A Brief History of Erskine Church, Dunfermline
St Andrews Erskine Church in happier times
Photograph © SCHR and used by kind permission.
St Andrews Erskine Church as a building at risk
What follows was originally intended to be the basis of a booklet on the history Erskine Church, Dunfermline. I was, at the time, Clerk to the Managers in that church and I was in my early twenties. The booklet was neither completed nor published and a rather rough typescript has been gathering dust since in the 1960s. Events have overtaken me in that the congregation, now St Andrews Erskine subsequently relocated to another part of the town. Erskine Church has stood empty and deteriorating for many years. When the writer last saw the exterior in 2013, many of the windows were boarded up and the property was clearly in a very poor state. There are ambitious plans by a multi-denominational Christian body to turn the old building into a conference centre and café. I am very grateful to Scottish Church Heritage Research (SCHR) for kindly allowing me to use some of their copyright photographs.
The history of what we now know as Erskine Church can really be taken back before the date of the foundation of the church in 1740 to an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain in 1711, generally know by its short title of the Church Patronage Act. At the risk of over-simplification and to avoid too much tedious detail, the purpose of the Act was, contrary to the letter and sprit of the Union of 1707, to reintroduce the practice of lay patronage which has disappeared from Scotland at the time of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Lay patronage gave the lay patron – often the local laird – the right to present a minister to the church over which he held these rights.
This Act was rushed through Parliament before the Kirk in Scotland had even time to consider it. It is fair to say that this action was not done entirely in good faith. It was only one of several measures designed by a predominantly English Parliament to humiliate the Scots. Patronage was to prove a divisive and contentious issue over the next two centuries.
In 1732, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland modified the Act as far as the strict letter of the law would allow them. It laid down that the procedure for selecting a new minister would be (1) nomination by the patron and (2) the decision as to whether or not the nominee would be called was placed on “the majority of the elders being protestant”. No voice was given at this stage to ordinary communicant members. The patron was not required to be a communicant member of the Church of Scotland. In practice, many of the Scottish nobility are traditionally Episcopalian although, over the years, many have adhered to their parish church.
The Act of 1732 greatly annoyed a minister by the name of Ebenezer Erskine[16], the older brother of Ralph Erskine, who considered that the Act was not sufficiently radical or reforming and gave too many rights to wealthier people. The former had already fallen out with the General Assembly due to his support for a book entitled The Marrow of Modern Divinity. Believed to be the work of Edward Fisher of Oxford and published in Oxford around 1646, this work on the nature of the atonement was rediscovered by Rev Thomas Boston around 1700 in the course of pastoral visiting in the parish of Simprin.
He greatly appreciated the tone and theology of the book and subsequently showed it to the scholarly James Hog of Carnock who arranged its re-publication in 1718. It was not well received in all quarters. Theological controversy was raging at the time on the nature of the atonement[17]. There was also a bitter dispute arising from the heresy trial of Professor Simson of Glasgow University. To us today, some of the points at issue may seem academic and hair-splitting but to many people at the time they were very important and not to be glossed over.
In 1720, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland strongly condemned the Marrow. Twelve ministers including Hog, Boston and the Erskine brothers unsuccessfully challenged the Assembly’s decision. Eventually, the controversy seemed to die out although the theological issues were not forgotten. However, it was the matter of patronage that finally led to the formation of the Secession or “Associate” Church with four ministers at Gairney Bridge near Kinross in 1733. There was considerable ill-feeling. The four ministers retained their pulpits and manses in the meantime but did not hold communion with other Church of Scotland ministers.
Later, however, the Assembly felt that perhaps it had been just a trifle harsh. The intended sentence of deposition was not carried out and the ministers were invited to resume their seats in their respective Presbyteries. Ebenezer Erskine was actually elected Moderator of the Presbytery of Stirling. In spite of these conciliatory moves, the four would have nothing to do with any part of the established Church of Scotland. To cut a long story short they were eventually deposed in 1740.
By this time, they had been joined by other ministers, including Ralph Erskine. He was born on March 15, 1685, younger son of the Rev Henry Erskine of Chirnside. Henry Erskine was himself somewhat of a rebel and had refused to accept Episcopalianism even under torture. Visitors to John Knox’s House in Edinburgh can still see the thumbscrews used on Henry Erskine. These were not days of moderation and toleration. He was sentenced to be imprisoned on the Bass Rock but due to his poor health, the sentence was not enforced. Instead, he was banished from Scotland. His son Ralph was, in fact, born in England, in the parish of Monilaws in the County of Northumberland.
