My church

Margaret Brusasco-Mackenzie, a member at St Andrew’s Church, Brussels, describes the changes at the European church over the last 60 years.

ST ANDREW’S is a traditionally-built wee Scots Church set down near the Avenue Louise, (an elegant Brussels thoroughfare and near a vibrant multi-ethnic market).

It is dedicated to the Scots who fell in Flanders Field during the First World War, so we are a Memorial church; next year will be our centenary.

We are a fortunate congregation; we regularly have attendances of 80-100 and more, and we have 23 different nationalities, some British, (including Scots of course), Ghanians, Europeans from several different countries including Hungary and Russia, Syrians, Filipinos, Americans and a number of other African countries. We are also a home church for several refugees.

When I first started attending St Andrew’s in 1965 as a young bride, the scene was very different: there were about 30 people – mostly British expats and rather elderly. In 1969, NATO moved its headquarters from Paris to Brussels, bringing with it a much younger quota of Scots and Americans. In 1973 the UK joined the European Community and more arrived. Over the years our faithful African and Filipino friends have joined, bringing us greater variety and healthy numbers. Latterly we have gained more Belgian and other European members.

Whilst being very international, St Andrew’s has kept some Scots traditions. We hold a Burns Supper every year and this is an opportunity for our menfolk to don the kilt and we eat the traditional fare, and introducing our (often somewhat hesitant) Belgian friends to the delights of haggis. Thanks to our cook, they usually find it to be delicious! We also observe Remembrance Sunday to the sound of the pipes.

St Andrew’s Brussels is blessed with a healthy Sunday School of various age groups, who also lead several services per year. We have a Junior and Senior choir, and an African choir, all of whom enrich our worship with their music. There is a Womens’ Fellowship group, a Fair Trade stall and we have an Eco-congregation group. Christian Aid is always a big event in our calendar, and we fundraise for other charities also through social events. We take part in the activities of the local Belgian denomination, the Eglise Protestante de Belgique. This aids us with our mission in Belgium and, through government support of recognised religions, it makes a significant contribution towards our costs.

Very important for us is our twinning with Christ Presbyterian Church in Adentan, which is a suburb of Accra, in Ghana. We have been twinned with them for 16 years and – excluding the Covid-19 years – we have had regular exchange visits with them, including our ministers, back and forth, to deepen our ties. Christ Presbyterian has some 1800 members and has an outstanding social outreach programme, not just for its members, but also for its surrounding community.

We are part of the International Presbytery. Our minister and elders take part in its meetings and we have regular exchanges, especially with Rotterdam.

Two of our elders are training for ministry; one has been “set apart” as a Reader, and we hope that the other will be ordained as an OLM (Ordained Local Minister) later this year.

Having worshipped at St Andrew’s for almost 60 years – my children were baptised here and brought up in the church, the church fellowship has been central to my life. In good times and in bad, I have been able to count on the wise guidance of our ministers (six in all), and the deep friendship and support from other church members. My life would be much poorer if I could not attend St Andrew’s and be uplifted by the fellowship I find there.

If you are visiting Brussels for any reason, do come and join us in worship and stay after the service for fellowship over tea and coffee.

If you come in May 2025, you can join in our centenary celebrations.