022.

Today’s auction house artefact is this silver church collection plate, inscribed “To the glory of God and in loving memory of Miss Jessie Gray, died 18th Nov. 1961, Dear sister of Rev. Joseph Gray. Easter 1964. Junction Road Church.“

Junction Road Church stood on Great Junction Street. The building is still there, a rather plain, Neoclassical block, but the congregation merged into Leith St. Andrew’s Church of Scotland at the foot of Easter Road in 2006. It is now used by the Mohiuddin Jamia Masjid (Mosque) and education centre.

As a church, it is yet another one of those born out of the various 18th and 19th century schisms in Scottish Presbyterianism and had quite a ride before it joined the established Kirk (Church of Scotland) in 1929. Junction Road Church started out in the Relief Church, an organisation that split off the Kirk in Fife in 1763 as the “Presbytery of Relief” for the “Relief of Christians oppressed in their Christian privileges” over the right of congregations to choose their own minister. The Leith congregation of the Relief Church sat in the old North Leith Kirk of St. Ninian as a temporary home when it formed in 1822. The parishioners were Leithers but had up to this point been worshipping in a Relief congregation at St. James Place in Edinburgh.

The congregation is reputed to have been “a great Kirk for Captains and Company Porters“, the seafaring and dock-working men of Leith (and their families). In March 1824, the foundation stone of a new Relief church in Leith was laid on what would become Great Junction Street – except then was known either as Junction Road (or even St. Anthony’s Road). The Junction Road name stuck for the church, even though when the whole road scheme was finally completed in 1827 it was called Great Junction Street. At this time the congregation numbered 269, so this was quite a financial undertaking.

The church opened on the Sabbath, 30th Jan. 1825 at a build cost of £4,000. The minister was Francis Muir of Strathaven who preached “Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house and the place where Thine honour dwelleth.” in thanks to its temporary home. Reverend Muir was joined by a 2nd minister – Deans – in 1865 to assist with the burden of duties of a congregation approaching 900. Muir died in 1871, aged 75, after 49 years with the congregation. Deans resigned in 1878 owing to ill health brought on by the burden of his work.

The new minister – Duncan – was called in 1879, but resigned 3 years later owing to being unable to manage the large congregation that had been held together largely by their loyalty to the long serving Muir. The next minister – McLeod – died suddenly in 1886 after only 3 years service. His replacement – Scott – suffered a schism in the congregation in 1890 over the issue of unfermented communion wine. The dissenters left to form the Ebenezer Free Church down the street.

At the close of 1899 the Junction Place Church had a healthy congregation of 1,187. By this time it was part of the United Presbyterian Church, (the U. P. Church you will see on old Ordnance Survey maps) the Relief Church having merged with the United Secession Church in 1847 (Any excuse to bring out this diagram!)

Over this time, the Church that had sat on the fringes of Leith in orchards and market gardens when it was opened was swallowed up by the burgeoning burgh, and enclosed within dense housing and industries.

In 1900, the United Presbyterian Church joined with most of the Free Church to form the United Free Church. To celebrate, a new pipe organ was installed in 1903. (A motion to use a harmonium instead of an organ was defeated by “overwhelming majority“)

The Church had also built itself a new hall to its rear, facing onto Bonninton Road, in 1894 and ran a very active social program from here. This included a literary society, a savings bank, clothing scheme, children’s work lessons, temperance band, mothers’ meetings etc.

A new minister – Rev. Joseph Gray – was inducted in 1921 in time for the church’s centenary. The congregation followed most of the United Free Church by joining the established Kirk in 1929. It is Gray’s sister to whom the collection plate is dedicated.

By 1975, long term population shifts (an ageing, depopulating Leith) and changes in worshipping habits saw Junction Road merge with the nearby St. Thomas’ on Mill Lane to form St. Thomas’ Junction Road. St. Thomas’ building would become home to the Sikh Gurdwara

Writing in 2003, “We- Ministers, Elders, Managers and Members of Junction Road Church-do not know what the future has in store for us as individuals and for us as a Congregation”. The future held a merger with Leith St. Andrew’s at the foot of Easter Road, the congregation moving into the latter building. The future of even this merger of mergers Church is now once again up for debate, with the real prospect that the Church of Scotland will consolidate into a single Leith congregation at the South Leith Kirk.

This thread is one of an occasional series with the vague working title of “just why are there so many old churches in Edinburgh and Leith.” You can read a bit more in the thread on Leith Communion Tokens.

