Scots Church is a stone
Uniting Church
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Unio ...
building on the southwest corner of
North Terrace and
Pulteney Street
Pulteney Street is a main road which runs north-south through the middle of the eastern half of the Adelaide city centre, in Adelaide, South Australia. It runs north-south from North Terrace, through Hindmarsh and Hurtle Squares, to South ...
in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, the capital city of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. It was one of the early churches built in the new city in 1850. It was built as the "Chalmers
Free Church of Scotland".
History
A prominent group of immigrants to South Australia (which was only settled by Europeans from 1836) supported the
Free Church of Scotland movement. This group called Reverend
John Gardner from Scotland, and established Chalmers Free Church, named after Rev.
Thomas Chalmers
Thomas Chalmers (17 March 178031 May 1847), was a Scottish minister, professor of theology, political economist, and a leader of both the Church of Scotland and of the Free Church of Scotland. He has been called "Scotland's greatest nine ...
, the first moderator of the
Free Church of Scotland in 1843.
Gardner arrived in the colony in March 1850. He immediately initiated buying the land on the corner of North Terrace and Pulteney Street from (later Sir)
John Morphett
Sir John Morphett (4 May 1809 – 7 November 1892) was a South Australian pioneer, landowner and politician. His younger brother George Morphett was also an early settler in South Australia.
Early life
Morphett was born in London, th ...
, appointed English & Brown as architects and builders and laid the foundation stone on 3 September 1850. He held the first service in the new building on 6 July 1851.
The cost of land and building was £2,572 against the estimate of £1,800 despite cost-saving measures which included substituting a shingle roof for slate tiles. The loan to the church, of £1,000 at 12½ per cent interest, was guaranteed by trustees Capt. William Elder, George Young, George Elder, jun., Charles Matthew and Henry Chapman. The spire was added in 1858 at an additional cost of £200 and a bell, brought out from England, was donated by (later Sir)
Thomas Elder
Sir Thomas Elder, (5 August 1818 – 6 March 1897), was a Scottish-Australian pastoralist, highly successful businessman, philanthropist, politician, race-horse owner and breeder, and public figure. Amongst many other things, he is notable fo ...
.
The Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of South Australia was formed 9 May 1854.
The Free Presbyterian Church,
United Presbyterian Church and the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
merged in 1865 to form one
Presbyterian Church of South Australia, although a section of the Free Presbyterians led by Rev James Benny of Morphett Vale did not join the union. When the states federated in 1901, the main Presbyterian denomination in each state federated, so Chalmers Church became part of the
Presbyterian Church of Australia.
Chalmers Church amalgamated with the Flinders Street Presbyterian Church congregation in 1929, with the new name "Scots Church". The Flinders Street property was eventually sold in 1956, yielding funds to build on the western side of the North Terrace property, using
bluestone
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including:
* basalt in Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand
* dolerites in Tasmania, Australia; and in Britain (including Stonehenge)
* fe ...
facings from Flinders Street. The current organ and western stained glass also came from Flinders Street.
In 1977, the majority of the Presbyterian Church of Australia joined with the
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
and most
Congregational
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
congregations to create the
Uniting Church in Australia
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Uni ...
(UCA), the denomination of Scots Church today. Scots Church minister Rev
Ian Tanner
Ian Tanner is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has performed in rock bands since the mid-1980s. He was a founding member of Christian rock group The Awakening (1985–89), and later went on to form the band One Hundred Days with ...
was elected as the first Moderator of the UCA
Synod of South Australia, and then in 1985 became the fourth President of the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia
The Scots Church building has been on the
South Australian Heritage Register
The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. ...
since 1986, and is the second-oldest church building in the City of Adelaide.
People
;Ministers
*John Gardner
*
John Davidson 1870–1877;
*
David Paton
David Paton (; born 29 October 1949) is a Scottish bassist, guitarist and singer. He first achieved success in the mid-1970s as lead vocalist and bassist of Pilot, who scored hits with " Magic", "January", "Just a Smile" and "Call Me Round" b ...
1877–1906;
*Arthur John Wade 1907-1913;
*Thomas Tait 1914–1915; left for Sydney
*James Arthur Seymour 1916–1928; left for Canada
*Norman L. D. Webster 1929–1939;
*
Ian B. Tanner 1963–1980
;Organists
*Roy Mellish 1910–1919
;Others
*
Harriet Miller Davidson
Harriet Miller Davidson (25 November 1839 – 21 December 1883) was a Scottish poet and novelist.
Life
Davidson was born in Cromarty in 1839. She was the daughter of Lydia Mackenzie Falconer Miller, a writer of children's books and Hugh Mille ...
References
External links
{{UCA Churches, state=autocollapse
Uniting churches in South Australia
Churches in Adelaide
Churches completed in 1851
1851 establishments in Australia
Gothic Revival architecture in Adelaide
South Australian Heritage Register
Gothic Revival church buildings in Australia
Scottish-Australian culture