Greek columns with casement windows and triple-doorway front access
Specifications
Capacity
600
Hillhead Baptist Church is a Baptist church in the west end of Glasgow, Scotland. It is affiliated with the Baptist Union of Scotland.[1][2] It has operated for over 125 years, one of 164 active Baptist churches in Scotland in the early twenty-first century.[3][4][5][6]
External features of the church building include prominent Greek columns, casement windows, and a triple-doorway front access, with doors, by tradition, painted sky blue. Internal features include a columned gallery and two levels of seating. It was designed by Thomas Lennox Watson (1850–1920), of Glasgow, the sixth of a dozen churches[7] built to Lennox Watson design during the era.[8][9][10]
Hillhead Baptist Church is located at 53 Creswell Street, Hillhead, Glasgow, Scotland, G12 8AE.[12][13] Reflecting the church's corner location on Creswell and Cranworth streets the church's address sometimes shows as '53 Creswell Street and 30 Cranworth Street.'
The church's National Grid Reference (NGR) is NS 56742 67139,[14] Canmore ID is 167882.[15] Its coordinates are 256742, 667139. The church is marked on Google maps[16]
Founders plaque for Hillhead Baptist Church (1883). Five founders of the church are recognized: John Alexander, Allan MacDiarmid, Alexander Rose, Charles A Rose, and William Tulloch
It is estimated new Christian congregations in Scotland increased from a handful mid-nineteenth century to 184 assemblies in southern Scotland by 1900.[17] Hillhead was part of this trend. Hillhead Baptist Church further benefited from the new Baptist Union for Scotland, formed in 1869, fourteen years before the church opened in 1883,[18][19] relocation of Glasgow University to the Hillhead area in 1870[20] a Baptist Theological College established in Glasgow in the 1890s,[21] shortly after the church opened, and flourishing missionary work in the expanding British Empire.[22]
The church opened in 1883, stressing an open congregation basis, meaning worshippers need not be baptised, only the Minister.[23] Some of the congregation were drawn from Presbyterian churches.[24] Within a decade of consecration, in 1891, Hillhead Baptist Church had an established congregation exceeding 500 regular members, many of whom were commercially active and prosperous merchants.[25] Baptist churches in Glasgow were known to attract commercially active and middle class congregations.[26]
Early 20th century Daughter churches, where clergy and parishioners from Hillhead helped establish new centers of Christian worship, were started in Kelvinside, Port Dundas, and Partick, the latter at a cost of £5000 when it opened in the 1910s.[27][28]
Great War (1914–18) At the outset of war, 120 male members of the congregation volunteered for military service, including most of the church's Sunday School teachers.[29] As one example of losses early in the war, a church member who attended Fettes College, in Edinburgh, died at the Battle of Neuve Chappele in 1915.[30] In 1916, Hillhead minister Dr John MacBeath noted the war had ‘made faith difficult’ and would herald significant political change.[31] By the end of the war, Hillhead had lost fifty-five members from its congregation, the highest losses among Baptist churches in Scotland. [32]
Interwar era (1918-1939)
Great War dead from Hillhead Baptist Church. The list includes Captain Watson T Dick, winner of the Military Cross
The interwar years saw Hillhead Baptist Church congregations reach historical highs. Prominent church members included the Rt Hon Sir Godfrey Pattison Collins, Liberal MP for Greenock from 1910 to 1936 and Edward Rosslyn Mitchell, Labour MP for Paisley 1924–29.[33] Other members of Hillhead Baptist Church held prominent commercial positions.[34]
During the 1930s, Hillhead Baptist Church maintained connections with eminent and larger churches in the United Kingdom and overseas. A third minister from Hillhead Baptist Church was elected to the Baptist Union of Scotland presidency.[35] One of London's largest churches invited the pastor of Hillhead Baptist Church to be their pastor in 1938.[36] The church played a prominent role in national Baptist Union meetings[37] and community organisations such as the YWCA.[38]
In the 1930s, as the Sino-Japanese war escalated, Hillhead Baptist Church took active interest in Baptist missionaries affected by Japanese attacks in China's coastal cities.[39] On the outbreak of World War Two, Hillhead Baptist Church leaders raised concerns at any weakness facing Germany's Nazi threat.[40]
Post World War 2 (1945 – )
Second World War dead from Hillhead Baptist Church.
