Modern Times

Nearly forty years have passed since the end of Mr Headrick's long ministry but many members of the congregation will no doubt still remember him and the events which followed his untimely death in 1951. After a vacancy of six months Rev Robert Gray (right) was called to St John's as sole nominee from a position as Minister in the parish of Harthill. During his short six-year ministry Mr Gray won the affection of his congregation and earned their respect for his efforts to promote congregational activities and to extend the list of communicant members. The records of the period are full of references to large groups of catechumens under the Minister's instruction, crowded communion services, preparatory meetings, the appointment and induction of new elders and the establishment of new uniformed organisations - the Brownies and Girls Guildry. In 1953 the membership was reported to be 1,250 and the Session had several discussions on a proposal to abandon the system of pew cards with individual names. Around the same time a great deal of time was spent on choosing a suitable memorial to Rev Robert Headrick and his wife which resulted eventually in the familiar oak paneling dedicated at a special service in June 1954.

As well as pastoral affairs Mr Gray and his Congregational Board faced a succession of problems with church, hall and manse all requiring extensive and expensive repair and decoration. The manse was a particular headache. Even before its new occupant arrived in 1951 the Board had to find over £300 for essential repairs and thereafter

hardly a year passed without further major expenditure to keep the house in reasonable order. In addition there were leaking roofs in both church and hall, serious problems with heating and lighting the church and costly repairs to the organ. The bills were invariably met by special congregational subscriptions supplemented by gifts from an active and concerned Women's Guild and it speaks volumes for the dedication of the people of Camelon St John's that the parish remained solvent! And though their charity began at home it certainly did not end there. In 1958 as the Church at national level sought to raise one million pounds to support church extension in the large housing estates in central Scotland, the people of St John's agreed to raise £650 as their share of the target and once again this was done by a direct appeal to the congregation for donations. By Mr Gray had accepted a call to Fetteresso Church in Stonehaven, and his Session agreed reluctantly to his going. He remained there until his retirement in 1982 and still hale and hearty he returned to Camelon in February 1990 to take part in one of the special 150th anniversary services.

His successor, Rev James Robson (pictured on the right) from St Michael's, Gordon, Berwickshire preached as sole nominee in St John's on 16th June 1957 and was inducted to the charge in August the same year. It was the start of one of the longest ministries in the history of the congregation and it ended in 1987 with his retirement. Mr Robson's early years followed much the same pattern as the previous decade with a continuation of attempts to extend the spiritual and pastoral activities of the congregation at a time when many new distractions challenged churches throughout the land.

In December 1957 for example, following an initiative from the YMCA, a youth fellowship was established to engage the interests of the young people of the congregation and it was soon involved in a whole range of social and parochial activities. One such was a programme of house visitation which laid the foundation for many similar exercises in the future. There were also a number of new memorials that added further to the beauty of the church building not least because they signaled many years of loyal service. One example is a bell paid for by the widow of an elder of long standing who is remembered not by name but as 'one who loved and served his church' and a lamp above the front entrance in memory of another faithful servant. These were dedicated at a special service in October 1959 along with an addition to the original war memorial carrying the names of the men lost in 1939-45.

But like his predecessor Mr Robson found a great deal of his time taken up with matters relating to the fabric of church, hall and manse. Before his arrival the exasperated Congregational Board faced with a further list a costly repairs decided to cut their losses by building a new manse. For the next two years they tried to persuade the Presbytery that the manse should be built on the vacant land next to the hall in Mansionhouse Road and the plans were drawn up. But it was not to be as permission was refused on the grounds that the noise from the local works and the church's own hall would be a distraction. In 1959 the Board changed its tack and bought the present manse in Rennie Street, Falkirk with the blessing of the Presbytery. It was a long way from the parish, the church and the congregation but neither the Minister nor his Board were prepared to tolerate the existing conditions any longer and all must have heaved a mighty sigh of relief when the old manse was finally sold later the same year.

