Arrochar Parish Church

The present Church at Arrochar was built in 1847 beside the site of an earlier building. In 1998 the Church had deteriorated to a state where the congregation of not more than a dozen people had been forbidden by the Presbytery, on grounds of safety, from entering the building. Large holes in the roof, the lack of a proper floor, and significantly vandalised windows had led both the General Trustees and a specially constituted committee of Presbytery to the view that the Church should be sold, and when no-one wished to buy it, that it should be demolished. Presbytery expressed the view that the religious needs of the community at Arrochar could be satisfactorily served by its continuing to make use of the small hall which seated fifteen people.

The community of Arrochar responded by setting up the Arrochar Parish Church Community Trust and leasing the building from the General Trustees for nineteen years at an annual rent of five pounds – a real act of faith by the community as it undertook, in the lease, to return the building to the General Trustees at the end of nineteen years in a safe and wind and water-tight condition. A public meeting brought together all the tradesmen of the village who were asked for help and who unanimously agreed to restore the building without charge providing that money for materials could be secured. The next day two ladies from the village set off around the small community with collecting cans and almost immediately £20,000 was raised to enable the work to start.

In September 1999 the Church was at a state where it could be re-opened and many, many more people came to the opening service than could be accommodated in the Church – fortunately it was a lovely September day and people were able to take part from outside the building. Six weeks later twenty-eight local people joined the congregation by profession of faith.

Now the congregation has developed into a ‘proper’ Church community. We have a Kirk Session with more members than were members of the congregation eight years ago! We have a small but thriving Guild, an enthusiastic Sunday School, a growing youth group and well-attended Sunday worship services. We even have money in the bank. Most importantly of all, the resurrection of the Church community has given huge encouragement to the local community and now Church members and non-Church members alike are working together to rebuild community life and, in particular, to create a village hall complex for this disadvantaged community. The Church building has been totally restored with around £200,000 having been raised locally and spent on materials and restoration work.

The organisation ‘Christian Research’ recently published a book about Churches which have refused to die (Back from the Brink, December 2006) and have turned decline into growth. The book uses case studies from ten British congregations of which Arrochar Parish Church is the only Scottish representative.

In 2009 the village of Arrochar won the ‘Calor Scottish Village of the Year’ award – the judges making special mention of the fact that the Church restoration had contributed significantly to their decision. The award was presented to the community during the celebrations to mark the tenth anniversary of the reopening of the Church.