About Kilbarchan East
Kilbarchan East Church can be found at the heart of the historic Renfrewshire weaving village of Kilbarchan and accessed from Steeple Square.
You can see a map of the parish boundaries by clicking here .
Our parish takes in the east side of Kilbarchan and the neighbouring village of Brookfield. We have a congregation of four hundred with services held every Sunday at 11am, led, as we are currently without our own minister, by our Worship Team or by Russell Banks, a Church of Scotland Reader.
The Sunday School and Crèche meet in the church hall at 10:45am. While the smaller children in the crèche remain in the hall, the children from the Sunday School join the congregation in the church before returning to the hall to enjoy activities like arts and crafts, singing, drama and bible stories. For the older kids the Bible Class meet each week in the church at 11am and usually move to the small hall for their activities.
We have many organisations offering a wide range of activities, available to church members and the community of Kilbarchan as a whole. To find out more about these click on the organisations button in our menu.
The church itself and the adjacent church hall have superb access for those in wheelchairs, or those who may find stairs hard going. Disabled toilet facilities are available in the hall. The church also has a hearing aid loop system installed so that no-one need miss out on any part of the service.
We are a Christ centred church offering an open, come-as-you-are invitation to join our journey of faith, and an acceptance that we are all on this journey together. We welcome you, along with your questions and doubts, your strengths and weaknesses, to our congregation. Please take us as you find us; we are, in Jesus Christ, a work in progress.
Our History
We’re very proud of our church and its history. Our congregation began as a protest against the system of "patronage", whereby a local land owner would have the right of "presenting" a Minister to the parish. The congregation's right of electing the Minister, held out for by Covenanters, guaranteed by the settlement of 1688, and again in the treaty of Union of 1707, was taken away in 1712 by the General Assembly, and Patronage was reimposed. The "Presbytry for the Relief of Conscience" was a breakaway from the Church of Scotland - and in Kilbarchan, the weavers were overwhelmingly "Relief"!
The congregation of Kilbarchan East first met on the 28th of May 1786 the Sunday after the congregation was recognised by the “Presbytery of Relief”, when the minister Mr Bell, preached in the open air in the Steeple Knowe to 1,000 people.
It remained a relief church until 1847 when the Secession united to form the United Presbyterian Church which in 1900 joined with the Free Church of Scotland to form the United Free Church of Scotland. The basis and plan of Union effected union with the established Churches and in October 1929, it was agreed that our church be known as Kilbarchan East Church of Scotland.
The foundation stone of the Church building was laid in March 1787 with the congregation worshipping in the unfurnished Kirk a year later. By 1797 a session house was completed but the present two storey building with vestry was not added till 1859 when the date stone of “1787” was re-sited in its present position.
It was decided, at the AGM of January 1929, to erect halls on ground to the south of the pathway leading to the church - this was achieved at a cost of £ 2,895 by September 1931 when the halls were dedicated.
Our church is a house of God, hallowed by more than two centuries of worship - a place of peace, openness, acceptance and welcome.
Churchyards are always a great resource for those interested in genealogy, and ours is no different. A plan of our Kirkyard along with a list of plot holders is available by clicking here.
If you would like to learn more about why we worship in the way we do please click here .