The History of St. George’s Church The early 20th Century
The Reverend Duncan Ross was inducted on September 10th 1909 with a ‘fruit soiree’ held in the halls. He was to have a long and fruitful ministry spanning 32 years. During times of great difficulty and hardship, he acted as a source of strength leading the congregation through the Great War, ministering to the congregation in the post war years and guiding them through years of social and economic change until the outbreak of World War Two. Mr. Ross made it clear from the very start that he expected every member of St. George’s to be a worker for Christ. In 1910, the Deacons’ Court decided that a quarterly magazine should be published to keep members informed about the work of the congregation. The magazines give us descriptive accounts of missionary work at home and abroad and the new beginnings of organisations set up to encourage children and young adults in a spiritual and recreational way, a congregation working very much together under their new minister. Changes were also taking place with the congregation stepping out from the Victorian era into a more modern world. Mr. Ross was working in Interlaken when war broke out in 1914 as the United Free Church had 22 outposts in Europe at that time. He was given responsibility for 25 people, whose names were entered on the back of his passport, thus enabling him to conduct everyone back to England safely. April 1917 saw Mr. Ross laying down his duties in the congregation as the United Free Church made an appeal for ministers to work in church huts amongst the young men fighting in the war. He set out for Flanders to occupy a hut known as the Murray Memorial Hut and remained there for four months, ministering to soldiers. In 1921 a memorial tablet was dedicated to the men of our congregation who gave their lives and can be seen in the entrance hall of our church today. In 1920, a dwelling house at 14 Catherine Street was bequeathed to be used as a manse by the minister. Several improvements were made to the church including new rooms being added in 1924. These are now used as a downstairs office and an upstairs lounge which has recently been decorated by our young Lightseekers. A very important event came about in October 1929, when the United Free Church and the Church of Scotland came together and were declared to be one Church. Henceforth, our church became known as St. George’s. Mr. Ross paid homage to the Seceders and Disruption Fathers but finished by saying ‘Union is better than disruption and reconciliation is a more anointed thing than separation.’ In 1932, the Presbytery gave a specific district of Dumfries to our congregation so that the people therein would be looked after and attempts made to bring those without any church connection into our fellowship. The area allotted to St. George’s was ‘from Nith Place up Irish Street, up Friar’s Vennel, up Castle Street, along George Street and Irving Street, out Academy Street and Edinburgh Road as far as the railway bridge beyond the motor works.’ In January 1941 Mr. Ross became ill and on medical advice, he decided to retire. It was a great blow for him as he had hoped to continue as minister in St. George’s until the war had finished. He and his wife had been in Dumfries for 32 years and leaving the congregation was a wrench for them both. They moved to Edinburgh where Mr. Ross’s health improved and they were able to come back and visit from time to time. Mr. Ross died on July 6th 1948. The Reverend George Reid Logan was inducted to St. George’s on January 15th 1942 as colleague and successor to Mr. Ross. A welcome social event was held where Mr. Logan was described as ‘a scholar endowed with a fine mind and an excellent German linguist, a friendly man, one who would enter into the difficulties of the congregation with understanding.
Mr. Logan became minister at a difficult time with so many men and women away at war, but along with a postal order for 5/- and a booklet published by the Church of Scotland, he took the time to write letters assuring those in the Forces that he was deeply interested in each and every one of them, looking forward to the time when they would be back in the congregation. One of the highlights in Mr. Logan’s ministry came in 1943, marking the centenary of the Disruption. ‘If we omitted to celebrate the occasion of St. George’s hundredth birthday’ he explained, ‘it would be an ingratitude to those who have gone before, the loyalty to principle, the financial sacrifice and the labour of love of our Disruption forefathers.’ A thanksgiving fund was set up, to be used after the war, to make improvements in the church. After the war was over, Mr. Logan warmly welcomed back those who had been away. Indeed, our very own Harold Gibson recalls many a happy evening spent in conversation with Mr. Logan. Welcome Home parties were held, the first being on April 30th 1946, when the minister remembered those who had gone to fight but had not returned. A war memorial tablet was erected in the church vestibule in honour of those who had fallen. Mr. Logan conducted his farewell services at St. George’s on Sunday September 28th 1947 and was inducted to his new charge at Park Church, Helensburgh in October. Some stressed his scholarly attainment, some his gift of preaching, some his pastoral work, others his work among the young. Blessed with all these gifts and more, Mr. Logan left in the knowledge that his ministry had been a source of blessing to many in difficult times. Part 3:- 20th Century Part 2
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