The early 1960s saw a major redecoration of the church including the stripping down and varnishing of the pews and the timbers of the roof. Inflation in those years, mild by comparison with what would follow, was nonetheless sufficient to push the bills for repair and redecoration from the hundreds into the thousands of pounds and the congregation was always involved in fund raising of one kind or another. The hall had replaced the manse as the principal headache and throughout the 1960s ad 70s it required almost continuous attention especially the windows which were broken with such regularity that unsightly grills had eventually to be erected. What was most ironic of course was that the young people who inflicted the damage from the outside might have, in an earlier generation, been inside the building benefiting from its fellowship and facilities. But the world of the 1960s was very different from the past and that very change was at the heart of the new challenge to the Minister and his congregation.

It was a period when changes in national life brought in their wake a decline in adherence to formal religion and a steady falling off in participation in worship and the other activities of the church. The post war world with its emphasis on the material values at the expense of the spiritual placed new burdens and responsibilities on those who continued to bear witness in their communities, and the record shows that in this respect Camelon St John's achieved more than most. A great deal of the time of the Minister and his elders was spent in reaching out to those who had fallen away from regular attendance and to those incomers to the village who had not fallen away from regular attendance and to those incomers to the village who had now previous church connection but who were still parishioners of St John's. At various times the Session organised visitations in which every house in a district of the parish received a call from one or two elders anxious to restore a link or forge a new one. A parish 'Development Campaign' was launched in the 1960s with much the same aim and though it was an uphill struggle it was one which did bear fruit and helped to keep St John's congregation large and prominent in the life of the village.

Elsewhere the situation was more serious and in 1968 there was talk of a group ministry involving the three Camelon churches and later there was a formal arrangement for cooperation which included the shared services of a Deaconess. In 1973 the congregation of Trinity Church was dissolved and St John's and lrving accepted responsibility for the parochial area left without a church and the Minister was soon able to report that a large number of former Trinity members were now attending St John's.

About the same time the old kirkyard which had served the congregation from 1840 until the 1930s was cleared of the majority of its old stones by the Town Council and laid out with grass and paved areas to create the present pleasant and picturesque surroundings. Many members of the congregation must have regretted that the silent witness of these markers to the faith and fidelity of their forefathers was lost forever. Certainly the Congregational Board had many other more pressing problems to deal with. So many organisations both inside and outside the congregation were using the hall that its facilities were severely stretched and the mid '70s saw a costly proposal to extend the building turned down and replaced by a programme of repair and redecoration. With inflation rampant the cost of everything the congregation required to sustain its spiritual and pastoral life rose dramatically and the Board, and its long serving treasurer John Henderson, battled to balance the books each year. Though some parishioners here as everywhere else fell away from attending and thus sustaining their church, the vast majority rallied round year after year to meet the financial demands and keep their church active, and in so doing they honoured the debt owed not only to the present generation but to those who loved and cherished this church for a century and a half.

Rev. James K. Wallace was ordained and introduced as minister of Camelon St John’s church on June 22nd 1988. He was called on the basis of ‘terminable tenure’. The then Moderator of Falkirk Presbytery presided over the service of ordination, he had also been the interim moderator of the Church during the vacancy. The sermon was preached by Rev. Cliff Rennie.

Early in his ministry, seeking to make the Church more accessible, a bus was organised to transport members of the congregation from Tamfourhill to the church service on a Sunday. The Falkirk Herald ran an article on this with a photograph of Jim at the wheel of the bus. As a result of this many people in the community believed that in addition to preaching and taking the service on a Sunday Jim also drove the bus!

Early in the 90s a group of members and Jim visited the Church of North India. A close relationship was developed and in furtherance of this, in 1993 we were fortunate to have Rev. Sam Joshua Singh of that Church stay for a two month visit enabling everyone in the church to have an insight to his work in India.

A Parish Assistant was appointed to support the minister in his work within the parish. Catherine Bell came to Camelon St John’s from Garthamlock and Craigend East Church in Glasgow and was introduced in September 1990. In addition to starting a very successful Mother and Toddler group, she went on to start the annual Church holiday and along with Jim ran the J Team, the mid week children’s group that was enormously successful.