There is an old wife’s tale that Ralph Erskine was born after his mother died. According to this tale, she was thought to be dead and was duly buried. Some grave robbers dug up the coffin and when they tried to cut a gold ring off her finger she suddenly woke up. Her son Ralph was born after this macabre event. Whilst it is a good story, there is no real evidence that it is true.
As a young man, Ralph Erskine attended the University of Edinburgh. He spent his vacations at the manse of his brother Ebenezer, at that time minister at Portmoak and was greatly influenced by him and by his wife.
Ralph’s first actual employment was as tutor in the household of distant relative, Colonel the Honourable John Erskine of Cardross, know as the “Black Colonel” who resided at Culross Palace and who had fought in the army of William of Orange. Among his charges was one of the sons of the house, also John Erskine. Later, as John Erskine of Carnock, the latter was to become Professor of Scots Law at Edinburgh University and a famous jurist and writer. His son, in turn also named John, was the future John Erskine DD, minister of Old Greyfriars Church in Edinburgh and the leader of the evangelical party in the Church of Scotland.
Ralph Erskine took the tutoring position at Culross at a time when he was undecided as to his own future. Would it be teaching or ministry? Eventually, he decided in favour of the latter. After declining several calls, he accepted a call to the second charge of Dunfermline Abbey in 1711. In 1716, he moved to the first charge.
He was a popular preacher and pastor and also quite a prolific writer. His publications include Believer’s Dowry (1717), Gospel Sonnets (1734) and Paraphrase on the Song of Solomon (1738).
In 1737, Ralph Erskine, for the first time, openly associated himself with the Secession Movement, which had officially begun in 1732. In the former year, Erskine had quarrelled with the General Assembly over the choice of certain ministers, notably at Dunfermline and Inverkeithing. It was the matter of patronage, rather than the theological issues surrounding the Marrow of Modern Divinity that finally led to his expulsion by the Kirk in 1740.
In the latter years of his ministry in the Abbey, a bitter quarrel arose between Ralph Erskine and the minister of the Second Charge, Rev Robert Wardlaw, with whom he had previously enjoyed a cordial relationship. In fact, it is known that when Wardlaw was inducted to the Second Charge, he and Erskine entered into a gentleman’s agreement that they would each refrain from listening to criticism or gossip about the other or, crucially, the other’s wife.
In spite of this honourable pact a bitter quarrel arose between the two of them. The tragedy of this quarrel was that the two men were basically both on the same side. They were fellow evangelicals, agreeing on matters of theology and both opposed lay patronage. Wardlaw was, however, very much opposed to any form of schism or secession from the national Kirk and denounced such from the pulpit. Sadly, these two former colleagues were never reconciled.[18]
In 1739 many of Erskine’s most devoted followers had seen the storm clouds gathering and had made plans to erect a church to accommodate him in the event of his deposition. The church was built opposite the Grammar School and some yards to the south of the present Erskine Church in Queen Anne Street. Ralph Erskine used this new building as well as the Abbey but the date of foundation is always taken to be 12 May, 1740 to coincide with his deposition. Yet even now, Erskine seemed unwilling to finally sever his ties with the Abbey. When Wardlaw died in 1742, the Assembly took the opportunity to declare both Charges of Dunfermline Abbey vacant.
Rev Dr Andrew Mercer in his History of Dunfermline[19] records a somewhat unedifying episode that followed this move of the Assembly. On 11 May 1742, a Mr Hardy from Culross had been appointed to take the First Charge and duly arrived to take the morning service at the Abbey. The attendants at the door had been warned that, on no account, was Erskine to enter the church. However, when Erskine appeared on the scene, his supporters forced back the attendants. The latter did not offer any real resistance when they saw the stern and determined expression on Erskine’s face.
