Dundee Parish Church (St Mary's)
Encyclopedia
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
's "City Churches", the other being occupied by the Steeple Church
Steeple Church
The Steeple Church occupies the western part of the historic "City Churches" building in Dundee, Scotland. It is a congregation of the Church of Scotland. It has lively, vibrant worship and attracts some university students....
. Both are congregations in the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
, although with differing styles of worship.
Dundee played an important role in the Reformation
Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...
, and John Knox
John Knox
John Knox was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation who brought reformation to the church in Scotland. He was educated at the University of St Andrews or possibly the University of Glasgow and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1536...
asserts in his History of the Reformation that "the first face of a public church Reformed" was that of St Mary's in Dundee, by 1556.
The church dates back to 1190, when it was founded by David, Earl of Huntingdon, brother of William the Lion, King of Scots. The original buildings have not survived. In 1303 the church was burnt by an invading English army. Following a further invasion in 1547 the church was burnt down again. In the late Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
's was the largest parish church in 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...
with, in the Old Steeple, the tallest tower.
In 1841 the City Churches were again destroyed by fire. In the 1870s Sir George Gilbert Scott was employed to remodel St Mary's, creating the present Victorian Gothic Revival interior (very different from the neighbouring Steeple Church).
The Old Steeple dates back to the 1480s. Between 1782 and 1841 there were no less than four Church of Scotland congregations occupying the City Churches under one roof but with separate sanctuaries. After the post 1841 rebuilding there were three congregations, then two since the 1980s – namely Dundee Parish Church (St Mary’s) and the Steeple Church.
Several past ministers have served as Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
The Moderator of the General Assembly of Church of Scotland is a Minister, Elder or Deacon of the Church of Scotland chosen to "moderate" the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every May....
, most recently the late Very Reverend Dr William B. R. Macmillan
William Macmillan (Moderator)
William B. R. Macmillan was a minister of the Church of Scotland. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1991.-Background and career:...
in 1991.
Ministers since 1690
In 1690, following the Glorious RevolutionGlorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
permanently switched to Presbyterian Government. The incumbent minister of the Parish of Dundee, Henry Scrymgeour demitted office in 1690 and the charge was declared vacant in 1694. The charge was not filled until 1699.
Since that time the following have served as minister of the charge:
- Samuel Johnstone MA 1699-1731
- Thomas Davidson 1732-1760
- Robert SmallRobert Small (minister)Robert Small was a Scottish Minister who was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1791, which seems to have been a fairly routine meeing...
DD 1761-1808 - Archibald McLachlan DD 1808-1848
- Charles Adie DD 1848-1861
- Archibald Watson MA DD 1862-1881
- Colin Campbell MA BD DD 1882-1905
- William L. Wilson MA 1905-1911
- Adam W. Fergusson MA BD 1911-1933
- Alfred Ernest Warr BD 1933-1936
- John Henry Duncan MA BPhil DD 1937-1951
- Hugh O. Douglas MA DD LLD KVCO CBE 1951-1977
- William B. R. MacMillanWilliam Macmillan (Moderator)William B. R. Macmillan was a minister of the Church of Scotland. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1991.-Background and career:...
MA BD LLD DD 1978-1993 - Keith F. Hall MA BD 1994-present