Charlotte Chapel (Edinburgh)

Charlotte Chapel (officially Charlotte Baptist Chapel) is an evangelical Baptist church located in Shandwick Place, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is affiliated with the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches and the Pillar Network.

1. History

The congregation was established in January 1808, when Christopher Anderson, a young Edinburgh businessman, began evangelical work in the Pleasance area of the city. By 1816, his Pleasance church was too small, and he purchased Charlotte Chapel. The chapel was recently vacated by a Qualified congregation which had joined the Scottish Episcopal Church and then moved to St John's Church, on Princes Street. The original two-storey building seated 750 attendants. Anderson was pastor until 1851, and membership peaked at 232 in 1873, although many more attended services. Membership began to fall due mainly to emigration, and by 1901, the church had no minister and only a small congregation. Joseph Kemp, of Hawick, who was appointed pastor, began a revival, holding open-air meetings in Princes Street. Membership rose once more, and in 1907 plans for a new building were prepared. The Rose Street church building was built at a cost of £7,250 and opened in 1912 with seating for exactly 1000 attendants.

In 2008, during the latter part of pastor Peter Grainger's tenure, the church held its 200th anniversary celebrations over the course of an extended weekend in October. These celebrations included a large cèilidh at an area school, a formal luncheon at the Assembly Rooms on George Street, and a concert by modern hymn writers Keith & Kristyn Getty. During the bicentennial, the church also saw many former members return and guest ministers visit, such as James Moser, Derek Prime, and American-based radio pastor Alistair Begg. Begg, a native of Scotland, was formerly "Pastor's Assistant" to Prime at Charlotte Chapel, beginning in September 1975. He returned to lead the 2008 celebrations, preaching at both the Sunday morning and evening services at the church's former Rose Street location. In addition, a scholarly book exploring the church's history and concluding with the 200th anniversary was later written by "honorary elder and former secretary" Dr. Ian L.S. Balfour entitled Revival in Rose Street: A history of Charlotte Baptist Chapel, Edinburgh.

1. Building

In 2013, the St George's West Church (Church of Scotland) closed the building. In May 2016, Charlotte Chapel moved to the redundant St. George's West Church at 58 Shandwick Place.

1. References

Revival in Rose Street: A history of Charlotte Baptist Chapel, Edinburgh, Edinburgh: Unknown, 2008, ISBN 9781904429111

1. External links

Charlotte Chapel Official website

Nearby Places View Menu

Rose Theatre, Edinburgh

The Rose Theatre, a Category B listed building on Rose Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, is a former Baptist chapel and, more recently, arts & entertainment venue. Following deconsecration, the building re-opened in 2017 to provide year-round venues for the performing arts, hosting events for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on a number of occasions.

Church Event

Scottish Land Court

The Scottish Land Court (Scottish Gaelic: Cùirt an Fhearainn na h-Alba) is a Scottish court of law based in Edinburgh with subject-matter jurisdiction covering disputes between landlords and tenants relating to agricultural tenancies, and matters related to crofts and crofters. The Scottish Land Court is both a trial court and an appeal court; hearings at first-instance are often heard by a Divisional Court of one of the Agricultural Members advised by the Principal Clerk. Decisions of the Divisional Court can be appealed to the Full Court, which will consist of at least one legally qualified judicial member and the remaining Agricultural Member. Some cases are heard at first-instance by the Full Court, and these cases may be appealed to the Inner House of the Court of Session. The Chairman of the Scottish Land Court is ranked as a Senator of the College of Justice, and is required to be meet the same eligibility criteria as a Senator. The Scottish Land Court has a legally qualified Deputy Chairman, with several Agricultural Members. The Agricultural Members (also called "practical Members") are lay (not legally qualified) members of the Court with significant experience of agriculture. They deal with many crofting cases, and sit in the Divisional Court, where they are supported by the Principal Clerk as legal assessor. However, the decisions of the Divisional Court rest with the Agricultural Member. The Court holds hearings throughout Scotland, and cases can be heard before a divisional court (consisting of one of the Agricultural Members), or the full court (consisting of the Agricultural Members and the legally qualified members.) The court was established on 1 April 1912 under section 3 of the Small Landholders (Scotland) Act 1911, which was consolidated by the Scottish Land Court Act 1993. The current chairman is Lord Duthie who was appointed on 9 January 2023.

Government

Church of Scotland offices

The Church of Scotland offices are located in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland (in the New Town), at 121 George Street. These imposing buildings are popularly known in Church circles as "one-two-one". They were designed in a Scandinavian-influenced style by the architect Sydney Mitchell and built in 1909–1911 for the United Free Church of Scotland. Following the union of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church of Scotland in 1929 the church offices were henceforth used by the newly united church. A matching extension, incorporating a ground floor bookshop, was built in the 1930s on the east side (119 George Street). A proposed matching extension on the west side (replacing the still-existing buildings at 123 George Street) was never built. 123 George Street is, however, owned by the Church of Scotland and has been incorporated into the offices. The church offices also incorporate a chapel near the main entrance and a staff canteen in the basement. The title used is always "church offices" and never "headquarters". There are periodically suggestions within the Church of Scotland that the current church offices should be sold, relocating to new premises outside Edinburgh. Such a decision could only be taken by the General Assembly; so far no proposals have been made. The offices of the Moderator, Principal Clerk, General Treasurer, Law Department and all the church councils are located at the church offices. The one major exception is the Social Care Council (CrossReach) which is located outside the city centre at Charis House, 47 Milton Road East, Edinburgh. The building is managed and maintained by the Church of Scotland's Facilities Management Department.

Church Government

St John's, Edinburgh

The Church of St John the Evangelist is a Scottish Episcopal church in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is sited at the west end of Princes Street at its junction with Lothian Road, and is protected as a category A listed building.

Church