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The thread about a Leith communion token and how it can help us understand just why the Victorians built so many churches

This thread was originally written and published in October 2021.

Today’s Auction House Artefact is very topical given it’s the 31st October. No, it’s nothing to do with Halowe’en, sorry. It’s a Communion Token and of course today is also Reformation Day.

It’s just a small, roughly cast pewter token. But what is it, what do the abbreviations mean and what does it have to do with my usual subjects of interest? Well, obviously it’s marked LEITH, so that’s a start and the method by which it came to my attention. Beginning with what communion tokens are (and I’m no expert here, so do wade in if I’m wrong), they are peculiar to Reformed churches and the concept dates all the way back to John Calvin in the 16th Century. They were first issued in the Netherlands, but really became a thing of the Scottish reformed Kirk and all its various offshoots. There are at least 5,000 known different Communion tokens specific to Scottish churches alone. A communion token was a method to identify members of a congregation who practised “closed communion“; i.e. only known members of the congregation can participate. No token? No communion. Tokens were issued to those who had taken the necessary catechism (religious instruction).

Back to our token. What do the abbreviations mean? On the front it says, MR J. S. stands for “Minister, John Sharp”. The date of 1825 was not the date of issue of the token but most likely the date that the Rev. Sharp took over the congregation. On the rear, it stands for Associate Congregation, Leith, the name and denomination of the church. Below is an earlier issue, for Sharp’s predecessor, Robert Culbertson, who served from 1791 until his untimely death in 1823.

So what is an Associate Congregation and why is it interesting I hear you say? Well to answer that you heave to delve into the amusingly elaborate timeline of the various reformed churches in Scotland since the (Scottish) reformation .

If you go way back to 1733, some congregations began to secede from the established Church of Scotland (“the Kirk“). The Seceders left for various long-standing and unresolved reasons, particularly the threat of the patronage of Lairds in preventing a congregation choosing its own minister, which has been a key issue in Scottish Presbyterian churches since the Reformation. The Seceders were led by Ebenezer Erskine, minister in Stirling, formed their own church court, known as the Associate Presbytery.

They were summoned to answer by the Kirk in 1739 but refused as they did not recognise its authority over them, so were deposed. This had two effects. Firstly, the seceder congregations were ejected from their churches so had to find new homes. It also rallied parishioners to their cause and the new churches ranks were swelled. At this time I’m not sure what presence, if any, they had in Leith. This split was around a religious clause in the oath that burgesses had to take. The burgesses were the “freemen” of the burgh, an important position in Scottish society at the time. The “Burgher Oath” had to be taken in the royal burghs of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth. The hardliners refused to take the oath as they felt it would mean that they recognised the authority of The Kirk. The result was that the General Associate Synod split off of the Associate Synod, these two sects are better known as the Antiburghers and Burghers. So this is why you get those odd-sounding things on old maps of Edinburgh called Burger Meeting and Antiburger Meeting houses.

Maps of this time refer to “meeting houses” or “chapels”, likely they were not officially recognised by the mapmakers as churches in their own right, this title being reserved for the parish kirks alone. From the maps we can see a Seceders’ church on Bristo Street in 1765 and by 1784 it is the Burgher Meeting house and the Antiburghers have their own separate house.

If you’re still following, give yourself a pat on the back, because it’s about to get even more confusing…

But before then, let’s go back to Leith. The first Antiburgher Church was formed in the Kirkgate in Leith in 1766 following a stushie within the South Leith Kirk congregation over the appointment of the new minister William Aitken. They met in a meeting house on Cables Wynd, ordaining a minister John Proudfoot in 1772. Funds were raised to erect a purpose built church on the Kirkgate just over the wall from South Leith Kirk, which was completed in 1775.

In 1785, the Rev. Proudfoot was suspended by the Antiburgher synod and deposed. This caused a split within his congregation. Some members returned to South Leith Kirk, but most stayed with Proudfoot as a “free” Antiburgher church. Proudfoot died in 1787 and his Antiburgher congregation petitioned the Burghers to join. This was granted and so once again there was a split, and the Antiburghers left to do their own thing, leaving the Burghers in the Kirkgate. The Antiburghers who left the Kirkgate petitioned the Antiburgher church, were welcomed back in and a new congregation was established in the old Glasite Meeting House (let’s not go there!) off of St. Andrew’s Street, becoming the St. Andrew’s Street Antiburghers.

