St. John’s Church 1960 – 1979
We continue the history of St. John’s from 1960 to 1979.
In 1965, fund raising was started for a stained glass window which would eventually be complete in 1969.
Also in 1965, the practice of seat-letting (“sittings”) was abandoned. This was the normal practice of renting out pews to families for their use which were marked with the family name. There were also many unmarked pews for the ‘poor of the parish’.
In 1967 the kitchen and cloakroom were extended to cater for the needs of the growing organisations.
The musical history of the Church continued with many concerts, operettas and musical evenings held in the halls. The Junior Choir, and others, staged “The Doll’s Hospital”, “The Charcoal Burners”, “The Magic Flute”, “The Spell” and “The Sound of Music”.
A beautiful stained glass window was installed in 1969 which effectively completed the Church building.
It cost £2,500 and had five sections designed by Mr. William Wilson from Edinburgh. A photograph from the time, below, shows the window in position, and can be compared with the view earlier.
The Rev. George Graham joined St. John’s in 1969 and served for five years.
A new Teen Church was started for young people over 14 and soon both Junior and Senior sections were formed. By 1971, over 45 members took part in the many activities including participation in the Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas services.
Family services were held for the first time at a monthly interval.
In 1969, the Woman’s Guild celebrated their 40th birthday with a special tea and birthday cake. The following year the Presbyterial Council of the Woman’s Guild held their annual communion service in St. John’s.
The Boys’ Brigade continued with an annual camp. During the 1969 camp the boys helped a local Kinnesswood farmer with the potato harvest.
The 1970s
The Young Wives and Mothers Group, newly formed in 1970, created their own choir and organised activities with the Teen Church. They staged pantomimes, fashion shows and musicals. There was even a trip from Aberdour to Inchcolm island on two very frail boats!
The Diamond Jubilee service for the Girl Guides was held in October 1970 with over 600 girls attending. There were now so many girls wishing to join that a waiting list was introduced.
During this period, Easter was marked by a special climb up Largo Law (or sometimes Falkland Hill) early on the Sunday morning by members of the Teen Church.
In 1972 the Junior Choir and Drama Group presented scenes from “Alice in Wonderland” which was seen by over 300 people.
The first pre-school playgroup was introduced during 1972, an offshoot of the Young Wives and Mothers group.
In 1973 a new short service was introduced which was held at 10.30am on Thursday mornings. A 15 minute service was followed by coffee in the hall.
Also that year, an American choir visited the Church and a new Youth Fellowship was formed.
The Men’s Association held indoor bowling in the Church hall which continues to this day.
Early in 1974, Rev Graham decided to move to St Luke’s, Paisley and left in August. During the search for a new minister, services were performed by the well loved Rev. John Millar and Rev. Dennis Warnock, the interim moderator.
The second half of the seventies were a turbulent time in the life of the Church as a major fire, on the 19th July 1975, destroyed the Church building, leaving only the halls in a usable state.
A new minister had just been appointed prior to the fire, the Rev. Samuel McNaught who led the Church for the next 27 years. The minister and the congregation decided to raise funds for a new building which would be started the following year. Donations arrived from all over the country.
Pictures of the Church after the Fire
These pictures, above, shows the remains of the Church on the day after the fire.
During the rebuilding works, Church services were held in the canteen of Meikle’s Carpet Factory a few streets away in the old Caledonian Mills, the original home of St. John’s congregation.
The original foundation stone was found in the ruins containing the two glass bottles and newspapers from 1907.
The New Building
The new St. John’s Church was to be a modern building, as shown in the drawing below:
On the 23rd October 1976 the foundation stone was laid, with the original 1907 papers stored inside at a special outdoor service.
We have an archive film of the service, which includes the foundation stone installation and progress on the building work over the following months.
By autumn the next year the new Church was ready with a Dedication Service held on 10th September 1977 with dedication by the Moderator of the General Assembly, Rt. Rev. John Gray.
The new building, shown above, was joined to the original halls and can hold up to 450 people. The final cost was £96,000.
Many events were held to raise the funds including concerts, socials, sales of work, sponsored walks etc. A special summer fayre was held at Kirkcaldy Cricket Ground (now a housing estate!). There was even a 20 mile walk (16 laps) around Beveridge Park. A total of 87 walkers comprised members of the congregation, the Brownies, Boy’s Brigade, Sunday School, Young Wives and Mothers Group, Woman’s Guild and the Men’s Association.
Local schools also raised funds with the North Primary, aided by three classes from Torbain School, organising a Treasure Hunt.
During the year, the Boy’s Brigade formed a new group, The Robins, for the 6-8 age group.
In 1978, the BBC arrived to film the Easter service where the minister interwove the Easter message with the story of the Church fire. In the evening a ‘Songs of Praise’ service was filmed and included the Combined Church Choirs of Kirkcaldy and the Choir of the North Primary School. Sorry, we don’t have a video of this broadcast.
This fine painting of the old St. John’s shows the stained glass window and was originally painted in 1972 by Mr Robert P. Johnston of Kirkcaldy. This newer version, from 1978, hangs in the main vestibule to this day as the original was lost in the fire.
A new crèche for babies was introduced in 1979 and the Boy’s Brigade camp was held in Holland.
The Women’s Guild celebrated their Golden Jubilee at the Station Hotel in Kirkcaldy.