The Erskine Church
Free Church
The Disruption and the Free Church
By Ian Sommerville
In 1843, nearly 500 of the 1,200 ministers of the Church of Scotland left their places of worship and their manses for the last time. The events of that year are known as the Disruption, and the town of Burntisland was once again at the forefront - as it had been just over a century earlier, when the church which we now know as the Erskine Church was formed (see Part 5).
As on that previous occasion, the main issue was patronage - the right of the State to force an unpopular minister on an unwilling congregation. The non-negotiable principle behind the mass walkout and the setting up of the Free Church of Scotland in 1843 is summarised by William Anderson: "The fundamental doctrine of the Free Church, as distinguished from the Established Church, is that the State, while bound to provide for the interests of religion, and to protect and defend the church, has no right whatever to interfere in things pertaining to the spiritual province of the church; that patronage is a sin and crying grievance, and that no minister should be 'intruded' on any parish or congregation contrary to the will of the people."
This time the initial split was far more serious - not only did 474 ministers walk out, but they were on the whole the most active and most committed of the clergy; and they took with them about one third of the Church of Scotland's members.
As far as Burntisland is concerned, the story of the Disruption is inextricably linked to two theological giants - David Couper, a Burntisland minister, and Thomas Chalmers, who lived in the town. Both men were in due course to be recognised by the award of honorary degrees, Couper from St Andrews, and Chalmers from Glasgow and Oxford.
The men were good friends and shared the same views. Thomas Chalmers (see box below) was the man primarily responsible for the mass walkout nationally, and he became the first Moderator of the new church formed by the seceding ministers - the Free Church of Scotland.
It is no surprise that his friend and ally David Couper (see box below) was also one of the seceders. Indeed, such was Couper's stature in Burntisland, that he took with him almost the entire congregation of the Parish Church.
Burntisland's new Free Church congregation very quickly found a temporary home in a building called the Barns in Lothian Street, owned by Messrs Cunningham and later Fisons. And it did not take them long to press ahead with the erection of a new purpose-built church in East Leven Street. To add insult to injury, the site was directly opposite the Parish Church, with its now sadly depleted congregation.
The new church was largely financed by the Young family of the Grange and took shape during 1844. As a church, it had only a short life - some 17 years - but it continued to serve the town in other capacities until 1977 (see box below).
By 1860, the congregation had decided that their status merited a more elegant and prominently located church building. Work progressed quickly and the new church in the High Street (now St Andrew's Court, opposite Delicate Essence) was opened on 1 September 1861. It was much handier for David Couper too, for his manse was in Craigholm Crescent (the terrace on Kinghorn Road which includes the Inchview Hotel).
At the end of the nineteenth century, the Free Church became the leading light in the provision of church and Sunday school services at the Binn village, during the period when it served the shale oil works and was home to a population of up to 600. A church building was erected at the village, and library services were also provided.
In 1900, the majority of the Free Church (including the Burntisland congregation) joined with the United Presbyterian Church to form the United Free Church. From then until 1929, Burntisland had two United Free congregations - the Couper (named in honour of David Couper) and the Erskine. While the Erskine Church opted to remain outside the further union of 1929, between the United Free Church and the Church of Scotland, the Couper congregation took the opposite view and became St Andrew's Church of Scotland.
A Short History
by Ian Sommerville
The story of the Erskine Church begins in 1712, when Ebenezer Erskine, then minister of Portmoak in Kinross-shire, received a call to Burntisland Parish Church but decided not to accept it. However, seven years later, when there was again a vacancy in Burntisland Parish Church, the man appointed was James Thomson of Kinglassie, described as "an intimate friend of Erskine". It seems that the views of these men appealed to the local congregation. Erskine, although never a minister in the town, was well known and extremely popular. And Thomson would soon demonstrate his radical and anti-establishment credentials by refusing to read from the pulpit a Privy Council proclamation seeking to identify the ringleaders of the Porteous Riot in Edinburgh.
Within the Church of Scotland, Erskine led the opposition to the Patronage Act of 1712 (see box). In 1733 he, with three of his fellow ministers, formalised this opposition by establishing their "Associate Presbytery" - a sort of revolutionary cell within the established church, and a challenge to those of lesser principles.
At the end of the nineteenth century, the Free Church became the leading light in the provision of church and Sunday school services at the Binn village, during the period when it served the shale oil works and was home to a population of up to 600. A church building was erected at the village, and library services were also provided.
In 1900, the majority of the Free Church (including the Burntisland congregation) joined with the United Presbyterian Church to form the United Free Church. From then until 1929, Burntisland had two United Free congregations - the Couper (named in honour of David Couper) and the Erskine. While the Erskine Church opted to remain outside the further union of 1929, between the United Free Church and the Church of Scotland, the Couper congregation took the opposite view and became St Andrew's Church of Scotland.
