Jordanhill Church
One hundred and fifty
years
See the Church website at http://www.jordanhillparishchurch.org.uk/
Part A Brief
resume of publications and events of 2004 and 2005
Part B Brief
chronology of important events
Part C Notes
on the bell in the Church tower
Part A
In 1954,
Jordanhill Church produced a booklet entitled "Jordanhill Church 1854 - 1954 A Historical Sketch” The opening paragraphs state "This
year Jordanhill Church celebrates its hundredth birthday. In November, 1854, there was drawn up the
first Communion Roll of Hillhead Free Church in the Presbytery of Paisley. From that Communion Roll we trace our direct
descent".
In 1980, the
original booklet was reproduced and re-titled "Jordanhill Parish Church Book One 1854 - 1954" A companion booklet was also produced to
cover the next 25 years entitled "Jordanhill
Parish Church Book Two 1955 - 1980"
The opening paragraph of Book Two makes reference to the Centenary
Social held in the Hall of Jordanhill College in the autumn of 1954. The congregation clearly marked their
centenary in that year. The book also
records that the Centenary was marked by setting up a Centenary Fund to pay for
the purchase of a new manse (the current manse in Southbrae Drive) and to build
the extended church halls.
In November
1995, Dr Finlay Macdonald wrote an account of the years 1980 to 1995 for
inclusion in a book entitled "From
Hillhead Free Church to Jordanhill Parish Church The Story of Our Congregation"
In 2004
Jordanhill Parish Church celebrated its One Hundred and Fiftieth Birthday. While this is not a unique achievement
(neighbouring All Saints Episcopal Church also celebrates its 150th birthday), it is notable when compared with the
majority of peripheral churches in Glasgow which were formed at the turn of
last century or later.
The present
congregation of Jordanhill Parish Church marked this 150 year achievement with a service of thanksgiving on Sunday 7
November 2004. However they also
arranged a number of events during 2005 to celebrate the centenary of the
completion of the present church building.
See web page entitled “Jordanhill Church, foundation stone” at http://www.wsmclean.com/stone.htm
Part B
A Brief Chronological
History
Extracted from the Church History Booklet,
Session Records
and the monthly Church newsletter
(variously know as “Record”, “Cover”,
“Bulletin” and now “Link”)
The first
edition of the Church’s monthly magazine in 1928 was called the “Record”
Later editions were called the “Cover”
because the pink folded single sheet fitted over and
acted as a cover for the monthly edition
of the Church of Scotland Magazine “Life and “Work”.
Later it was referred to as the Church
Bulletin
It is currently known as the “Link”
1854 First
Communion Roll compiled as Hillhead Church.
1859 First
minister, Peter MacLachlan (till 1870)
1872 Second
minister, James Jolly (till 1873)
1874 Name
changed to West Hillhead Free Church.
George Douglas Ross Munro inducted
1875 Manse
built (in Crow Road)
1889 Name
changed to Jordanhill Free Church.
1899 Archibald
Duncan Livingstone inducted as new minister
1901 Bazaar
raised £1057 towards new church
1902 Death of
GDR Munro
1904 Foundation
stone for new church
1905 Present
Church opened (dedication 8 June)
1908 UF Church
Bazaar (in Fine Arts Institute,
Sauchiehall Street)
1912 Individual
Communion Cups introduced.
1920 First
Church Record published (now called the Link)
Cradle Roll started
Collections
taken towards installation of electric light (target £150)
1921 Electric
light introduced.
55th Girl Guide Company formed (and Brownies)
1922 Memorial
Hall erected and dedicated.
1923 The west
extension of the Church added.
Pipe organ installed.
1924 New Girl
Guide colours dedicated
1925 Weekly
Free-will offering adopted (approved by 78% of congregation)
1927 33rd B.B.
Company formed (jointly with All Saints)
1928 Sale of Work
(raised £630)
1933 Badminton
Club started (Saturdays at 6.30 pm)
1934 Second
Communion Service started.
1936 272nd BB.
Company formed.
1938 Sabbath
School becomes the Sunday School
1939
George
McInnes Allison induction.
Telephone installed in the manse.
1941 Blitz
damage, some windows badly affected and ceilings down.
1943 Mr
Allison left
1944 John
Chisholm Cockburn induction
1945 Church
burglary, some silver stolen.
1946
Memorial
windows unveiled.
Private communions started.
1948 Girls’
Association disbanded.
1949
Church
redecorated.
Electrically operated bell gifted (see part C below)
1952 Collecting
bags replaced collecting plates.
1953 New manse
purchased in Southbrae Drive.
Womans’ Guild presents alms dish for collection bags.
1954 Jubilee
Year (of Jordanhill Church — Centenary of the congregation)
1957 Brownie
packs subdivided (55A on Tuesdays)
1958
Ladies
Association formed.
Congregational cruise, Loch Lomond.
First Hall
extension opened.
1960 James
McMichael Orr’s induction
First assistant minister appointed, Gordon Blake
Congregational membership peaked at 1186
1961 New Youth
Club formed (leader Stuart McLean)
1962 Seat
rents abolished.
1964 Election
of Lady Deacons.
Evening
Communion Service transferred to afternoon
1966 Series of
Television broadcasts.
1967 Five Lady
Elders elected.
1972 Hall
extensions completed.
Friday
evening Preparatory Communion Service abandoned
1977 Finlay
Angus John Macdonald’s induction
1979 Last 6.30
Sunday evening service
1980 Seventy-fifth
Anniversary of opening of the present Church.
Renovation
of interior of sanctuary
1996
Colin
Charles Renwick’s induction
2004
One hundred and fifty years as a local Church
Part C
Notes on the Bell in the Church Tower
Drivers
or pedestrians in Woodend Drive can pass Jordanhill Parish Church and avoid
looking at it, but on a Sunday morning local residents cannot avoid hearing its
bell sounding for ten minutes prior to the morning service. Since it a weekly part of Jordanhill, here
are some facts about it.
In
September 1949 the bell was rung for
the first time. The minister in these
days, Mr Cockburn, had lamented the fact that the church did not have a bell. On learning this, one of the Church
members, Mr James Watson who lived in Munro Road just a few doors away from the
church, agreed to dedicate one in memory of his parents.
The
bell was manufactured by John Taylor and Co., Bellfounders of
Loughborough. The inscription says “To
the memory of God. presented by James
Watson in memory of his father and mother 1949”. There was a short item in the monthly However the item did not
give any technical details of the bell.
The bell is rung by an electric motor activating the gong.
In
1980, during research for an exhibition, I wrote to the the original
bellfounder and they were able to supply information from their records. The bell cost £333, it is 3ft 2in
diameter (96 cms), it weighs 9cwt 3qrs and 2lb (496 kg) and the note is between
G and G#.
Baptismal
Roll
Family history researchers might find it interesting
to know that I have a photocopy of the entire baptismal roll of Jordanhill
Church (Including it’s former existence as West Hillhead Church) from 1874 to
mid 1966. As part of my research,
I examined the home addresses of the first 200 entries to determine the
geographical spread of the congregation in the early days between 1874 and
1888. For the record I also have
a photocopy of the baptismal register for All Saints from 1854 to 1915.
Back to home
page http://www.wsmclean.com/ Revised 30
October 2008