There has been an Anglican presence in Scotland since the time of the Reformation, the great reform movement of the 16th century, but the term ‘anglican’ itself did not come into general use until the 19th century. Up till then, Anglicans in Scotland were (and still can be) referred to as ‘episcopalians’ - episkopos being the Greek for overseer or bishop.

1560-1690

This is one of the most complex periods in British history, covering as it does the Reformation, the Union of the Crowns, the trial and execution of Charles I, the Civil War, the Commonwealth, the Restoration, and the ‘Glorious’ Revolution of 1688. Because church and state were regarded as indissolubly linked, changes in the way the Church ordered its affairs became entangled with political questions, often with disastrous and tragic consequences.

The Reformation in Scotland came much later than in the rest of Europe (including England) and took a more extreme form. The Anglican ideal of moderate change, retaining government by bishops and removing the worst excesses of doctrine and devotional practice, was soon swept aside. The old church was seen as totally corrupt, and a return to the ‘primitive’ church (as it was thought to exist in the time of the apostles) was called for. In 1560 the Scottish Parliament passed an Act taking away the authority and jurisdiction of the Pope in Scotland, and all persons were forbidden to say or hear the Roman Mass under severe penalties, including banishment and death. The office of bishop was abolished and government by presbytery (local committee) was introduced, with a General Assembly exercising oversight at national level. This development alarmed the king (James VI), since it meant that the state would lose control over clerical appointments. Such control was considered essential, since the Church was regarded as a kind of national moral police force. Clergy were expected to preach loyalty to the crown, obedience to all legitimate authority, and unquestioning acceptance of the political and social status quo. From an administrative point of view, it was easier if there were bishops, who would be appointed by the crown and could therefore be trusted to ensure acceptable appointments at local level. The extreme reformers wanted the best of both worlds - a Church protected and supported by the state with many attendant privileges, but at the same time totally free to order its own affairs. The stage was set for conflict. A purely religious question had become political.

Twice - in 1610 and 1662 - bishops were reintroduced into the Church of Scotland, and there was hope that the Church might develop as an episcopal Church in fellowship with the Church of England. However, popular feeling against bishops was strong and was made worse by the crown attempting to impose uniformity in doctrine and worship, often backed by military force. Matters came to a head in 1688 when James VII (who had become a Roman Catholic) was forced to flee the country, and the crown was offered jointly to his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange. The Scottish bishops felt that, since James VII had not actually abdicated, they were unable to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary. In consequence, the national Church of Scotland was established in the presbyterian form, and the bishops and those loyal to them became a persecuted minority who were regarded as potential traitors.

1690-1811

Those who continued to regard James VII as the rightful king became known as Jacobites - Jacobus being the Latin version of James. They were always a minority, although a strong one, especially in the north-east. In religious terms they were nearly all Episcopalians or Roman Catholics. After the rebellions of 1715 and 1745, penal laws were passed against episcopalians and they were so severe that it was not possible for an episcopalian priest to minister at one time to more than five persons without running the risk of transportation for life for the second offence. And yet, through all these bitter years, the Scottish Church kept itself in being and maintained not merely the episcopal succession but also its own liturgical tradition and a strong consciousness of its own independent existence.

As a concession to those episcopalians who did not have Jacobite sympathies, and to meet the needs of members of the Church of England who had taken up residence in Scotland, Parliament eventually allowed the setting up of ‘Qualified Chapels’. These congregations were exempt from the operation of the penal laws, on condition that they prayed publicly for King George and did not recognize the authority of the Scottish bishops.

In 1788, on the death of Prince Charles Edward, the last serious Stuart claimant to the throne, the Scottish bishops made their surrender to the house of Hanover, and the penal laws were gradually relaxed. But by that time the Episcopal Church had been reduced, in the words of Sir Walter Scott, to the shadow of a shade, with no more than four bishops and about forty priests. The diocesan and parochial systems had collapsed. Everything had to be begun afresh in the organization of a church which had lived for many years without a clear confession of faith, with a confused order of worship, and with hardly any discipline.

The bishops took the initiative. In 1811 a Synod was convened and declared to be the National Synod of the Episcopal Church in Scotland. A number of important Canons (laws of government for the church) were passed, and the ‘Qualified Chapels’ were gradually incorporated into the new national body.

During the 19th century, membership of the Scottish Episcopal Church grew at a phenomenal rate. The old episcopalian/Jacobite families were joined by immigrants from Ireland (in the wake of the famine in the 1840’s) and from England (joining in the economic boom brought about by the Industrial Revolution). Within Scotland new members were gained from other churches - mainly those who found presbyterian worship and doctrine excessively severe. The high point was reached by about 1918. Since then, in common with other mainstream churches, there has been a slow decline in numbers, although the Anglican ideals of tolerance and inclusiveness still attract those who find a narrow, sectarian approach to the faith less congenial.

Our origins and brief history

In 1689, the Episcopalians within the Church of Scotland, felt unable to subscribe to the religious settlement offered to the nation by William of Orange. They worshipped now as a ‘disestablished’ church, often in very lowly circumstances. In the south west of Scotland they were completely decimated, and by 1800 there would not have been more than a handful left in Ayrshire.

