Carrubbers Christian Centre is a church on the Royal Mile

Royal Mile

The Royal Mile is a succession of streets which form the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland.As the name suggests, the Royal Mile is approximately one Scots mile long, and runs between two foci of history in Scotland, from Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Castle...

 in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

History

Carrubbers Close Mission was founded in 1858 and its 'workers' originally met in a former Atheist Meeting House in Carrubbers Close. In 1883 the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 evangelist

Evangelism

Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....

 Dwight L. Moody

Dwight L. Moody

Dwight Lyman Moody , also known as D.L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts , the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers.-Early life:Dwight Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts to a large...

 came to Edinburgh. He was accompanied by Ira D. Sankey

Ira D. Sankey

Ira D. Sankey , known as The Sweet Singer of Methodism, was an American gospel singer and composer, associated with evangelist Dwight L...

 who sang his self-composed songs while Moody preached. During their visit, they managed to raise £10,000 to pay for a permanent home for the mission and later that year, the foundation stone was laid.

As a mission rather than a church, Carrubbers has supported other Edinburgh churches in teaching and outreach. Run by a board of directors representing other churches of various denominations throughout the city, Carrubbers has concentrated through most of its history on evangelism, Bible teaching and alleviating suffering amongst the poor, the ill and those prone to addiction. Saturday night rallies have been a feature of the Carrubbers ministry and the Free Breakfast for the homeless every Sunday morning of the year is still a feature of Carrubbers life.

Carrubbers Transformed

In the 1980s, with large scale rallies becoming culturally less popular, and with an ageing building, the directors decided to refurbish the fabric of the building. The project was named, "Carrubbers into the nineties." In 1990, work began and a floor was inserted at balcony level. This created an inviting main hall capable of seating 350 people. In the new basement, a cafe was built along with lower halls and office space. Upstairs from the main hall are further halls and office space along with a library and a private flat.

The focus moved to building a small congregation as an independent, non-denominational

Non-denominational Christianity

In Christianity, nondenominational institutions or churches are those not formally aligned with an established denomination, or that remain otherwise officially autonomous. This, however, does not preclude an identifiable standard among such congregations...

 church. Carrubbers main meetings are now on Sundays at 09:45am, 11:30am and 6:30pm with a range of over 30 different activities and ministries including home groups on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, with church prayer meetings on other Tuesdays. Carrubbers Christian Centre attracts many students and young people and is known for its expository

Expository preaching

Expository preaching is a form of preaching that throws light upon the meaning of a particular text or passage of Scripture. As "throwing light," this term is more general than exegesis, which is used for more technical and grammatical exposition, a careful drawing out of the exact meaning of a...

 Bible preaching and a range of courses to train and equip Christians. In addition, many find faith in Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

through contact with its members or through its courses for enquirers or outreach enterprises.

External links

• Carrubbers Christian Centre website