In the 1940s, a fourth minister from Hillhead Baptist Church was elected to the Baptist Union of Scotland presidency.[41]
During the 1950s, ministers from Hillhead Baptist Church took leading roles in understanding global influences on Christianity,[42] the Christian Youth Assembly[43] and the Glasgow Boys' Brigade.[44] Members of Hillhead Baptist Church facilitated contact between visiting New Zealand clergyman Lloyd Crawford and the American evangelist Billy Graham. This led to Billy Graham visiting New Zealand in the 1950s.[45] Graham was in Glasgow for a six-week visit during 1955, stressing spiritual and euphoric aspects of evangelism. This received mixed views from Baptist ministers more focused on practical interpretations and guidance.[46]
In the 1960s, members of Hillhead Baptist Church helped start another daughter church in Drumchapel, which was admitted to the Baptist Union in 1962.[47] Hillhead Baptist Church contributed £5000 towards building the Drumchapel Church, plus a Minister's stipend of £200 for three years, plus supported Sunday School services. The church also helped campaigners seeking improvements to Glasgow library services.[48]
During the 1970s, the Minister of Hillhead Baptist Church raised concerns about congregation declines across Scotland[49][50] while encouraging social engagement and charity work.[51] Although congregations fell from the 1930s peak some modest increases at Baptist churches happened within Scotland in the late 20th century.[52]
In 2004, a long-standing member of the congregation who had amassed a multimillion-pound stock portfolio left £35,000 in her will for church repairs.[53]
Building features
Plaque commemorating Hillhead Baptist Church's inaugural minister, Frederick Hall Robarts (1835–1901). The Rev Hall Robarts was the church's minister from 1883, its foundation, until 1901, his death
The church interior contains three memorial stones recognising some past ministers. They are: Frederick Hall Robarts (1835–1901), the inaugural Minister 1883–1901, John Thomas Forbes (1858–1936), Minister from 1901 to 1928, seven as Minister Emeritus, and Robert Guy Ramsay (1895–1976), Minister 1944–1960 and Minister Emeritus 1962–1976.
A plaque at the entrance to the church, erected in 1933, commemorates the founding role of five parishioners in 1883: The inscription reads:
"In grateful remembrance of those to whom this church is indebted for its formation: John Alexander Allan MacDiarmid Alexander Rose Charles A Rose William Tulloch"
Either side of the founding parishioners plaque are commemorations of Hillhead Baptist Church congregations who died in the 1914–18 and 1939–45 wars. Totally 32 parishioners died in the 1914–18 war, one of whom, Captain Watson T Dick received the Military Cross, and 6 died in the Second World War.
The north facing church interior features a raised gallery for the congregation illuminated by three large windows. The ceiling features ornate cornicing and circular patterns, which like the church's front doors, are decorated in blue.
Current use
Hillhead Baptist Church remains active in the early twenty-first century. Activities include regular Christian services and community use of the church building. The church held registered charity status with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (number SC012806,[54] and participated in various community events.
Hillhead Baptist Church was featured in 'The Mystery Worshipper' website in 2008, which noted Hillhead's services included "...hymns ranging from traditional to the Celtic folk style of the Iona community."[55]
In 2011, the Church secured planning permission to convert some of the Church's peripheral buildings into residential apartments. The church was also using a smaller part of the building, called the Tryst, pending repairs to the main church.[56] In 2016, Hillhead Baptist Church was used for meetings by the Scottish Baptist history project[57] and a venue at Glasgow's West End Festival.[58]
In 2020, redevelopment of the main church building began, to convert the property in to flats while retaining the facade. Plans for a new church building are included within the development.[59]
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References
↑ Yuille, George (1926). History of the Baptists in Scotland(PDF). The Baptist Standard Bearer, Inc. p.179. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2 March 2016. A few members of Adelaide Place Church, residing in the neighbourhood of Hillhead, had felt for some time the desirability of founding a Baptist Church in that district. The population was rapidly increasing, and the distance to the nearest Baptist Church considerable.
