I have been studying the history of St. Columba Gaelic Church. It is recorded that when Dr. Norman MacLeod accepted the call to the then newly built St. Columba's Church in Hope Street in 1835 (the predecessor of the present church), the Managers wrote to him enclosing a cheque for 100 guineas, "to assist to defray his removal expenses." While it is difficult to compare values exactly, one calculator tells me that 100 guineas in 1835 is equivalent to £12,495 today. This would have gone well beyond removal expenses from Campsie! It was the most enticing of golden hellos. The rules were different then! On the eve of Reformation Sunday as I write, and as the Church celebrates the 500th annivers
This website is a welcome new resource as the congregation of St. Columba Gaelic Church rethinks its mission for the present time. At one time St. Columba Gaelic Church attracted many hundreds of regular worshippers both at its Gaelic and its English services. Most of them lived within walking distance of the church. Like nearly every church we have seen a reduction in numbers, but as a city centre church situated in what is now Glasgow’s business district with few residents, the challenge is particularly acute. We are nonetheless convinced that with Gaelic culture enjoying a great worldwide renaissance, and a Gaelic speaking population in Glasgow exceeding, so they say, the number of spea
