The
Church now known as Charlotte Chapel first met in January 1808. A young
Edinburgh businessman, Christopher Anderson, stirred by reports from India
about William Carey, the first modern missionary, offered to join him.
When doctors advised that Christopher's health would not survive a tropical
climate, he started evangelistic work instead in the Pleasance district
of Edinburgh, where there was no existing church. By 1816, two developments
had taken place. First, Anderson's new church had outgrown its building
in the Pleasance, which seated 350. Secondly, the Scottish Episcopalians,
who worshipped in a single-storey building in the New Town, which they
called Charlotte Chapel because of its proximity to Charlotte Square,
moved to St. John's Church on the other side of Princes Street. Christopher
Anderson bought Charlotte Chapel from them and kept the name. As ‘Chapels'
in Scotland are generally places of worship for Roman Catholics - the
English pairing of ‘church and chapel' has no parallel here - it
is sometimes thought by local people and passers-by to be a Catholic church,
so on publicity literature, the phrase ‘Charlotte Baptist Chapel'
is often used - although some refer to it as ‘CC', while others,
accustomed to referring to churches by the first part of their name, say
‘Charlotte'.
The
original Chapel seated 750, and it was soon packed to overflowing, although
actual membership was never more than 130 while Christopher Anderson was
pastor, which was until 1851. A series of short pastorates followed over
the next fifty years. 1859-60 were years of religious revival in Scotland,
in which the Chapel shared, as they did also when Moody and Sankey visited
Edinburgh in 1873. That led to the highest membership in the nineteenth
century, 232, but numbers fluctuated as many Scots emigrated, some to
London, others to the Americas and Australasia. By 1901, membership on
paper was 108 but less than half of them attended. A handsome financial
offer for the building came from a business requiring a warehouse. What
should the Chapel do? No minister - scarcely a congregation - no vision
- should the church close its doors?
A
‘faithful remnant' refused the offer and invited a young man from
Hawick, Joseph Kemp, to become the pastor. He called the congregation
to prayer, cleaned the building from top to bottom and held meetings in
the open air in Princes Street, inviting passersby to join them for the
evangelistic evening service. Membership doubled, year after year, and
in 1906 - a year in which revival blessing swept the church - one thousand
were converted. By 1907 the congregation realised how inadequate the old
building had become and drew up plans for a new one on the same site -
the present Chapel. Since it was a matter of principle that construction
should not start until the total cost of £7,250 had been given,
it was 1912 before the new Chapel was ready. As in the last century, emigration
took a heavy toll of membership, and although 1,148 new members were received
during Joseph Kemp's twelve years, the actual membership when he left
was 850. He himself emigrated to New York in 1915 and then to New Zealand.
The
sanctuary in the new building seats exactly 1000, and it has regularly
been filled to overflowing, both morning and evening on Sundays, during
the ministries of the succeeding pastors - Graham Scroggie (1916 - 1933),
Sidlow Baxter (1935 - 1953), Gerald Griffiths (1954 - 1962), Alan Redpath
(1964 - 1968), Derek Prime (1969 - 1987) and many encouragement continue
in the present pastorate of Peter Grainger (1992 - date). The only alteration
to the 1912 building, apart from cosmetic modernisation, has been the
creation of the present Lounge at street level in 1982. Youth activities,
particularly on Friday evenings, stretch the accommodation to its utmost
capacity, but the settled conviction of the congregation is to remain
on the present site, despite its restrictions and parking problems, so
as to continue to be a City Centre witness.
What have been the defining characteristics of Charlotte Chapel over nearly two hundred years? It is evangelical and it is Baptist, but both of these are broad terms. The emphases for which the Chapel was founded, and for which it has stood over all of its history, include belief in the inspiration and supreme authority of Scripture, the importance of regular public exposition of Scripture and of private (and group) Bible Study, corporate and individual prayer and evangelism at home and abroad. With all humility before God, we declare that these are still the reasons for the Chapel's existence.
Dr Ian Balfour (previous Church Secretary) is currently working on a more detailed history of Charlotte Baptist Chapel which is due for publication in the next few years. Details will be give here when they are available.
