Church’s half-century

Reverend Grant Hamilton, who is in his first year as the third minister in the Church’s 50 years history, said: “We are looking forward to a weekend of celebration.

“A small group of our younger members have taken on the task of trying to contact children and grand-children of early members.

“We’re expecting some former members from Petershead and the London area to share in our celebrations.

“They have also spent a lot of time looking out old photographs of the church and church activities while conducting some interviews to create a montage or film to share with members.”

The first event of a weekend of celebrations will be a meeting on Saturday at 2 pm when the guest speaker will be the Rev Norman Rollo, a former Moderator of the Baptist Union of Scotland.

A dinner will be served at Cornerstone House at 5 pm, followed by a social evening of celebration and reflections on the past 50 years.

The first Morning Service was held on Sunday, August 6, 1961 with a Sunday School at 3 pm.

Following agreement with the Baptist Union of Scotland, there was a Service of Constitution on Sunday May 27, 1962, when 21 signatories became members of the new Church.

A month later, the first baptism took place in Stirling Baptist Church – that person welcomed into church membership was Mrs Helen McDaid who remains the longest serving member of the present day church.

Isobel Jarvie, prayer leader and a member of the Leadership Team, said: “The Church is looking forward to a weekend of thanksgiving and anticipation of what the future holds.”