OLD SECESSION CHURCH, Dumbarton Road, Old Kilpatrick.
ACCESS : This is now private residential property, but can be viewed from the road.
Listed B.
This unpretentious building is now flats, but was the Secession Church in Old Kilpatrick.
Little is known about this specific building and use at the time of its creation, but it stands today as a reference to changes within the Church of Scotland in the 18th century, and resistence thereto. The First Secession was an exodus of ministers and members from the Church of Scotland in 1733.
Those who took part formed the Associate Presbytery and later the United Secession Church. They were often referred to as seceders.
The underlying principles of the split focused upon issues of ecclesiology and ecclesiastical polity, especially in the perceived threat lay patronage represented to the right of a congregation to choose its own minister. These issues had their roots in seventeenth century controversies between presbyterian and episcopal factions in the Church of Scotland. [Wiki].
DIANE BAPTIE : "A short history of the Secession churches in Scotland" - writing in Scots Archive Search website : https://scotsarchivesearch.co.uk/short-history-secession-churches-scotland/
WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE HERITAGE TRAIL : OLD KILPATRICK, BOWLING AND MILTON : https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/2619074/ok_booklet.pdf
