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Largo Baptist Church - Part 4

16/5/2020

3 Comments

 
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The previous post ended with the centenary of the Largo Baptist Church building in 1967, when Rev. Edgar Gledhill was minister. Rev. Gledhill left his position at Largo on 9 January 1972 to become careers master at Heriot Watt University. The following nine month vacancy was ended with the appointment of Rev. Joseph K. Campbell, who made the move to Largo from South Shields.

During Rev. Campbell's time at Largo, a new electric organ was given to the church by Miss Annie Guthrie (in 1974), replacing the long-used reed organ. Also in 1985 he was part of the joint celebrations, with Largo and Newburn Parish Church and Largo St David's Church, to mark 1100 years of Christian worship in Largo. The photograph below from the 1 May 1985 East Fife Mail shows the ministers of all three Largo churches at a service of thanksgiving and dedication at Largo Kirk.​
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In 1987, with the retirement of Rev. Campbell and a dwindling membership, the 'History of the Largo Baptist Church: Centenary 1867-1967' by John Wishart notes that the remaining members "resolved to discontinue the services of the church". Services ceased and both the church and the manse were put up for sale. While the manse was eventually sold in 1988, a buyer was not forthcoming for the church building itself. There the story of Largo Baptist Church could have ended.

However, an unexpected new chapter was in fact about to begin. The thriving Baptist Church in Leven (itself originally established as an off-shoot of Largo Baptist Church in 1892) had a number of members living in the Largo area, some of whom were very interested in reviving the Largo Church. To test the water, the Leven congregation held a number of summer services at Largo in 1988. These were received positively and so further services were planned, a committee was set up and the 'Largo-Lundie Baptist Fellowship' was created. Monthly services were held between 1989 and 1992. However, these mostly had to be held in the Montrave Hall in Lundin Links due to issues with the heating system in the church building itself.

In 1991, after much consideration over the best venue for the now well-established fellowship, a refurbishment of the Largo Baptist Church building went ahead, including improvements to the heating and the installation of a new pulpit and communion table. A re-opening ceremony took place on Saturday 4th April 1992, which was attended by almost 100 people. The photograph below from the East Fife Mail shows the key individuals involved in the re-establishment of the church.
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In January 1994, a student pastor was offered to the church - David Vogan, a former Salvation Army Officer who was studying at the Scottish Baptist College. He qualified the following year, becoming Rev. David Vogan. Also in 1995, Largo Baptist Church was formally reconstituted and received back into the Baptist Union. David Vogan stayed until early in the year 2000, which is also where the booklet documenting the church history ends.

While the church continued for some years beyond that, the building has been largely unused in recent times. Issues such as a lack of disabled access, inadequate toilet facilities, limited parking and unsatisfactory fire safety provision have become significant constraints for its continuation as a modern church. With the future of the 150-year-old-building uncertain, we finish off this series with a selection of images of the interior of Largo Baptist Church - courtesy of the 'Places of Worship in Scotland' website.
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3 Comments
John Band
19/5/2020 10:33:48 am

A great set of posts. Grew up in Largo and never new very much about the Baptist Church and its development in the village. Great pics of the church interior, I often wondered what it looks like inside.

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Stuart Jack link
3/12/2020 12:30:00 pm

I was aware that my Uncle, Rev. Joseph K. Campbell, had been the minister of the Baptist Church in Largo some 50 years ago and I decided to carry out a search today to see whether that church still existed. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find your very detailed web-page giving photographs and information which informed me that he had held that post from 1972 to 1987.
Joseph was the youngest in his family, who were from Paisley but moved to Glasgow where he, my mother and his elder brother John K. Campbell were born. John joined the HLI and died in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 when Joseph was just ten.

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Barbara Yardley
6/1/2021 06:53:06 am

I was thrilled to receive an email from my cousin Stuart Jack telling me about this web page as Rev J K Campbell was my father, minister of Largo Baptist Church from 1972 to 1987. It was lovely to see the photo of my dad taking part in a thanksgiving service taken at Largo and Newburn Parish Church to celebrate 1100 years of Christian worship in the area. My dad is on the right and I'm pretty sure that's my mum in the front row of the congregation on the right. As I lived in South Shields (still do) I and my family have many happy memories of visiting Lower Largo, staying at the manse and attending church services. So too did my brother and his family. My brother, Rev Joseph Gordon Campbell, followed in our dad's footsteps by also going into the ministry.

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