↑ Roxburgh, Kenneth (1999). Open and Closed Membership Among Scottish Baptists (Series 171 ("Baptism, the New Testament and the Church: Historical and Contemporary Studies in Honour of R.E.O White, Eds: Stanley E Porter & Anthony R Crossed.). Sheffield Academic Press. p.440. ISBN1-85075-937-5. From 1840, the Hillhead area of Glasgow experienced significant growth, and by 1869 the burgh had a population of over 3500. In 1870 the University of Glasgow relocated its premises in the area, and in 1883 nine members of the Adelaide Place Baptist Church expressed their desire to establish a new Baptist congregation in the Hillhead area.
↑ "Thomas Lennox Watson". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018. Ed note: Twelve churches designed by Lennox Watson are Adelaide Place Baptist Church, Glasgow (1875), John Knox Street Church, Glasgow (1875), North Presbyterian Church, Perth, Scotland (1878), Greenfield Presbyterian Church, Glasgow (1881), St John's Wesleyan Methodist Church, Glasgow (1882), Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow (1883), Crieff Presbyterian Church, Perthshire (1883), Wellington Presbyterian Church, Glasgow (1883), Coats Memorial baptist Church, Paisley (1885), Bristol Baptist Church (1886), Church of St Peter, Drogheda, Eire (1892), Giffnock Estate Church, Renfrewshire (1916).
↑ "Scottish architect Thomas Lennox Watson (Hillhead Baptist Church)". Glasgow Sculpture. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Returning to Glasgow, c. 1875, he [Thomas Lennox Watson] proved his skill in Classical design with Adelaide Place Baptist Church, Pitt Street (1875-7), Hillhead Baptist Church, Creswell Street (1883) and Wellington Church, University Avenue (1882-4)
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church". Scottish Cities. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Hillhead Baptist Church in Cresswell Street was built in 1883, although it looks much earlier in style. It was designed by Thomas. L. Watson, a Glasgow architect who favoured the Greek form of church building.
↑ "Scottish architect Thomas Lennox Watson". Scottish Architects. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. He came into prominence very early, securing the commissions for the free classical Adelaide Place Baptist Church, Glasgow (1875-6) and for the Gothic Kilmacolm Hydropathic (1878) ... He was admitted FRIBA on 9 June 1884, his proposers being John Honeyman, Alfred Waterhouse and Arthur Cates.
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church at Historic Scotland". Historic Scotland. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. [Hillhead Baptist Church features...] Greek revival. 2-storey church with attached single storey hall and lower 3-storey caretaker's house. Polished ashlar, snecked rubble rear and return elevations. Casement windows with glazing bars…. [and intertior]... columned gallery with panelled front. Pilastered upper walls, apsidal (liturgical) E end with pedimented aedicule framing organ case. Compartmented, coffered ceiling. Anta pilastered hall with compartmented ceiling and circular roof lights.
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church". Hillhead Baptist Church. Archived from the original on 21 April 2016. 53 Creswell Street, Glasgow, Scotland, G12 8AE
↑ Dickson, Neil (1991). "Brethren and Baptists in Scotland"(PDF). Biblical Studies. Archived(PDF) from the original on 21 May 2012. There were only a very few Open Brethren assemblies prior to 1860, but in the decade after at least thirty assemblies came into existence, and by 1887 one source calculated that there were 184 assemblies. They were formed mainly in those Lowland communities which had known recent social and economic change.
↑ Balfour, Ian (1996). Baptist Union of Scotland (1996 Chapel Document). Edinburgh, Scotland. p.1. The Union was formed in 1869, when 51 Scottish Baptist churches agreed:"That a Union of evangelical baptist churches of Scotland is desirable and practicable, and that its objects should be to promote evangelical religion in connection with the baptist denomination in Scotland, to cultivate brotherly affection and to secure co¬operation in everything related to the interests of the associated churches."{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Murray, Derek Boyd (1969). The First Hundred Years: the Baptist Union of Scotland. Glasgow, Scotland: Baptist Union of Scotland.
↑ Roxburgh, Kenneth (1999). Open and Closed Membership Among Scottish Baptists (In Baptism, the New Testament and the Church: Historical and Contemporary Studies in Honour of R.E.O White, Eds: Stanley E Porter & Anthony R Cross (Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 171ed.). Sheffield Academic Press. p.440. ISBN1-85075-937-5. From 1840, the Hillhead area of Glasgow experienced significant growth, and by 1869 the burgh had a population of over 3500. In 1870 the University of Glasgow relocated its premises in the area, and in 1883 nine members of the Adelaide Place Baptist Church expressed their desire to establish a new Baptist congregation in the Hillhead area.
