No Mean City

An article written for FIEC.

What do you think of when you think of Glasgow? In recent days probably the helicopter crash that took nine lives at the Clutha Vaults Bar, or perhaps the much spoken of Glaswegian spirit as the city responded to the tragedy. More generally if you think of Glasgow you might think: shipbuilding, the Old Firm, hard men, deep fried Mars Bars, the Commonwealth Games, the Gorbals, Billy Connolly…

Like all big cities Glasgow is a mix of the old and new, the good and bad, myth and reality - and all the above fall into one of those categories. Often missing, however, from such lists is Glasgow’s amazing Christian heritage. There was a time within living memory when Glasgow was described, without great exaggeration, as the most evangelised city on the planet.

Gospel heritage

In the 1930s the atmosphere of Revival surrounded the famous Tent Hall – a hub of fervent Gospel mission and activity that extended across the city in Mission Halls, Open Airs and street marches.  The great gothic Presbyterian fortresses that still stand on every street corner were commonly centres of great reformed and evangelical preaching. The 1955 Billy Graham Crusade at the city’s Kelvin Hall is still legendary; 15,000 people cramming in each night, some waiting up to four hours in the rain for a seat. A mission that produced among the many converts a whole crop of evangelical ministers.

This was a city whose civic motto was actually, ‘Let Glasgow Flourish by the Preaching of The Word and the Praising of His Name’. Sadly and predictably it is now shortened to include only the first three words. It’s incredible with such a background that the number of prominent conservative evangelical churches in Scotland’s largest city could today be counted on the fingers of two hands.

However, after decades of rapid decline, and the sense of paralysis that can bring to churches, there are signs that the Gospel is on the move again in Glasgow. There is an increasing openness among evangelical churches to work together and work is underway to set up a West of Scotland Gospel Partnership following the great example of evangelical churches partnering together in the East. Glasgow is the base for the Cornhill Training Course in Scotland which is helping train up a new generation of gifted Bible teachers. Additionally, there have been a number of Church Plants in the West End of the city (although the traditionally poorer East End is still largely bereft of strong evangelical churches).

FIEC in Glasgow

Strategically placed in all this are five FIEC churches – three in the city and two on the outskirts. Among the Glasgow tenements (sandstone blocks of flats) are Finnieston and Crosshill Evangelical Churches – both are reaching to ethnically mixed populations. Finnieston is a predominantly Asian congregation and Crosshill has contacts with large numbers of Eastern Europeans. A little further west along the Clyde is Yoker EC situated in what was once the heartland of Glasgow’s shipyards; an area now quite ‘run down’ with many social problems. Further out to the north and south of the city are Lenzie Christian Fellowship and Clarkston Baptist Church. These churches are situated in the generally better off commuter belt around Glasgow, where the social needs are less but often resistance to the Gospel is greater. 

The great strength of these churches is that together they represent the whole of Glasgow – the rough, the smooth, the Scot, the migrant, the better off, the poor. Together the FIEC family in Glasgow is a great picture of the diversity and inclusiveness of the Gospel – a Gospel for the whole city.  The hope and prayer is that this network will grow and be added to, providing even greater coverage and partnership for Gospel witness.

Just a few blocks away from the location of the Clutha helicopter crash is the site of the old Tent Hall.  Inside its main hall was a clock emblazoned with the words, ‘It is time to seek the Lord’. The tragedy was a stark reminder of the fragility of life and the need for Glaswegians to hear those words. Pray that Glasgow would again‘flourish by the Preaching of The Word and the Praising of His Name.’