History of our Church

In c1896 a small gathering of people started a Church in Kippen Street, Airdrie. At that time it was known as Kippen Street Evangelical Union and met in a 'tin hut' or 'iron hall' under the spiritual leadership of Thomas Whiteside. In 1905 - 1908 the church was lead by Arthur James but little is known of these two gentlemen.

The little 'tin hut' made use of the Orange Halls in Southburn Road then it made use of Rochsolloch Primary School and then to the newly erected building in Glencraig Street on May 1912.  Kippen Street E.U. was part of the Evangelical Union of Scotland.  The first Minister of Kippen Street was the Rev John Edmonston who appears to have made the transition from the Evangelical Union to the Congregational Church as the former EU Kirk ceased to meet in 1912.  Our history is a little confused on when exactly we went into the Congregational Union of Scotland, with John Edmonston serving in both denominations.*  However in due course under the leadership of John Edmonston and a group of men with vision the Church was firmly planted and building on our current premises opened.

When the Evangelical Union and Congregational Churches decided on joining forces the Congregational Union of Scotland was born and it appears that Coatdyke Congregational Church was born too. In loyalty and affection for the name of the old 'tin Kirk' the church was known as Coatdyke Congregational E.U. Church - we have since dropped the E.U. Coatdyke has had many Ministers in her life, with some well known ministers and some favourites; John Edmonston, Leonard Sykes and Charles Innes and our current Minister is Thomas R Wilson. Coatdyke was part of the Congregational Union of Scotland, well known and respected in Scotland for its work at home and abroad. David Livingston is perhaps Scotland's best known Missionary, but he was also a Congregationalist, sent by the London Missionary Society, which is now the Council for World Mission.

The Union as it was affectionately known had many firsts, it was the first Christian Denomination to ordain a woman into the Ministry; Rev'd Vera Kenmure of Hillhead/Partick Church. It was also very active in seaside missions and Sabbath Schools, the list of achievements are endless and somehow we have forgotten our past achievements as we became embroiled in schism. In 1993 the Congregational Union of Scotland, became the Scottish Congregational Church. This was an oxymoron if ever there was one, as Congregationalists, we rejoice that we are Independent and Interdependent on each other but fully autonomous in running our own affairs. The SCS was now a denomination and as such became rule bound and regulated taking the decision making away from individual congregations and churches. Like all things under pressure, the stresses and strains of the new Church were beginning to be felt at local level as the 'Church' exercised its grip on Independent Churches, many subsequently felt that they could not remain in fellowship with each other and the first of a series of splits took place.

Coatdyke remained with the Scottish Congregational Church until 1999. The majority of Churches within the Scottish Congregational Church had voted in favour of going into union with the United Reformed Church and on April 1st 2000 the Scottish Congregational Church ceased to exist as merger with the URC brought an end to the great traditions of the past. The United Reformed Church was a merger/union between the Presbyterian Church of England, the Congregational Union of England and Wales and the Churches of Christ. Many of those from the Congregational Union of England and Wales who failed to go into Union formed the Congregational Association, which in turn became the Congregational Federation with its administrative offices based in Nottingham, East Midlands.

Coatdyke Congregational Church along with many other sister churches joined the Federation and today whilst we are numerically poor, we are faith rich. Congregationalism can trace its roots back to the Bible as we are a New Testament Church. Historically our tradition (England and Wales) is from the Puritan and Separatist folks of Elizabethan England, who cried out when the Crown enforced the use of the Book of Common Order and many clergy, were thrown out of their churches for not adhering to the rule of secular law. We have the Pilgrim Fathers (Bunyan) who sailed on the Mayflower to the New World of America and in Scotland we had the likes of D.Dale, R.Owen, P.T Forsyth and many others in our backyard along with Glas, Ewing and the Haldane's (who formed the Baptist Churches after they switched their allegiances to Believer's/Adult Baptism).

Many Congregational church buildings have stood the test of time, some regrettably have not. Elgin Place in Glasgow's Pitt Street was for a time a Cardinal Follies a nightclub but it was consumed by fire some years ago. The SNO building is yet another former Congregational building as was Trinity at Broomhill, which is now expensive housing. Coatdyke is part of that tradition and we are proud of our heritage, whilst we are proud of our past, we seek to further Christ's Kingdom for the future generations of Airdrie and Coatbridge people, by continuing the great works of those early pioneers who were courageous enough to try something new.

Online Congregational Churches that we are associated with in Scotland are;

Sources for above information

 

The Scottish Congregational Ministry 1794 - 1993 McNaughton CUS

An extract from A History of Scottish Congregationalism by Harry Escott

*"Coatdyke Church was formed in 1911 by members who seceded from an Evangelical Union (Continuing) church which met in a hall in Kippen Street.  The present church premises in Glencraig Street were erected in 1911.  John Edmonston was the first pastor.  There was a disastrous split in the congregation, locally known as the 'Coatdyke disruption' during the ministry of R. McRoberts, 1920 - 1925, from which the church seemingly never recovered.  Under the leadership of Charles J. A. Innes, 1951 - 1957, the cause considerably revived.  A year ago a manse was built entirely by voluntary labour, the work being done almost wholly by church members.  Unfortunately, however, the church is situated in an area where many of the houses are scheduled for slum clearance."

It appears that Escott implies we were doomed to certain failure, mentioning the 'Coatdyke disruption' then the revival under Charlie Innes but he went on to seal our future as we were in an area marked for 'slum clearance'.  Whilst Escott's views may indeed have been right at the time, he couldn't possibly predict the turnaround in Coatdyke's fortunes. We continue today, going from strength to strength and the area of Coatdyke has many replacement flats surrounding it and more new houses being built in what was the former PYE and Imperial works nearby.