Everything about Wellington Church totally explained
Wellington Church is a congregation and parish church of the
Church of Scotland, serving part of the
Hillhead area of
Glasgow,
Scotland. The building is located on University Avenue, Glasgow (opposite the
University of Glasgow).
Building
The building was designed by the architect
Thomas Lennox Watson
and built in
1883-4 for the
United Presbyterian Church of Scotland ("U.P."), which joined with the
Free Church of Scotland to become the
United Free Church of Scotland in
1900.
The exterior of Wellington Church is notable for its magnificent
neoclassical portico, complete with a
colonnade of
Corinthian columns in the style of an ancient Graecian temple. This neoclassical architecture was much favoured by United Presbyterian Church, in contrast to the
Gothic Revival favoured by most other churches in the
Victorian era.
History
The Wellington Church congregation was originally founded in
1792 as an "
Anti-Burgher" congregation, which in
1820 became part of the
United Secession Church (and in turn U.P. from
1847). In
1828 they opened their own church building in Wellington Street near the centre of Glasgow. The congregation had outgrown this by the
1880s, so the church commissioned a new building at the junction of Southpark Avenue and University Avenue on Gilmorehill, opposite the University which had moved from the city centre the previous decade. Given that the United Presbyterian Church had no parish boundaries it wasn't uncommon for U.P. congregations to relocate.
Current work
The church ministers to the surrounding
Hillhead community, and to the staff and student body of the University which has grown to surround the church's site. Although the University maintains its own chapel in the nearby Gilbert-Scott buildings, the Wellington hosts both religious and secular university events. The church also hosts musical concerts, and recitals played on its original Forster and Andrews
pipe organ.
The congregation is actively involved in social justice issues, such as the
Make Poverty History campaign in
2005.The congregation had previously won Scotland's eco-congregation award in November 2004.
In 2006 it was proposed that Wellington Church merged with the neighbouring congregation of Lansdowne Church. This was due to declining attendances at both congregatons and the cost of maintaining the Lansdowne building. However, in June 2007 the congregation of Lansdowne rejected the proposed vote on the union at that time. The future of the plan is unknown although the proposals remain a future possibility.
Ministry
The Rev Dr David Sinclair will be inducted as the new minister on 29 May 2008; he's currently Secretary of the
Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland, based in the
Church of Scotland Offices in
Edinburgh. The previous minister was the Reverend Leith Fisher, who retired in October 2006.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Wellington Church'.
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