CHURCH
HOUSE
6, Boden Street,
Bridgeton
“For
fifty years, successive generations of Bridgeton's more inventive young minds
have been devising methods of illegal entry...So it's no wonder that when the
battered steel door of Church House swings open, you feel as if you're entering
a fortification.” (Magnusson, 1991).
Church House, shown here in August, 1975, occupies the buildings of the former London Road East Church of Scotland which itself originated from a Free Church congregation. It was established in 1942 as a community centre. This might be seen as a continuation of the efforts undertaken by the Reverend Sidney Warnes of St. Francis in the East during the 1930s to provide supportive and recreational facilities for the people of his parish during the Depression. When the Reverend Arthur Gray came to that charge after Warnes in 1935 he looked for a way to bring the Church closer to his parishioners. His views concurred with those of George MacLeod (founder of the Iona Community) who believed that the Church had failed the Scottish people and lost their loyalty.
Like McLeod, Gray sought a base from which the ideals of Christian fellowship and a wide range of activities could be promoted but was initially unsuccessful. It was not until the nearby London Road East church closed down that suitable premises became available. The Home Board of the Church of Scotland paid the costs of renovating the buildings and for the wages of two club leaders for five years. Renamed Church House, it was officially described as “a community centre for the youth of the district” and was dedicated by MacLeod.
Although originally intended by Gray to provide for parishioners of all ages, it eventually came to be used solely by young people as officially planned. Among the facilities on offer over the years have been arts & crafts classes, football training, cookery instruction, a variety of excursions, and a club canteen. True to its founder's principles however, the centre also continues to promote Christian ideals and maintains a small chapel on its premises where, among other things, an annual re-dedication ceremony is held. This ritual commemorates the first meeting Gray had in the near ruined buildings in 1942 with 11 youngsters at which they were exhorted to “rise up and build” from the ruins around them. This invocation remains the motto of both Church House and Bridgeton St. Francis in the East and derives from the biblical story of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
There have been fluctuations in attendance at the centre for various reasons, not the least of which was the extensive demolition which took place around it in the 1970s. Through the years, the focus of its youth work has also sometimes shifted. Under Geoff Shaw in 1955 for example the more delinquent youngsters of the area were the subject of greater attention. Nevertheless, it has always remained a popular venue with generations of Bridgeton people with up to 160 young people still using the facilities on any one night.
As with its progenitor parish church, Church House has always had to struggle for survival. In managing to do so, it is now one of oldest centres of its kind in the country and has provided a resource of inestimable value to the community it serves.
Magnusson, S., (1991); “A Shout in the Street.” St. Andrew Press, Edinburgh.
© 2005 Gordon Adams
