Church revitalisation in Glasgow

Tommy Millar leads a church revitalisation project in Maryhill, Glasgow as part of 20schemes, who host a Union Learning Community. Here he shares his experiences of ministry and mission in an area of deprivation.

Maryhill Evangelical Church sits in the North West of Glasgow, and although I had lived in Glasgow with my wife and children for nearly twenty years, this was a part of the city I knew very little about. However, as a new recruit in 20schemes (a church planting/revitalisation ministry working in deprived areas of Scotland) myself and my wife Lorne were intrigued at the prospect of ministry there.

The church began life as a Railway Mission in 1896 in a very industrial Glasgow and has a rich history of ministry amongst the people of Maryhill. Yet, like many churches in Scotland it had seen decades of decline and was down to its last few members, most of whom were retired.

Many other similar churches have closed throughout Glasgow and I was genuinely impressed that Maryhill Evangelical Church had stuck it out through tough times. I have since learned that it was written into the title deeds of the building that the Gospel must be proclaimed from the land the church was built on. This is a reminder to us all of the centrality of the gospel and that it doesn’t just save us, it continues to sustain us.

“Maryhill needs hope and the gospel of Jesus is the best message of hope the world has.”

It was October 2019 when we formalised a partnership between 20schemes and Maryhill Evangelical Church. We spent a few months getting to know each other, and in February 2020 we celebrated our 124th anniversary and I was announced as Pastor. Three weeks later all churches in Scotland were closed as a result of Coronavirus, and remained closed for six months.

Lorne and I then spent the following few months between church Zoom meetings and renovating a house we had just bought in Maryhill. I must admit, it was a testing time for us, and I found the whole experience exhausting, but the only real regret I have is not buying shares in Zoom!

So, where are we now? While many churches in Scotland have still not reopened for various reasons, we opened the first week we were allowed to.

I believe this was an important step for us, because while many churches didn’t open because they wanted to see how things would work out, we just made the quick and easy decision to open. To quote a phrase we use in Scotland “there’s life in the old dog yet”. I was again impressed at the willingness to open when so many others were hesitant. 

Christians have to be able to show that the gospel is always relevant and, as the virus shut down countries worldwide, the relevance of the gospel became even more clear. This is especially true in places like Maryhill where there is very seldom good news. Maryhill, like all of the areas of deprivation in Scotland, has a disproportionate number of deaths as results of violence, alcohol and drug abuse, and suicide.

We put up a banner outside our church at the start of the Lockdown that read “There is Hope, Jesus is Alive”. Maryhill needs hope and the gospel of Jesus is the best message of hope the world has.

We have been unable to run any ministries in the church apart from Sunday services, so we have spent some time teaching the principles of one-to-one evangelism and discipleship. I am excited at the prospect of taking the gospel to the people of Maryhill and look forward to seeing God breathe new life into Maryhill Evangelical Church so it can continue to proclaim the gospel long into the future.

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