He made his way into the church and announced the first Psalm leaving the unfortunate Mr Hardy shaking like a jelly in the Session House. It is reported that after the event the unfortunate Mr Hardy was shaking so much that he could not say a blessing over the “dram” he had been given to settle his nerves. The episode did not reflect well on Erskine and, on advice, he decided not to return to the Abbey. The new church that was begun for him in 1739 was completely finished by 1741. It was by no means an elaborate building. An illustration can be found on page 437 of Ebenezer Henderson’s Annals of Dunfermline[20]
We can gather from Henderson that the building was roughly 80 feet in length and capable of seating as many as 1,100 worshippers. Inside there were galleries round three sides. One serious drawback of the building was that the roof was constructed of close-set timber which was well covered with a deep layer of pitch. Apparently on hot days some of the pitch would melt and large drops were liable to fall on the heads of the congregation. In spite of this drawback, this building was to serve the new congregation for roughly 60 years.
Of this simple building, only one fragment remains – an inscribed stone that was built into the south wall above the lintel. This stone was forgotten for many years and was rediscovered among some rubbish. It was rightly agreed to incorporate it into the present building and it can be seen set into the wall at the west door.
It bears the following inscription (translation below)
PASCE FORIS SPARSUM PROVIDE CHIRISTE GREGEM
JEHOVAH-JIRE
RODOLPHUS ERESKIN, V.D.M. MDCCXL
Feed and provide, O Christ, for Thy flock scattered abroad.
The Lord will provide.
Ralph Erskine, Minister of God’s Word, 1740
It is known that the famous George Whitefield visited Ralph in Dunfermline in 1741. Whitefield was an English Anglican preacher who helped spread the Gospel in the United Kingdom and was also influential in the movement known as the Great Awakening in the American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally. He became perhaps the best-known preacher in Britain and America during the 18th century.
It is recorded that when Whitefield announced his Bible text on his visit to Erskine’s church in Queen Anne Street he was taken aback and greatly impressed at the rustling of Bible pages!
Unfortunately, not all aspects of the visit were as positive. Erskine was determined that Whitefield was only to preach to seceding congregations on his visit to Scotland. In particular he was not to preach anywhere within the established Kirk. Whitefield would have none of this. He went as far as to suggest that if the Pope would give him his pulpit, he would preach the Gospel from it. This was too much for Erskine and others and the visit to Dunfermline that began so well ended “”rather unpleasantly”, we are told.
The following year, 1742, saw that strange and remarkable event in Scottish church history – the Revival of Cambuslang. (It is sometimes known as the Cambuslang Wark. “Wark” is the Scots form of “work”, referring to a work of the Holy Spirit.) Whitefield took a leading part in the Cambuslang Revival. The seceders would have nothing to do with it. Had they done so, the church in Scotland might have fared very differently over the next two centuries.
Dunfermline has sometimes been referred to as the Cradle of the Secession Movement and there is much justification for such a title. Almost every tradition of the Christina church in Dunfermline seems to have split at some time in its history. Is that because people in Dunfermline are more quarrelsome than on average? I hope that is not the explanation!
In 1747, there was an unfortunate split in the Associate Church. There was an argument over the Burgess Oath that required holders of public office in certain Royal Burghs to affirm approval of the religion "presently professed in this kingdom". The issue was seen by some as civil interference in religious affairs, a forerunner of later arguments over the place of a church that is established but not part of the State.
Opponents of the Burgher Oath on theological grounds became known as the Anti-Burghers. They showed a distinctive independence of conviction and unwillingness to compromise over sincerely held beliefs. The Burgher and Anti-Burgher factions thus formed rival, independent synods. The controversy was surprisingly bitter. Erskine supported the Burghers, although one of his sons went with the Antiburghers. The Antibughers actually excommunicated Erskine. He published two pamphlets on the issue Fancy No Faith and Fancy Still No Faith.
The
Antiburghers fixed on the village of Cairneyhill as their first meeting place in Scotland. It
was chosen because of its relatively central position. Many of the members were
resident in Dunfermline, and the congregation was known by that name until
members living in Dunfermline withdrew in
1788, becoming the congregation of Chalmers
Street.
Cairneyhill Church (still in use
as a parish church) was built to provide 400 sittings. Chalmers Street Church, Dunfermline was built in 1789 to seat 420. The Dunfermline church was replaced in 1862 by a new
building, designed to seat 500. That particular building ceased to be a place
of worship in 1942 and united with Queen Anne Street Church of Scotland under the
name of Erskine Church