The Episcopalian minister of Girvan Parish Church, the Rev Alexander Gadderar had been ‘rabbled’ (physically ousted) by supporters of the Covenanters in 1689. Although there were attempts in the 18^th century to revive a congregation, it was not until 1847 that the present church was founded.

In 1846 the Rev William Wilson of Holy Trinity, Ayr petitioned the Bishop on behalf of 400 ‘Protestant Episcopalians in Girvan … most of whom are either natives of Ireland or the children of Irish parents. Most of them are poor persons of the labouring classes …’

The date 1846 was of course, the year of the ‘Great Famine’ in Ireland, whose destruction knew no denominational boundaries. Many thousands of Protestants came to Scotland for work, including a large number of weavers who settled in Girvan.

Services were commenced in 1847, in hired halls, but in 1859 the present St. John’s was opened on a small hill known as Doune Knoll, donated by the Duchesse de Coigny.

The architect was Alexander George Thomson (not his more famous namesake ‘Greek Thomson’). Thomson designed several commercial buildings in Glasgow, and other Episcopal churches, but it was while restoring nearby Penkill Castle, that he was asked by the Boyd family there, if he would design an Episcopal church for Girvan.

Originally a plain rectangular structure, it was built of Penkill blue whin with Dalmellington freestone dressings.

The original church in 1859

The congregation continued to grow but even as late as 1870 a newspaper reported that ‘The congregation consists for the most part of people engaged in that poorest of all trades, handloom weavers. Most of them are either of Irish birth or descent, and on a clear day can still behold the hills of the Green Isle in the home of their adoption.’

It was in that year that Girvan first saw a Harvest Festival service; as such novelties did not exist then in the Presbyterian Church.

By 1901 the gradual disappearance of the weaving industry and the decline of the port, saw the town’s population drop to 4,872, half of what it had been in 1851. The church, being composed almost entirely of weaving families, went into decline as its members moved to the central belt of Scotland in search of new work.

The recovery of the town came in the early 20^th century with the increasing vogue for seaside holidays for town dwellers. Girvan with its open sea front, proved attractive to holiday makers and brought new people to live in the area.

When the Rev. F. Carlisle Burton became minister in 1906, he found ‘the work of the Church had become derelict and almost non-existent.’ By 1910, he still described the congregation as ‘with one or two exceptions all our families are poor.’

Burton threw himself fully into the life of the local community, being elected to the local council, school board, and editing The Girvan Monthly Magazine. He extended the church and had ambitious plans for it to become a large cruciform church with tower. This he felt would appeal to the type of clientèle whom he wished to attract. The appeal failed to raise enough money and the extension remained incomplete. Transepts were intended, but the arches had to be filled in as can be seen in the tower, where work was intended to continue. A picture – an artist's impression of what the church would have looked like if completed, can be seen here and at the back of the church.

Artist’s impression of completed church

By the 1920’s, St John’s was becoming somewhat ‘high church’, embracing many aspects of the Oxford Movement. This tradition continued until the 1980’s, but has not been the churchmanship now for several years.

Today, our congregation is made up of many nationalities and traditions. The worship would be considered ‘middle of the road’, but with an informal, but reverent feel to it.

Our congregation is showing signs of new life again and we have a vision for the future.

The wooden screen dividing the chancel from the nave, the altar rail and others carvings are of 16^th century workmanship. The Bishop’s throne by the altar is of the same age and came from the Palace of Holyrood in Edinburgh.

The wooden carvings on the reredos behind the altar are known to be Italian; for instance the four panels the four gospel writers, all with Italian names like ‘Marco’, and possibly came from Sicily.

The carvings’ early history is somewhat uncertain, but it is believed that they were removed from their original place during the 19^th century, by secret societies led by Mizzen and Garibaldi, and ultimately bought by the first Lord Brougham of Brougham Hall near Penrith in Cumbria. From there they were presumably purchased by the children of Mrs Catherine Rigby Andrews as a memorial.

The rearrangement of the screen and its erection, in 1934, was entrusted to a local Girvan firm that of James Paterson, and Mr Harvey Paterson did a splendid job. Some new carving was done by Mr E. Johnston of Penrith. He also carved the two figures at the outside panels of the screen, two Scottish saints, St. Ninian and St. Margaret, added in 1936.

The painted shields along the top of the screen represent the various local county families who have had associations with St. John’s including: Lord Inchcape of Glenapp, Mr George Heneage of Killochan Castle and the Boyd family of Penkill Castle. The central shield is that of the Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway.

In 1938 the screen was wanted by the Episcopal Church for Scotland’s Empire Exhibition in Glasgow, but St. John’s was unable to comply with the request.

The east window, above the altar, is by Webster’s of Edinburgh and the other stained glass window in the south wall is English late Victorian.

The Vestry at the west end of the church was built in memory of Canon Philip Lemprière, whose photograph is on the wall. He was Rector of St. John’s from 1935-41 and went on to become Dean of the Diocese and then Principal of the Episcopal Church’s Theological College in Edinburgh.

St. John’s has had a very up and down history, and several times in its 160 year story has been faced with closure. Yet by God’s help, it has been enabled to reinvent itself to meet the challenges of each new generation. We believe that God is calling us to a new beginning once again, and to see, not just a building, but a community of people, whose lives have been transformed by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and who are reaching out in love and mission to our community.

 

Pray for us, as we will pray for you.