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The History of St. George’s Church

20th Century Part 2

The Reverend Welsh Neilson Peterkin was inducted to the charge of St. George’s Dumfries at a service held in the church on February 28th 1948.

At 27 years of age, Mr. Peterkin was the youngest minister to be inducted to St. George’s.  Having been educated at Edinburgh University, he was first a student assistant at Broughton Place Church before being ordained as a chaplain in the armed forces in 1945, a position held until demobilisation in 1948.

 Mr. Peterkin arrived in Dumfries at a time when the country was still reeling from the effects of the Second World War.  Rationing and shortages were still a way of life but people were beginning to look ahead to a brighter future.  Mr. Peterkin soon made his mark and was just the breath of fresh air that St. George’s needed to take the congregation forward from the dark days of the recent past.

Sadly, one of the first milestones in Mr. Peterkin’s ministry was a solemn one as it was to perform a memorial service for the Reverend Duncan Ross who died in July of 1948. Mr. Ross’s ministry was marked by the dedication of a new communion table and chair. This needed a reorganisation of the chancel area and this was supervised by Mr. Alex Wilkie with the help of Mr. Robbie and Mr. Dickson.  The total cost of the changes was £2,000, half of which came from the Centenary Fund and half from the sale of Greenbrae Mission Hall.  Delays in production meant that it was not until October 1951 that the table and chair were dedicated.  The other major change in the fabric of the church was the replacement of the old coal-fired heating boiler with a new electric system.

Finance is a subject never far from the forefront of the life of any church, and after much debate, it was decided to introduce the Free Will Offering Scheme, starting in January 1950.  The scheme was a great success, with givings almost doubling in the first year.  By March 1950, 370 members had joined the scheme.

A man of many ideas, Mr. Peterkin introduced many innovations to congregational life. One of these was to encourage members of the congregation to take an active part in worship.  In April 1950, in a service called ‘Voices from the Pews’ ordinary members led the congregation in reading and prayers.  This was almost revolutionary in the 1950s, when the minister’s role was still very traditional.  Other changes to services involved the use of films and discussion in the evening service, which became known as ‘Church at 6.30.’

The mid-1950s brought a spirit of evangelism to Scotland, and St. George’s became deeply involved in the ‘Tell Scotland’ movement led by a full-time missionary, the Reverend Tom Allen as well as the ‘Billy Graham All Scotland Crusade’, an event which led to a special train taking people from Dumfries to Glasgow to attend the event!  Both of these events led St. George’s to look out to the community, an ethos which is still at the heart of the church today.

One significant event which took place in 1954 was the appointment of Mr. Harold Gibson as Church Officer.  Incredibly, Harold is still performing this task with as much enthusiasm as he did on his first day.  A true servant of the church indeed!

Other innovations from Mr. Peterkin’s ministry included a BBC broadcast from the church and a special service for all of the couples he had married during his time in Dumfries.  Also, resulting from a time Mr. Peterkin spent in America, was a full-blown Stewardship Campaign, which took the bold move of issuing to the congregation a leaflet suggesting the appropriate level of giving based on annual income.

It was in the midst of this campaign that the congregation was stunned by the news that Mr. Peterkin had answered a call to become minister of Broom Parish Church, Newton Mearns.  It is perhaps appropriate that Mr. Peterkin’s last act at St. George’s was a special Mother’s Day service, which was broadcast on the BBC Scottish Home Service on March 18th 1958.  Mr. Peterkin’s farewell service took place at 3.00 p.m. on the same afternoon.

Mr. Peterkin’s successor, the Reverend Arthur William (Willie) Bruce was inducted in September 1958.  Mr. Bruce came to St. George’s from Wimbledon Trinity Presbyterian Church of England, having previously served as minister in Camelon and Aberdeen.

Mr. Bruce’s ministry in St. George’s can best be described as a time of re-building both in the sense of bricks and mortar and in spirituality.  Starting with bricks and mortar, Mr. Bruce arrived at a time when the church was considering the sale of the manse at 14 Catherine Street.  In September 1958, the manse was sold for £3,000 and the house known as ‘Darjeeling’ in Edinburgh Road  This was £350 over the agreed budget, but as is so often the case in St. George’s, an anonymous donor gifted the money to the church. was bought for £4,850.

