Beginnings

Our Congregation was originally called “Cardonald United Free Church” and was formed by the Glasgow Presbytery of the United Free Church of Scotland.

There was a United Free Church in Ibrox, from where it was deemed that there was a need to spread the gospel further west into the expanding area of Cardonald.

Sites for building were explored at Halfway and the corner of Bellahouston Drive, Paisley Road West and finally the present site on the east side of Berryknowes Road was chosen.

The Church, now our Large Hall, was opened for public worship on the 5th April 1908.

Having received approval from the Presbytery, a provisional session was formed and at its first meeting on the 16th June 1908 admitted to membership of the Church those who desired to join. At a Congregational meeting on the 23rd June it was agreed that the method of conducting the temporal affairs of the Church should be by a committee of management and a Vacancy Committee consisting of fifteen members be formed.

This committee reported back that they had agreed on a short leet of three and at a Congregational meeting on the 12th October 1908, the Rev Alexander MacInnes, M.A. of Rose Street United Free Church was unanimously elected the first minister of Cardonald Free Church.

The congregation then consisted of 43 members. The Minister’s salary was £300 per annum.

Mr MacInnes was inducted on the 3rd December 1908 and chaired his first Kirk Session meeting on 24th December when it was agreed that a local Kirk Session be elected by the members of the Congregation.

On Sunday 23rd February 1909, the nine members elected were ordained and admitted to the office of Eldership.

Thereafter, the first meeting was constituted, a Session Clerk – Mr G S Orr – was appointed and the provisional Kirk Session was dismissed.

The congregation by this time had almost doubled its numbers to 81 members.

Our Church with its constituted Kirk Session was now on its own, and 100 years later is still worshipping God from the same site.

Since its inception in 1908, the Congregation had before it the prospect of building a more suitable place of worship and to this end a Building Fund was inaugurated.

The fund came into existence in November 1911 in a small and simple way. A balance of £2 3s 2d from a social meeting formed the nucleus of the fund. In five years this increased to £1,246 7s 6d and in 1929 the total in the fund was £9,569 0s 5d.

Work commenced on the building of our present Church in the spring of 1924 and on 28th June 1924 the foundation was laid.

On Sunday 13th September 1925 the Church was opened for public worship; it was apparently a wild, wet day, but a large attendance of interested people turned out for the opening ceremony.

The Church was described by the Govan Press as “an imposing edifice of red stone in the Gothic style with a dignified interior and having seating accommodation for 540 people. “

The cost of the Church building was £9,577.

Our praise to God who has worked wonders from such small beginnings, and inspired so many people to give of their time, talent and money, and to still do so in His cause.