|
Admin
history |
The 1690 Revolution Settlement secured the Presbyterian Church of Scotland as the established church. Landowners in the form of heritors had a duty to maintain ecclesiastical buildings and had the power to choose ministers. There was a body of people who thought that the parishioners should choose the minister. The 1731 General Assembly restricted the choice of a minister to the heritors and elders of a parish. In 1733, Ebeneezer Erskine (1680-1754) a minister in Stirling who had campaigned against this decision was suspended by the General Assembly. He left to form his own secession church which gained much support in lowland areas. In 1744 the secession church split because of the burgess oath which obliged potential burgesses in some royal burghs to pledge support for the established religion, that is the Church of Scotland. This led to the formation of the Burgher and Antiburgher churches. These split again into the Old Lights and the New Lights. On 18 July 1738 a secession congregation was formed under the care of the Associate Presbytery and on 9 February 1741 a kirk session was established. The first minister was ordained on 16 April and the church building constructed in School Wynd, now Lindsay Street, 1746. In 1747 a portion of the congregation left School Wynd church to join the Antiburgher congregation of Overgate. In 1807 a majority of the School Wynd congregation left to become members of the Original Burgher Presbytery and form the congregation later known as Willison Free Church. School Wynd church became First Congregation, Dundee of the United Secession Church following the union of New Licht Burghers and New Licht Antiburghers in 1820. In 1835 many members of the congregation left to form what became Tay Square congregation due to a dispute over the minister. Another breakaway group erected Gilfillan Memorial Church following the ejection of the former School Wynd minister from the United Presbyterian Church in 1879. In 1909 School Wynd was united with St David's but was dissolved following disagreement in 1910. In 1882 School Wynd church was renovated. School Wynd Burgher became United Secession in 1820, School Wynd United Presbyterian in 1847, School Wynd United Free in 1900 and was dissolved in 1926. |