Gairbraid Parish Church

Maryhill was probably selected because it lay nearest to Shamrock Street, then the West End Church of Glasgow. A suitable temporary place of worship was found in what was then known as the Oddfellows Hall. It was the ‘Public’ Hall of Maryhill and accommodated 250 to 300 persons. It opened its doors as as a place of worship on Sunday, 22nd February, 1855. The attendances were large. In the evening the hall was crowded to suffocation, the ante-room, which served as a vestry was crammed, and the trap door from one side of the room on the stairway was opened to allow people to hear, although they could not see the preacher, and many had to go away. 

On 16th July, 1855, application was made to Glasgow Presbytery for permission to become a fully constituted and erected congregation. This was granted by the Presbytery on 14th August, and on the 28th October, the congregation gathered to participate in their first communion.

The circumstances of the congregation worshipping in a hall was not, at all, favourable to its growth, and steps were therefore taken towards the erection of a Church. The choice of a site for the Church was an important matter. Three places were under consideration—one beside the Odd- fellows Hall, where the congregation was worshipping; a second near the centre of the village, opposite the head of Kelvin Street (now Cowal Street); and a third in Wyndford. The last was ultimately chosen, and the erection of the Church commenced in the Summer of 1858 when Bailie McDowall laid the foundation stone. On Sunday, 1st May, 1859, the Church was opened for public worship when the Rev. Dr. Robertson preached in the forenoon.

Near the end of 1900 the United Presbyterian Church and the United Free Church joined, and so in Maryhill there were then two U.F. Churches. The Rev. W. Duncan in collaboration with Rev. Mr. Gillison of Maryhill High Church agreed that, since the Church in Sandbank Street was pre-disruption, they should call themselves Maryhill United free Church, while this church would bear the name of Gairbraid United Free Church. The Act of Unity was dated gist October, 1900.

In 1926 the congregation raised funds for the installation of electric light, and this addition proved a great benefit and added immeasurably to the comfort and appearance of the Church. About this time the question of the Union of the Churches came up for consideration. The union of the United Presbyterian Church withthe Free Church in 1900, forming the United Free Church, now meant that the two biggest religious bodies in Scotland, the United Free Church and the Church of Scotland, were carrying on similar Christian work, and they were almost indistinguishable in doctrine. The causes which had led to the Disruption in 1843, no longer existed, since the Patronage Act had been repealed in 1874, and other Acts in 1921 and 1925, and it was felt that, once again, the Church of Scotland should be united.

This question which had unfortunately far reaching effects gave rise to a certain amount of bitterness in many congregations, and, in this, Gairbraid was no exception. Despite calls for unanimity, some members decided to leave when finally in 1929 the Union was consummated.

During the summer of 1946, an ambitious Renovation Scheme was carried out, whereby all the woodwork around the chancel was completely renewed, including the pulpit, and also the entire Church repainted including the pews.

At a special meeting of the congregation on Tuesday, 24th February, 1953, it was decided to commemorate the Centenary of the Congregation by attending to a long overdue task, namely the recovering and relaying of the floor in the large Church Hall, the purchase of 300 seats, the fitting of a false ceiling to the roof of the Hall, and various other alterations. By September 1954, that task had been completed.

Gairbraid Parish Church. Accessed September 11th 2020. http://gairbraidparishchurch.yolasite.com/history-1855-1955.php .