Galloway Advertiser and Wigtownshire Gazette
Impressive Opening Ceremony
Ordination Of Rev A M Barr
The beautiful new church within the grounds of Ardwell Estate which has been gifted to the Church of Scotland by Mrs McTaggart and Sir Mark J McTaggart, Bart., M.P. and Lady Stewart, together with a suitable endowment, was formally opened for public worship on Thursday last, when various ceremonies of an impressive and interesting character took place. The church, which is from plans by Mr P Macgregor Chalmers, architect, Edinburgh, is constructed of freestone and beautifully finished in every respect. Our illustration gives an idea of the exterior, and the same artistic taste is evident in the internal arrangements. The object of the donors was to provide a convenient edifice for worship in the southern section of the parish of Stoneykirk, and arrangements are in progress for separating the district as the quoad sacra parish of Ardwell. The weather on Thursday was unfortunately very inclement and many were prevented from being present. Still, when the proceedings commenced the seating capacity of the church was fully occupied by a congregation who evinced the deepest interest in all that took place. The presbytery of Stranraer was largely represented, and among the others present were the Rev. Andrew Muirhead Barr, formerly assistant in St Vincent Parish, Glasgow, who has been appointed minister of the new church, several ministers of other denominations, and the Home Missions Committee of the Church of Scotland, who had accepted an invitation to conduct the dedicatory service. Sir Mark and Lady Stewart were accompanied by three of their daughters, and Miss Stewart presided at the organ throughout the services.
Laying Memorial Stone
The first ceremony was that of laying the foundation or memorial stone by Lady Stewart. A cavity had been left in front of the altar opening into the foundations, and in a hollowed stone therein was placed a sealed bottle containing a record of the proceedings leading up to the erection of the church, a selection of coins of the currency,some bearing Queen Victoria's head and some that of King Edward - an appropriate indication that the church was commenced in the former and completed in the latter reign, - copies of the Church of Scotland magazine, Life and Work and of that days Scotsman and Free Press. Lady Stewart then laid the stone covering in the cavity, using a mallet and silver trowel, and thereafter Sir Mark announced that in the name of the Holy Trinity the foundation stone of the church had been well and truly laid. The congregation remained standing during the ceremony.
Dedicatory Service
Rev Dr Marshall then proceeded with the dedicatory service. After prayer, he chose as his text the opening words of the 127
th Psalm - "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that builld it," from which he preached an eloquent sermon. At the close he referred to the association of that part of Scotland with the labours of St Ninian in the cause of Christianity. These early, self sacrificing labours, he said, might have seemed to end in failure, but that they had been crowned with undoubted success, the religious history of our country showed. Within sight, he thought, of the place in which they were met, that earliest Christian missionary of whom they knew preached the everlasting gospel. St. Ninan, round whose name the most ancient religious associations of our land clustered, was the apostle of that part of the country. There he preached and worshipped in caves, and there he laid the foundations of what was afterwards to be the Church of Scotland. In what would be the new Parish of Ardwell there were the most ancient remains of Christianity in Scotland - many thought in the United Kingdom. Most of them no doubt remembered the well-known words of Dean Stanley -"Nowhere in Great Britain is there a Christian record so ancient as the great weather-beaten column that now serves as a gatepost of the Churchyard of Kirkmadryne." (see "The lost stone of Kirkmadrine"). The monumental incised crosses which were found in this part of the country told the story of the preaching of the Gospel and worship of our Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified, more ancient that in any other part of these realms. And yet after all the labour and sacrifice of that earliest Christian missionary, after apparent success there came apparent failure. The whole country seemed to fall back again into heathenism. The old idols were worshipped again; the cruel heathen rites were again celebrated. To the eye of man it must have seemed that St. Ninian's work and mission were in vain. But the seed was sown; some of it brought forth fruit at once and men's hearts rejoiced. That passed away, and no trace was found; but the seed remained. A generation or two passed away, and only one or two here and there were found who remembered the message St. Ninian had brought.
Then in the fullness of time it bore its fruit. It came in an abundant crop, and the land from North to South became Christianised. He always regarded St. Ninian and contemporaries as having trodden the same path in the Christianising of this country that Wickliffe and his contemporaries trod with regard to the great work of the reformation. They were men before their time, but they put their ideas into men's minds. These were accepted at first with a certain amount of enthusiasm and then died away. The soil was not quite ready; the fullness of time was not yet come. But though they perished and the work seemed to perish with them, it bore fruit afterwards in an abundant harvest. Dr Marshall concluded with an earnest appeal to the congregation to do their part in securing success to the building which had been consecrated and dedicated to the service of Almighty God, as whatever might be its outward success they had it in their power to make that success evident and to make it abundant.