Standing by the water's edge...
Come! Dip your toe in the water.
WATERFRONT CHURCH (originally Abbotsford Parish Church) stands at the end of Abbotsford Road, Clydebank. It was constructed in the latter half of the 1970's during the building of the Clydebank Shopping Centre and the church itself lies on the site of the old 'Killer's Lane'... named after nothing more sinister than an early abattoir which stood nearby!!!
The church also backs on to the Forth & Clyde Canal (see photo above).
Our history is rooted in the early days of Shipbuilding on the River Clyde, just as Clydebank was springing up and getting its name.
J. & G. Thompsonʼs Yard was relocated from Govan to the Barns Oʼ Clyde in 1871 to take advantage of the fact that larger ships could be launched due to its location opposite the River Cart.
The new town of Clydebank soon sprung up around the yard and a ʻQuoad Sacraʼ church was established on the site circa 1875 to meet the initial needs of the workers.
St Jamesʼ Parish Church was built in 1876 and we have a minute book from that time showing the formation of a Kirk Session.
However, as a result of the re-development of Clydebank Town Centre in the early 1970ʼs, St. Jamesʼ Parish Church was demolished and the congregation went into a 'Union' with Clydebank West Church. The West Church was also later demolished as part of the on-going re-development.
A replacement church was built and one of our Elders, the late John McMillan who was a painter in John Brown's Yard, put forward the name Abbotsford in recognition of the fact that Monks once crossed the River Clyde from Paisley Abbey at a ford nearby. This was long before the days when the river started to be dredged to allow shipping and it was therefore still shallow.
The original 'Abbotsford' name was agreed for the new church and helped to maintain the link, both with the nearby river and religion. The name of the access road was named after the church, not the other way around as assumed by some.
The 'Foundation Stone' was laid by Sir John Rannie of John Brown's Shipyard & the church was officially opened in 1978, standing alongside the recently refurbished ʻThree Queens Squareʼ, again a testimony to that proud shipbuilding tradition.
The church building has been served by four ministers over the years since it was built. Rev. Dr. Stewart Borthwick (Minister of the former West Church) was the first, followed by Rev Tom Logan.
Following the re-location of our third minister, Rev Roddy Hamilton in 2011, the local Presbytery Plan came into effect once again and we were linked with Dalmuir Barclay under Rev Fiona Maxwell.
Following Rev Maxwell's departure in 2012, we were very fortunate to welcome Rev Ruth Bell, one of our former Student Ministers, to be the Minister of the linked charge. Ruth was married soon after, becoming Rev Ruth Morrison.
A part of the revised 'Presbytery Plan' in 2017, it was agreed that Abbotsford should go into Union with Clydebank: St Cuthbert's Church along the road in Linnvale and that the former Abbotsford Church building be used as the home of the united congregations. The Service of Union (& re-linkage with Dalmuir Barclay, was held in the church on 26th September 2017 and the new church renamed Clydebank Waterfront Parish Church, as voted for by both of the congregations.
For a 360˚ view of the interior of our church, click HERE! (Got an iPad? - see below first*)
This gives a fantastic panorama of the inside of our kirk when empty but, shhhh... You'll waken the church mouse (and please close the door behind you in case it gets out).
We know it's not about the building, but it is very clever how you can do this and many thanks to our property convenor's son Campbell McKerracher for providing the means.
The building is basically square in shape (as you will see if you point the camera towards the roof and zoom out) with the pews radiating out from one corner in which sits the chancel. For most of the year our resident 'CRAFT DAFT' group provide ever changing banners on the two 'side' walls as well as the tryptich in the chancel.
The seated balcony spans, in a slight curve, the two 'rear' walls and is home to our excellent pipe organ, taken and refurbished from the old St James' Parish Church.
In the 360˚picture, the chancel is set for baptism, our font being a tree stump (taken from a local bog and painstakingly cleaned) in which sits a glass bowl.
*Got an iPad?:
PLEASE NOTE that the link will unfortunately not work on an iPad - you need 'Adobe Flash Player' version 9 or higher for it to work!
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS WEBSITE
WILL NOT BE UPDATED BEYOND OCTOBER 2023.
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT OUR CHURCH WILL STILL BE HERE ON ABBOTSFORD RD.,
HOWEVER, WE ARE SOON TO UNITE WITH CLYDEBANK RADNOR PARK CHURCH UNDER THE PRESBYTERY PLAN (WITH A NAME YET TO BE DECIDED) AND OUR KIRK SESSION HAVE THERFORE DECIDED THAT, GOING FORWARD, IT WOULD BE BEST TO 'MOTHBALL' THIS SITE AND SIMPLY LEAVE IT AS A MARKER IN THE SAND.
FOR THE TIME BEING, ALL UP THE MINUTE NEWS CAN STILL BE FOUND ON FACEBOOK GO TO - WATERFRONT FACEBOOK PAGE , ALTHOUGH THIS MAY CHANGE AS WE GO FUTHER DOWN THE ROAD OF UNIFICATION.
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