1990 saw the Church celebrating it’s 150th anniversary marked on August 26th by a service of thanksgiving. The guest preacher on that occasion was the Very Reverend John M.K. Paterson DD minister to the deaf community during the 90’s. Following considerable efforts to improve attendance and its financial situation the Church was granted full status in 1991.

In 1993, at the March communion service, when Session Clerk Davie Roberts announced that Jim and Catherine were to be married the congregation erupted into spontaneous applause. The wedding – in St John’s of course – followed on the 18th June with Megan, Catherine’s 5 year old daughter, as a flower girl. The whole congregation had been invited to the service and everyone who could attend did attend and went on to the buffet reception and lively ceilidh in Falkirk Town Hall.

In October 1993 a fire in the church hall caused considerable damage, the repair and renovation of the hall took over a year to complete. Following the completion of the repairs a dedication service was held in January 1995 with the Very Rev. Prof. James Whyte as guest preacher.

On Christmas Eve 1995, a Sunday, the Wallace family was completed when Ruth was born. Rev. Evie Young provided pulpit supply at the morning service since both the minister and deaconess were otherwise occupied, the baby arriving in the early afternoon. Rev. Graeme Blount kindly conducted the Watch-Night service as Jim was in no fit emotional state to be doing that kind of thing! However he did conduct a very informal, if somewhat dishevelled, Christmas morning service the following day.

After the birth of Ruth, Catherine decided to cut her hours to part-time and then later resigned her post. On Tuesday 17th November 1998 Margaret Corrie was welcomed to the congregation as Deaconess by means of an introductory service followed by a social event. Margaret proved to be a tower of strength during the events that followed and provided a solid link during the time that St John's remained an independent entity.

In December 1999, to a tearful congregation, Jim and Catherine announced their impending departure to Setauket Church, Long Island, USA. However, due to visa hold ups it was not until June 2000 that they finally left St John's. One of the highlights in the recent history of St John’s was the magnificent midnight service to celebrate the new millennium. A moving and emotional service conducted by Jim that touched significantly each person who attended. The Church celebrated with Jim, Catherine, Megan and Ruth as they prepared to move to their new home. A ceilidh in Falkirk High School, presentations of gifts including a painting of St John’s and an engraved quaich demonstrated the love and affection that had developed within the congregation for this family.

Following the departure of Rev Jim Wallace a series of interesting procedures took place resulting from Presbytery overturning the Parish reappraisal team's recommendation for reviewable tenure after a strong case was put forward in appeal by the congregation. However, national committee also felt that reviewable tenure was the most appropriate decision and in order to push forward the search for a new minister the congregation reluctantly agreed to this. Vacancy procedures began with Rev Duncan McClements as interim moderator. However, Duncan’s untimely death caused yet more upset to the congregation. The vacancy committee continued with its task and were unanimous in their choice of Rev. Stuart Sharp as sole nominee for the call at Camelon St Johns. The congregation concurred when he preached at the Church as sole nominee in December 2000. the congregation were delighted to welcome Stuart, Karen, Andrew, Alasdair, Mathew and Callum to the Church when he was inducted on St Valentines Day 2001.

The Church continued to develop under the care of Stuart and a rise in attendance at Sunday service was a welcome bonus. He guided the congregation through the difficult times, the discussions and decisions leading up to the union of Camelon St John’s and Camelon Irving Churches in December 2003 when Camelon Parish Church came into being under his ministry.

This perhaps is the right point to bring this short history to an end. For the present it is enough to celebrate the achievement of over a century and a half of work and witness in this place and to remember that whatever challenges and changes are thrown up by the present and the future they are made the easier for us by recalling the story of the dedication and devotion, through triumph and disaster, of thousands of men and women who made up the congregation of St John's, Camelon and the members of the current congregation who are carrying the baton into the future with Camelon Parish Church.

Editor's note: This history has been based on Ian Scott's booklet, produced to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the congregation that was to become Camelon St John's. The story of the years 1990 to 2003 were drawn from the parish records and from happy contemporary memories.