2021

NT1867 : Odd Church Buildings, Kirkgate, Currie

taken 3 years ago, near to Currie, Edinburgh, Scotland

Odd Church Buildings, Kirkgate, Currie
Odd Church Buildings, Kirkgate, Currie
It was the taller building at the back of the group that caught my eye - it seemed quite incongruous in this rural setting.
All the buildings belong to Currie Community Church, originally Currie Baptist Church, set up by two American evangelical missionaries in the 1970s. The church bought the land, along with whatever buildings were there at the time, from the council about 10 years ago for a very reasonable £22,500.
I know this because there is a very helpful online file detailing the sale, which also describes the site as containing two single storey buildings. The front one back then was used as the church and the back one was used by a playgroup - it is unclear whether the playgroup was officially associated with the church or not. Presumably the rear building is therefore the new church. I hope so anyway, as if there is a first floor it has doorways opening out onto a steep drop! My guess is that they have now swapped places as when I passed by on a Saturday evening there were a number of adults in the front building surrounded by toys, which I did think a little odd at the time.
I am not religious at all, so have no great knowledge of these things, but it always seems to me that the congregations of these smaller, more independent churches contribute far more of their own money than the ones in the more established churches. This is possibly due to there still being vestiges of state involvement with the older churches. The church's official website mentions that over the years their numbers have been high due to foreign students at the nearby Herriot Watt University becoming involved, so perhaps that is also a factor in their obvious success.
Interestingly, their website also states that they haven't had an official pastor (the word they use for minister or vicar) for a number of years as they have decided to spread the responsibilities around.

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Ian Dodds and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Farm, Fishery, Market Gardening Religious sites Primary Subject: Church other tags: OS PoW Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Kirkgate [6] · New Church [2] ·
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NT1867, 78 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Ian Dodds   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Saturday, 21 August, 2021   (more nearby)
Submitted
Sunday, 22 August, 2021
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NT 1818 6762 [10m precision]
WGS84: 55:53.6837N 3:18.5951W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NT 1825 6760
View Direction
West-northwest (about 292 degrees)
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Image Type (about): geograph 
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