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Admin
history |
In December 1811 a substantial number of inhabitants of Bathgate and the surrounding area gathered together and resolved to have a Relief Congregation established in the town. A short time prior to this meeting the parish church had fallen vacant and request had been presented to the session by elders, heritors and members of the congregation, asking that they be granted a say in the selecting of the next minister. Their request was ignored, and as a result, around 500 heads of families withdrew from the Established Church and applied instead to the Relief Presbytery of Edinburgh for supply of sermon. Service initially took place in Bathgate in February 1812 and William Fyfe, the first minister of Bathgate Relief Congregation, was ordained in 1813. The church of the congregation is thought to have been built some time prior to the ordination of Rev. Fyfe. In 1847 Bathgate Relief Church became part of the United Presbyterian Church and was termed Bathgate West United Presbyterian Church. Following the union of the United Presbyterian Church and the Free Church of Scotland, Bathgate West United Presbyterian Church was renamed Bathgate St John's and upon the union between the United Free Church of Scotland and the Church of Scotland, the congregation became Bathgate St John's Church of Scotland. Bathgate St John's Church of Scotland sits under the jurisdiction of the Presbytery of West Lothian. |