Church Overview

This handsome Gothic church, with its 125ft square tower topped with ornate pinnacles on each corner, was built in 1869-70 for the local United Presbyterian Church of Scotland by prominent Glasgow architect David Thomson. The building was formally opened on the 2nd October 1870, with services led by its new minister, Rev Walter Roberts, and Scottish Presbyterian divine the Rev Prof Robert Rainy.

Its main entrance sits at the base of the clock tower, leading into a vestibule flanked on either side by the staircases that provide access to the galleries that hug three sides of the sanctuary, which was designed to accommodate 900 worshippers in all. The carved panel-fronted galleries are held aloft by richly moulded cast iron columns, topped by foliated capitals that meet groined arches and the vaulted ceiling in the centre of the church, which was described by one commentator the year it opened as akin “to that of a cathedral roof, with nave and aisles”. An early image of the church, a few years after it was built can be seen in the HES archives.

In 1900, following the union of the United Presbyterians and the Free Church of Scotland, Dennistoun United Presbyterian Church changed its name to Whitevale United Free Church. In 1929, following the union of the United Free Church with the Church of Scotland, the building’s name was changed to the Whitehill Parish Church. Its congregation dissolved in 1972 and the building was occupied thereafter by the congregation of nearby Dennistoun Blackfriars Church of Scotland, who renamed the building Dennistoun Parish Church in 1982.

With falling congregation numbers, the decision was made by the Church of Scotland to close the building around 2010, in favour of retaining the nearby 1874 church, designed by James Salmon, located at the other end of the same city block on Armadale Street. The historic kirk was then purchased by the Everlasting Ministries congregation, a growing local Pentecostal church who had established themselves in the area some years beforehand an were in search of a permanent home. The building was renamed “Team Church, Glasgow” and today provide regular services, events and community outreach activities from the historic Gothic church and its adjacent halls.

Services

Sundays at 11am and Wednesdays at 7.30pm

Opening Arrangements

Open by arrangement

Disclaimer

The information about churches in Scotland’s Churches Scheme has been provided by the congregations or taken from the Historic Scotland list and published sources, in particular, the Buildings of Scotland volumes and the RIAS Illustrated Architectural Guides. To contact this specific church please complete the Contact this Church form above. The information is not authoritative; please contact Scotland’s Churches Trust to let us know of any errors or omissions.