The Charlotte Chapel, also known by its previous name, St George's West Church, is a historic church building located in Shandwick Place,

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

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. It belongs to an Independent Baptist congregation, and was originally a parish church of the Church of Scotland.

History

The congregation was established in January 1808, when Christopher Anderson, a young Edinburgh businessman, began evangelical work in the Pleasance area of the city. By 1816, his Pleasance church was too small and he bought Charlotte Chapel, recently vacated by a Qualified congregation which had joined the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...

and then moved to St John's Church, on Princes Street. This original two-storeyed building seated 750. Anderson was pastor until 1851 and membership peaked at 232 in 1873, although many more attended services. Membership began to fall due mainly to emigration, and by 1901 the church had no minister and only a small congregation. Joseph Kemp, of Hawick, who was appointed pastor, began a revival, holding open-air meetings in Princes Street. Membership rose once more and in 1907 plans for a new building were prepared. The Rose Street church building was built at a cost of £7,250 and opened in 1912 with seating for exactly 1000. The Assembly Rooms, George Street - geograph

The Assembly Rooms, George Street - geograph

In 2008, during the latter part of pastor Peter Grainger's tenure, the church held its 200th anniversary celebrations over the course of an extended weekend in October which included a large

cèilidh A cèilidh ( , ) or céilí () is a traditional Scottish or Irish social gathering. In its most basic form, it simply means a social visit. In contemporary usage, it usually involves dancing and playing Gaelic folk music, either at a house p ...

at an area school, a formal luncheon at the

Assembly Rooms In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th century Britain, 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done ...

on George Street, and a concert by modern hymn writers Kristen and

Keith Getty Julian Keith Getty OBE (born 16 December 1974) is a Northern Irish Christian singer and songwriter, best known for writing the modern hymn "In Christ Alone" in 2001 with veteran songwriter and worship leader Stuart Townend. Getty and his wif ...

. Also for the bicentennial the church saw many former members return and guest ministers visit including James Moser, Derek Prime, and American-based radio pastor Alistair Begg. Begg, a native of Scotland, was formerly "Pastor's Assistant" to Derek Prime at Charlotte Chapel beginning in September 1975 and returned to lead the 2008 celebrations, preaching at both the Sunday morning and evening services at the church's former Rose Street location. In addition, a scholarly book exploring the church's history and concluding with the 200th anniversary was later written by "honorary elder and former secretary" Dr. Ian L.S. Balfour entitled "Revival in Rose Street: A history of Charlotte Baptist Chapel, Edinburgh."

Senior Pastors of Charlotte Chapel

* W. Graham Scroggie (1916–1933) * J. Sidlow Baxter (1935–1953) * Gerald Griffiths (1954–1962) * Alan Redpath (1964–1968) * Derek Prime (1969–1987) * Peter Grainger (1992–2009) *Paul Rees (2009–date)

Worship

There are two services every Sunday: one in the morning at 10:30am and an evening service at 7:00pm.

Building

In May 2016, the congregation moved to the redundant St George's West Church at 58 Shandwick Place. The previous owner was a congregation 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 Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

, and in 2013, the church was closed, the congregation merging with another nearby to form

St Andrew's and St George's West Church St Andrew's and St George's West Church serves Edinburgh's New Town, in Scotland. It is a congregation of the Church of Scotland. The parish today constitutes the whole of the First New Town of Edinburgh and a small part of the early-19th-centur ...

References

About

Charlotte Chapel has several 'daughter' churches: *Niddrie Community Church in the Niddrie area of Edinburgh. * Wester Hailes Baptist Church (founded 1971) *Barnton Baptist Church (founded 1986) Now Citygates. *Christ Church Queensferry in South Queensferry (founded 2021).

External links

Charlotte Chapel Official website

Unashamed Workman - Preaching website of Charlotte Chapel Associate Pastor, Colin Adams

The Episcopal Congregation of Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh, 1794-1818. University of Stirling PhD Thesis by Eleanor M Harris
{{Coord, 55, 57, 5, N, 3, 12, 18, W, display=title Churches in Edinburgh Religious organizations established in 1808 Category B listed buildings in Edinburgh Baptist churches in Scotland 1808 establishments in Scotland Listed churches in Edinburgh