Wellington Church is a congregation and parish church of 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 Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

, serving part of the

Hillhead Hillhead ( sco, Hullheid, gd, Ceann a' Chnuic) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. Situated north of Kelvingrove Park and to the south of the River Kelvin, Hillhead is at the heart of Glasgow's fashionable West End, with Byres Road forming the w ...

area of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The building is located on University Avenue, Glasgow, opposite the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

Building

The building was designed by the architect

Thomas Lennox Watson Thomas Lennox Watson (21 August 1850 – 12 October 1920), FRIBA, was a Scottish architect and interior designer. Born in Glasgow, he submitted designs for the city's City Chambers (1880) and Kelvingrove Art Gallery (1892) competitions, but w ...

and built between 1883 and 1884 for the

United Presbyterian Church of Scotland The United Presbyterian Church (1847–1900) was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination. It was formed in 1847 by the union of the United Secession Church and the Relief Church, and in 1900 merged with the Free Church of Scotland to form the Unit ...

("U.P."), which joined with the

Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland may refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), seceded in 1843 from the Church of Scotland. The majority merged in 1900 into the United Free Church of Scotland; historical * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), rema ...

to become the

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; gd, An Eaglais Shaor Aonaichte, sco, The Unitit Free Kirk o Scotland) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and ...

in 1900. The exterior of church is notable for its magnificent neoclassical

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

, complete with a

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

s in the style of an ancient Graecian temple. This neoclassical architecture was much favoured by United Presbyterian Church, in contrast to the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

favoured by most other churches in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

History

The church's congregation was founded in 1792 as an "

Anti-Burgher The Anti-Burghers were opponents of the Burgher Oath on theological grounds. History First Secession In 1733 the First Secession from the Church of Scotland resulted in the creation of the "Associate Presbytery". This church split in 1747 ove ...

" congregation, which in 1820 became part of the

United Secession Church The United Secession Church (or properly the United Associate Synod of the Secession Church) was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination. The First Secession from the established Church of Scotland had been in 1732, and the resultant "Associate Pre ...

(and in turn U.P. from 1847)."Wellington Church"
''What's on Glasgow''. Retrieved on 1 August 2020. 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 was not 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, the

University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel The University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel is a chapel at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. It was consecrated on 4 October 1929, and is dedicated to the memory of the former students and staff of the university who died in the First World War ...

, 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 Forster and Andrews was a British organ building company between 1843 and 1924. The company was formed by James Alderson Forster (1818–1886) and Joseph King Andrews (1820–1896), who had been employees of the London organ builder J. C. Bisho ...

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

. The congregation is actively involved in social justice issues, such as the

Make Poverty History Make Poverty History are organizations in a number of countries, which focus on issues relating to 8th Millennium Development Goal such as aid, trade and justice. They generally form a coalition of aid and development agencies which work together ...

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 congregations 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. Wellington Church is within the Church of Scotland's

Presbytery of Glasgow The Presbytery of Glasgow is one of the 46 Presbyteries of the Church of Scotland. It dates back to the earliest periods of Presbyterian church government in the Church of Scotland in the late 16th century. The Presbytery of Glasgow currently has ...

Ministry

The currently vacant charge was led by Reverend Dr David Sinclair until September 2017. He was inducted to the charge by the Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Glasgow on 29 May 2008. He was formerly Secretary of the

Church and Society Council The Church and Society Council was a former agency of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which was tasked with facilitating the Church's engagement with, and comment upon, national, political and social issues. It was merged with the ...

of the Church of Scotland, based in the Church of Scotland Offices in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. Sinclair is the Presbytery of Glasgow's Moderator for the Session 2013/2014. The previous minister was the Reverend Leith Fisher, who retired in October 2006 and died on 13 March 2009, following a road collision on the

Isle of Arran The Isle of Arran (; sco, Isle o Arran; gd, Eilean Arainn) or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at . Historically part of Butesh ...

. His memorial service held at Wellington was attended by over 1,000 people and was conducted by the Right Reverend

David Lunan David Ward Lunan is a Church of Scotland minister. On 30 October 2007 he was nominated to be the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for 2008-9, formally being elected as Moderator on the first day of the Assembly (15 May ...

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

. Former ministers include: the Very Rev

Ernest David Jarvis Ernest David Jarvis (1888-1964) was a Scottish minister of Wellington Church in Glasgow from 1929 to 1958 who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1954. Life He studied divinity at St Andrews University. He la ...

DD, minister of Wellington 1929 to 1958 and

in 1954; and Reverend Maxwell Craig who served between 1973 and 1989.

References

External links

* {{URL, https://wellingtonchurch.co.uk, the church's official website
More info about the church

Eco-congregation award
1884 establishments in Scotland 19th-century Church of Scotland church buildings Category A listed buildings in Glasgow Church of Scotland churches in Glasgow Listed churches in Glasgow Churches completed in 1884 Hillhead Neoclassical church buildings in Scotland