Brickfield, Milnathort, Orwell, Kinrosshire

16/12/1763 – Referred to in the Caledonian Mercury dated 22/10/1861. Milnathort, Dec. 16, 1763.-The which day and place the members of the associate congregation of Orwell met, and proceeded to consider the necessity of  some suitable shelter for the congregation to meet in for public worship, and it was unanimously agreed that a shelter should be provided for the congregation to preserve them from the outward storm in some place where it could be found most convenient.  Mark their humble idea of a church – the idea was right. It needs not pillared aisles nor lofty domes for our simple worship. Christ in the midst of his people, and the barn, the crypt, the catacomb, and the rudest shed under which his people assemble become the gates of heaven.  Where Christ is not, the stateliest cathedral is no house of prayer. It is well, of course, to have our churches comfortable and tasteful; but smile not at our worthy forefathers who aimed no higher than the shelter from the outward storms. In the early part of 1764, the plans were matured. The quarries at Middleton supplied the stone, the park at Kinross furnished the timber, a neighbouring brick-field provided the tiles, and soon the red roof of our unpretending church rose above the houses in the village. Neither was the minister overlooked, for a house was taken at first for him in the middle of the town. Each gave according to his ability, and thus the church was finished. The first case of discipline in the managers’ book is the suspension of the doorkeeper s who were judged to be very idle, as the following minutes informs us …..

 

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