Anyway, in 1791, they appointed Robert Culbertson as their minister who was quite the scholar and patron of many things. He was notable enough to be subject to a caricature by John Kay. His church was an Associated Congregation, i.e. a member of the General Associated Synod, hence the stamp on the communion tokens. In 1798 however yet another split happened resulting in the Antiburghers splitting into Auld Lichts and the New Lichts (old and new lights). The same happened to the Burghers eight years later.

Culbertson was a New Licht Antiburgher, more theologically liberal than the Auld Lichts who held more strictly to Calvin and the Covenanting tradition. He was a popular and influential minister and donated heavily to the Edinburgh Bible Society and the Leith Public Library. Soon, the New Lichts of the Burgher and Antiburgher churches realised what united them was greater than what divided them, and a union took place. Culbertson was on the negotiation committee and “greatly rejoiced” on its success. The result was the United Secession Church of 1820 . Culbertson died an untimely death in 1823, falling ill during a meeting of the presbytery of the new church. He did not live to see his congregations grand new premises, which was not completed until 1826.

That church was built on land acquired from the city next to the High School of Leith, built by John and James Rutherford in the classical style. The St. Andrew’s Street congregation named the new street St. Andrew’s Place after their church. The building is now the B-listed Edinburgh Hindu Mandir & Cultural Centre.

In 1825, Culbertson’s vacant pulpit was filled by the Rev. John Smart (1801-1871), who initially lived opposite on Morton Street. Smart was minister until 1845. In 1847 the United Secession Church merged with another split off of the Kirk – the Relief Church*1 of 1761 – to form the United Presbyterian Church, which is what all those “U. P. Churches” are on Victorian maps of Scottish towns.

1. The Presbytery of Relief, to give it its formal name, was founded by Thomas Gillespie who had been deposed by the General Assembly of the Kirk for refusing to induct a parish minister against the wishes of the congregation (that old issue again!). In this case, “relief” meant relief from the patronage of Lairds to choose the parish minister. They were a liberal church, patronised by independents and Episcopalians. ↩︎

So in 1849, the Antiburgher church is now the St. Andrew’s United Presbyterian Church, (“seats for 1400” – the established South Leith Kirk only had 1200). The original hall was half that size and kept on as a meeting hall.

Remarkably, a photo exists of the original meeting house off St. Andrew’s Street. It was actually on Storrie’s Alley. It is seen here in the early 1960s when it was used by the YMCA, before being swept away. The French-style roofline of Yardheads School is the giveaway of the location, peeping out to the left of the church gable. The hall stood infront of the remaining old buildings, a former bonded warehouse..

In the late 1880s/early 1890s, the St. Andrew’s Place congregation opened a mission hall on Jane Street in Leith, a charming little building which is still there and is some sort of hotel/hostel thing.

Back to our diagram. In 1900, the U.P. Church joined with the Free Church (of the ominous sounding “Disruption of 1843“) to form the United Free Church (or U.F. Church on maps). By this time, the Kirkgate Congregation was also in this fold.

The Kirkgate congregation had by this time moved to a new and altogether grander premises on Henderson Street (see pictures below). While this fine and unusual looking church has unfortunately been demolished, that carving above the door and the cross survive as ornamentation on the otherwise modern and austere South Leith church halls.

In another picture from Edinburgh City Libraries, here we see the entrance to Storrie’s Alley off of St. Andrew’s Street. In amongst all the Victoriana we see a lantern pointing the way to the St. Andrew’s Hall.

The St. Andrews associate congregation completed its 360 degree journey in 1929 when it was one of the United Free Church congregations that merged back into The Kirk, becoming Leith St. Andrews. In 1973 it joined with the Claremont Church of Scotland at the foot of Easter/ Lochend Roads and relocated to the latter premises, which took up the name of St. Andrew. Around 2003, this combined congregation was joined by another from the district; that of Junction Road and St. Thomas’, as two more old churches in Leith became surplus to modern requirements.

When the Kirkgate Associate Congregation moved to its new home on Henderson Street in 1886, the old church became the Princess Theatre and music hall, which burned down 2 years later (as such places often did). The New Princess, later the Gaiety, rose from the ashes. The Kirkgate Congregation followed the route of St. Andrew’s Place, and returned to the Church of Scotland in 1929. It merged with the South Leith congregation in 1973 and vacated the Kirkgate Church, which was demolished and replaced by the South Leith Church Halls.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that even if you are not religiously inclined it pays to get your head around at least a bit of it as it really helps understand maps and buildings and local history. Especially the question “why did the Victorians build so many dang churches?”.

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