Discussion on the future of the church halls in Buccleuch Street had been going on for some time and when Moat Brae Nursing Home offered to sell the vacant plot of land opposite the church, the Deacons’ Court set up a special committee consisting of Messrs Hope, Rattray and Wilkie to pursue the matter.  The land was purchased for £1,000 and at a meeting of the congregation in January 1960, it was decided that the Buccleuch Street Halls should be put up for sale.  These halls were eventually sold to Messrs Penmans for £17,750.  Curiously, the new halls were nearly never built as a decision was made to try to buy the Assembly Rooms from the Freemasons for £10,000.  This offer was declined and the plans for the new halls were designed and drawn up by Mr. Alex Wilkie and Mr. John Hope.  The cost of the new building was £16,000, leaving a surplus of £1,750 which was to be spent on the church itself.  Work on the church halls began quickly, with the contract being awarded to Messrs Robison and Davidson. Neither was there any delay in renovating the church and plans to build a new vestry and to reorganise the chancel were soon in place. A new font and lectern were installed, two of the leaded windows were replaced and the organ console was moved nearer to the pulpit.  The church reopened on Sunday 4th June 1960, after a period of joint services with Greyfriars Church.

The new Church Halls were opened with a service of dedication on Saturday March 4th 1961, with the actual opening ceremony being performed by Mr. Wilson Fell, the member of the Kirk Session having the longest association with the church. The service was attended by over 300 people, including the Reverend Neilson Peterkin and Provost Edward Watt.  The following day, the morning service was conducted by the Reverend George Logan, who had been unable to be present at the opening of the halls.

The final phase of physical rebuilding took place in 1966, when it was decided to replace the organ with a new Compton electric organ at a cost of £3,900.  This meant that the large ‘kist o’ whistles’, the organ pipes which dominated the pulpit area, would have to be removed. Fortunately, Mr. Alex Wilkie had the vision required to fill this gaping void.  He redesigned the pulpit area and installed the beautiful silver metal cross which seems to float in the air above the pulpit to this day.  The new organ, pulpit and cross were dedicated at a service on Sunday 12th June 1966, with the organ being played by a distinguished son of St. George’s, Mr Derek Johnstone.

There was one more building project, although it was not directly linked to the church.  Mr. Bruce had always cherished the idea of a Church of Scotland Eventide Home being opened in Dumfries and after much work on his part, Devorgilla House was opened on Thursday September 23rd 1965.

Turning to the theme of rebuilding in the spiritual (and financial) sense, Mr. Bruce’s ministry was marked by the Stewardship campaign, ‘Faith in Action’, which ran in 1961.  This was not simply a money raising campaign but was a campaign which aimed to make the best use of the many gifts of the members of the congregation.  Members were encouraged to use their talents for the good of the church and the congregation and it resulted in a level of commitment which is still a huge feature of the church today.

Autumn 1967 brought about the event which Mr Bruce described as being ‘perhaps the most significant of all’ in his ministry.  This was the arrival in St. George’s of a Student Mission, consisting of a group of Christian students from the Scottish universities. The mission had four areas of work to perform.  Firstly, to visit every home in the congregation.  Secondly, to set up a dozen house groups to stimulate discussion and to deepen fellowship amongst the members.  Thirdly, to contact and work with teenagers and finally to share in the Sunday services.

The impact of the mission was huge and had a great effect on both Mr. Bruce and the congregation and played a large part in shaping the way in which the church operates to this day.

Sadly, change often leads to change and at the end of 1968, Mr. Bruce decided to leave to answer a call from the joint Parish of Kilninian and Kilmore with Tobermory on the Isle of Mull.

In his final pastoral letter, Mr. Bruce gave thanks and bade his farewell with the words: ‘It is hard for God’s people to accept the fact that it is His will that leaders of His work should not remain for ever.  God removes his workmen but continues His work.’

 Part 4:- 20th Century The Final Part