A graceful link

John R Hume considers the history of the congregation of the Moderator of the General Assembly, in Scotland’s newest city.

DUNFERMLINE – Scotland’s newest city – has a very complex history. In the earlymedieval period it was one of the capitals of Lowland Scotland, and in the 11thcentury AD was the residence of Malcolm III, one of the first kings of the unified kingdom of Alba. There was a royal residence here until the 17 thcentury.

Charles I was born here to James VI and Anne of Denmark, the last monarch born in Scotland. Robert the Bruce was buried in the choir of the Abbey Church founded by David I, now symbolised by the lettering round the tower of the 19thcentury Abbey Parish Church, built on the site of part of the Abbey Church. The splendid Romanesque nave of the 11 thcentury Abbey Church, and other ruins of the Abbey and Palace are now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.

In the 18thcentury Dunfermline became a centre of the linen trade, and in the early 19 thcentury developed an international reputation for making damask table-linens with patterns woven into fine white cloth.

The town became thoroughly industrialised, with many spinning mills and weaving factories and the associated cramped workers’ houses. To cater for this expanding population new churches were built, including several constructed for breakaway churches – Secessions – from the established Church of Scotland. West Fife was a stronghold of these 18thcentury Secessions. In 1820 most of the different Secession churches merged to produce the United Secession Church, which rapidly expanded, especially in industrial towns, building large new churches and attracting charismatic preachers.

One of the Dunfermline congregations of the new grouping had its church in Queen Anne Street, and in 1825 voted to call a new minister. A substantial minority – 326 members and 152 ‘ordinary hearers’ – did not agree and asked the Presbytery of Dunfermline to erect them into a separate congregation. The Presbytery did so. The new congregation began by meeting in a Methodist Church in Marygate. The Rev Robert Brown was called as minister and was inducted in 1826 at an open-air service attended by 3000 people. The Methodist Church speedily became too small, and the congregation moved in September 1827 to a new building in Eastgate, which was named St Margaret’s Church. Sadly Mr Brown died in 1828, but the congregation continued to thrive. In 1847 it became part of the United Presbyterian Church, then in 1900 part of the United Free Church, and finally in 1929 of the Church of Scotland, still retaining the name St Margaret’s Church.

After the Second World War most local authorities began to replace 19thcentury working-class houses which were inadequate for 20 thcentury living. The major denominations took this opportunity to build churches in the new housing areas thus created. In some instances these were entirely new congregations, but in others existing town-centre congregations were moved – ‘translated’ – to new sites. This is what happened to the St Margaret’s congregation, translated in 1972 to the new housing area of Touch, east of the town centre. By that time the Church of Scotland had built over 230 new ‘Church Extension’ churches and halls since 1949.

The new St Margaret’s opened in 1975, designed by local architects James Shearer and Annand as a ’multi-purpose church’ and was given a stylish steel-framed bell tower as a landmark, in a manner typical of the period.

‘Church Extension’ was a vital part of the ministry of the Church of Scotland in the second half of the 20thcentury, and it was therefore especially fitting that the Rev Iain Greenshields of St Margaret’s was chosen to be Moderator of the 2022 General Assembly. As our present Queen is a direct descendent from Malcolm III and Queen Margaret this is another graceful link between Dunfermline’s past, present and future.