↑ Brackney, William H, ed. (2009). "Historical Dictionary of the Baptists (1609-2009)". Scarecrow Press. In 1890 there was an establishment of the Baptist Theological College in Glasgow. It continues to the present{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ Bebbington, D.W. (1989). "Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A history from the 1730s to the 1980s". Routledge. …in Scotland Evangelicals gained most ground in the vast parishes of the Highlands as well as in the new industrial regions… Land for erecting a chapel was far more likely to be available in open parishes where landownership was fragmented.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ Roxburgh, Kenneth (1999). Open and Closed Membership Among Scottish Baptists (In Baptism, the New Testament and the Church: Historical and Contemporary Studies in Honour of R.E.O White, Eds: Stanley E Porter & Anthony R Cross (Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 171ed.). Sheffield Academic Press. p.440. ISBN1-85075-937-5. It based its membership policy on Dublin Street Baptist Church in Edinburgh, and declared its intention to allow 'full membership to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity'. Indeed, the only member of the congregation who needed to be a 'Baptist' was the minister.
↑ Yiulle, Ceorge (1997). History of the Baptists in Scotland. p.179. Rev. F.H. Robarts began his ministry in 1883 [to Hillhead Baptist Church], and continued until his death in 1901. His was an[sic?] unique ministry, and his influence far beyond that exerted by a Baptist Pastor in a community predominantly Presbyterian. Sittings were soon with difficulty obtainable, and crowded congregations waited on his words, queues being not uncommon. His saintly and gracious personality is still a precious memory to the older members of the congregation, and those of middle age who as children listened to his wonderful children's sermons will cherish the recollection of them.
↑ Hillis, Peter (2000). The 1891 Membership Roll of Hillhead Baptist Church. Glasgow, Scotland: Scottish Church History Society. pp.172–192. [See Records of the Scottish Church History Society, Volume 30 (2000) 172-192]
↑ Brown, Calum G (1997). Religion and Society in Scotland since 1707. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press. p.30. Baptists had mixed social compositions of urban middle classes, especially in Glasgow and Dundee, and peasant and fishing communities in the northeast, Orkney and some west-coast ports and islands.
↑ Yiulle, Ceorge (1926). History of the Baptists in Scotland. p.63. In June, 1895, the new Mission premises at Partick were opened, free of debt, although the cost of the building was over £5000. A few years later the new buildings at Port Dundas were also completed.
↑ Roxburgh, Kenneth (1999). Open and Closed Membership Among Scottish Baptists (In Baptism, the New Testament and the Church: Historical and Contemporary Studies in Honour of R.E.O White, Eds: Stanley E Porter & Anthony R Cross (Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 171ed.). Sheffield Academic Press. p.440. ISBN1-85075-937-5. During its history, three daughter congregations have been formed in Glasgow, in Patrick (1904), Drumchapel (1962) and Bearsden (1973), all on the basis of open membership.
↑ Clements, Keith W. Baptists and the Outbreak of the First World War(PDF). Edinburgh, Scotland: The Baptist Quarterly. p.76. Archived(PDF) from the original on 7 August 2019. An irate letter appeared in the Baptist Times from William Tulloch, a member of Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow. He declared that in Scotland men, at the call of duty, did not wait for the consent of their parents (as the Manifesto put it). Hillhead Church had not waited for any manifesto but had already responded by sending 120 from the Church and mission to the colours. All but one of the male Sunday School teachers had volunteered.
↑ McDowell, D. B. Fettes in the First World War: The Battle of Neuve Chapelle (March 1915). Edinburgh, Scotland: Fettes College. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018. Lieutenant WILLIAM ARCHIBALD MACLEAN WILLIAM, killed, aged 28, at Neuve Chapelle on 12 March 1915. "He took a very active interest in the various agencies in connection with Hillhead Baptist Church. He had a genius for friendship, and his early death is mourned by a very wide circle.
