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St Mungo was one of the three great figures in Scottish Christian history along with St Ninian and St Columba. St Mungo was also known as Kentigern. Mungo is a nick name meaning amiable or lovable, so he was obviously someone who was well liked! He was educated in Fife by St Serf and it is said that he made his way to Glasgow by way of the Pentland Hills, where he is thought to have preached. It may have been for this reason that John Stuart, who gave most of the money to build the Episcopal church in Balerno called it St Mungo’s. John Stuart lived in New Mills, Balerno and was appointed Official Searcher of Records at Register House, Edinburgh in 1858. He is commemorated in the East windows of the church. Around this time the Rector at Dalmahoy began mission work in Balerno, possibly at John Stuart’s suggestion. By 1863 an Evening service and a Sunday School were established and, following appeals, the church was built in Ladycroft in 1869 to a design by Sir Rowand Anderson. It was built as a church and a school, with a cottage for the headteacher, in an age of revival of both worship and of education. There was no public school in Balerno until 1878, and the church school continued with an attendance of up to 78 until it’s closure on 30th June 1899, when the children transferred to the public school. At this time the Sunday School had about 50 children each week, and this was seen as a crucial part of the church’s mission. Miss Brodie served as Secretary and Organist and in other roles for nearly 40 years until 1940, when she died, leaving her house, Woodcroft, and land to the church. Inside the church, there are various items which have been given over the years The circular window in the East end of the dove, emblem of the Holy Spirit and St Mungo was given in the first decade of the 20th century The Younger family of Harmeny are commemorated in five bronze plaques in the north wall. A window of the Madonna and Child was given by the Corstorphine family in the middle of the century A new Church bell was given by the Dover family during the 1950’s In October 1961 the new vestry was completed and in 1974 the existing church room, kitchen and toilets were built using money raised by the congregation During the 1970’s and early 1980’s numbers attending continued to rise and a monthly family service was held at Dean Park school, with about 100 people attending. When Balerno High School opened in 1984, the morning service was transferred into the Drama Studio. Numbers continued to rise, and in 1997 the morning service transferred to the concourse. The evening service transferred to the Drama studio from the church during 1999 because of increasing numbers, and is now also held in the concourse. The first main morning service of 2000 had over 300 people attending and numbers have continued to rise since then. In 2009 St Mungo's opened its counselling service to the community - base at Woodcroft on Bridge Road. The staff offices were set up in new premises in Bavelaw Road. |
Questions or problems regarding this web site should be directed to
enquiries@stmungos.org
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