↑ MacBeath, John (June 1916). Our Volunteer Army. Edinburgh, Scotland: Scottish Baptist Magazine. p.85. Old distinctions have fallen away. Old differences are obliterated. The men have changed and they will change many things after the war. Old opinions have been revised. Old political creeds have been recast, new leaders are in the making and new policies are in the shaping amongst our men
↑ Henry, S. D. (1982). Scottish Baptists and the First World War. The Baptist Quarterly. The Roll of Honour, started in 1917, showed five hundred from Scottish congregations had been killed. They were drawn from seventy-five churches. Hillhead had lost the most with fifty-five recorded dead [also... "but smaller churches suffered as badly, perhaps more, since their resources were less"]
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 24 July 1939. OBITUARY. Mr Wilfred A Boyd… who was a director of the firm of J and T Boyd Ltd, Shettleston Iron Works, Glasgow… was a member of Hillhead Baptist Church.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ "Baptist Union President". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 3 August 1942. The Rev John MacBeath, DD, Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow, was president of the Baptist Union of Scotland in 1934-35.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 14 November 1938. The Rev Dr John MacBeath intimidated at the close of the forenoon service in Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow, yesterday that he had received a call to the pastorate of Christ Church, Westminster, Bridge Road, London… Christ Church is one of the premier pulpits in this country, and a church of international fame. It has accommodation for nearly 2000 people and there are seven Sunday Schools, as well as other auxiliary agencies, including homes for aged people.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 1 May 1933. Special services were held yesterday in the Baptist churches in Glasgow in connection with the annual Assembly of the Baptist Union of Great Britain… The forenoon service in Hillhead Baptist Church was conducted by the Rev F J Walkey, London.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 23 April 1932. The weeks activities will include a members service in Glasgow Cathedral tomorrow evening, when the preacher will be the Rev John MacBeth, Hillhead Baptist Church…{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 9 November 1937. The Rev Dr John MacBeth, Hillhead Baptist Church, told a representative of "The Glasgow Herald" yesterday that the Baptist Mission headquarters in London had no further information about the missionaries in Taiyuanfu… "Today", said Dr MacBeth, "a cable was sent from ur London headquarters to China asking for information about our missionaries{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 9 October 1939. Deep concerns lest any weakness should be shown at this moment towards Hitler's proposals was expressed yesterday by the Rev Dr John A Hutton, editor of the "British Weekly", preaching at the 56th anniversary services in Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow. The church was crowded both morning and afternoon, and the preachers messages bore a very close relationship to the present crisis{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ "Baptist Union New President". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 19 October 1948. It was disastrous that the Church was divided denominationally, said the Rev R Guy Ramsay, Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow in his presidential address in Aberdeen last night to the annual Assembly of the Baptist Union of Scotland… Mr Ramsay recalled that his father had been president of the Baptist Union of Scotland 27 years ago, and that he was the fourth minister of Hillhead Baptist Church to hold that office.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 5 January 1955. Dr R Guy Ramsay, lecturer at the Baptist Theological College of Scotland and minister of Hillhead Baptist Church, said in Glasgow yesterday that there was an ebb-tide in religion in the present day, but he believed strongly that the tide was about to turn. Dr Ramsay, who was speaking at a luncheon of the Glasgow Rotary Club, said that a number of forces had been at work to help create this ebb-tide. Led by Charles Darwin, the scientists had discovered more and more about some of the methods by which nature did her work. Some of them had concluded from their discoveries that God and religion were now redundant.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 18 February 1952. It was rather tragic to realize that the great majority of people could only find a thrill and adventure in life during war, the Rev R Guy Ramsay, Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow, told 900 delegates and observers at the opening session of the fourth annual Christian Youth Assembly, held at the ween-end in the Assembly Hall, Edinburgh… Mr Ramsay sad that more than ever the Church had to learn to present the Christian faith as a call to a life of movement and adventure.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 26 April 1954. More than 9000 members of the Glasgow Battalion, the Boys' Brigade, took part yesterday in church parades in the city… The service was conducted by the Rev Dr R Guy Ramsay, minister of Hillhead Baptist Church and chaplain to the 76th Glasgow Company, Boys' Brigade{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ Crawford, Bryan (2009). Letters my Grandfather wrote me. Bloomington, Indiana, USA: Author House. pp.73–74. He [Lloyd Crawford] was met at the wharf [on the River Clyde] by the Secretary of the Hillhead Baptist Church who took him to his home for a weeks stay… [and]… a few days later Lloyd preached at the Hillhead Baptist Church before a congregation of about 600 people, and there had discussions with Billy Graham which were instrumental in Bily's later visit to New Zealand.
↑ Roxburgh, Kenneth B E (2013). Fundamentalism in Scotland (Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism in the United Kingdom during the Twentieth Century (Eds: David Bebbington & David Ceri Jones)ed.). Oxford University Press. p.285. The six week mission that Graham conducted in Glasgow in 1955 demonstrated a unique ecumenical approach to evangelism, but it also revealed deep divisions within Christianity in Scotland... [some viewed] Graham's fundamentalist stance on the Bible was unacceptable in the modern world, fostering an escapism from Christian responsibilities.
↑ "Drumchapel Baptist Church formation". Drumchapel Baptist Church. Archived from the original on 23 February 2018. Drumchapel Baptist Church was started by members of Hillhead Baptist Church in 1961. The church was then added to the Baptist Union in 1962.
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 23 April 1969. We have been trying to find a suitable hall in the Hillhead area to hold a meeting of inquiry on [libraries in Glasgow]. We have been aided by Hillhead Baptist Church allowing us use of their hall in Creswell Street.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ Kerr Spiers, T (1976). Whither Britain, A Scottish Perspective. The Fraternal (Number 176). p.10. The traditional religious premise of Scottish life is being eroded fast by "the acids of modernity"and the Church of Scotland has been losing more members in a year than the entire membership of the Baptist Union of Scotland. But the breakdown of the traditional religious institution could make way for the emergence of a radical church blending an authentic cultural understanding of the Scottish people with a cogent interpretation of the Gospel for our society.
↑ Roxburgh, Kenneth B E (2013). Fundamentalism in Scotland (Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism in the United Kingdom during the Twentieth Century (Eds: David Bebbington & David Ceri Jones)ed.). Oxford University Press. p.288. The twentieth century was not kind to Christianity in Scotland. Since the 1960s there has been a steep decline in the number of members in churches of every domination.
↑ "Rev Kerr Spiers, Church Minister and Broadcaster". Herald Scotland. 3 October 2011. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. [OBITUARY. Rev Kerr Spiers] ….ministry in Glasgow was shaped by the "social gospel" movement, and his Hillhead [Baptist Church] days were characterised by a reaching out to the poor, the dispossessed and, more often than not, homeless alcoholics, whom he encouraged to come to church and find friendship and help.
↑ Brown, Calum G (1997). Religion and Society in Scotland since 1707. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press. p.159. Only one denomination which has experienced membership decline in Scotland has sustained a late-twentieth-century reversal - the Baptist Church. Baptist membership declined from the 1930s until 1976, and then started a modest but steady growth in the last quarter of the century.
↑ MacDonald, Stuart (17 October 2004). "OPAs Secret Riches Spinster Teacher leaves £2.7m will. Isobel, 97, stuns pals with shares fortune". Sunday Mail (Glasgow, Scotland). Part of her will included a £35,000 gift to the repair fund of Hillhead Baptist Church, which she had regularly attended since the age of 10. Isobel went to every Sunday service until three weeks before her death. The Rev Colin Bond said: 'She was a very popular figure within the community. She was faithful every Sunday and would always insist you referred to her as Miss Ralston. I suspect that was the school teacher in her. Many of her former pupils tell interesting stories about 'Ratty'. The amount of money may be a surprise but we are very thankful for her donation.'{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church review of services". Ship Of Fools. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. I guess you'd probably describe it as a straightforward, uncomplicated hymn sandwich, with the hymns ranging from traditional to the Celtic folk style of the Iona community.
↑ "Hillhead Baptist Church update". Archived from the original on 21 April 2016. The Planning Application and Listed Building Consent to convert what was the Church Sanctuary into flats and redevelop the Tryst into a new Church Facility was granted on the 12th April 2011. The Church is now actively looking for a development partner to take this forward. Meanwhile the Church will continue to use the Tryst for all its activities.
↑ "Meeting of Scottish Baptist history project". Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. There is to be a meeting of the Scottish Baptist History project on Saturday 23 April 2016 at Hillhead Baptist Church, 53 Cresswell Street, Glasgow G12 8AE
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