Livingston Ecumenical Parish: A short history.
Livingston New Town was founded on 7th April 1962 and was intended to provide housing for 100,000 people. At the Faith and Order Conference held at St Andrews in 1963, a resolution was passed asking members to consider the possibility of an ecumenical centre in Livingston.
Rev David Torrance, the minister then at Livingston Old and St Andrews, with the backing of the Presbytery of West Lothian persuaded the Home Board of the Church of Scotland to follow up this vision. It was taken on with some enthusiasm and the Church of Scotland, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Congregational Church (now the United Reform Church) followed later by the Methodists agreed to participate in the ecumenical vision. They were supported by other denominations in the area such as the Baptists and the Roman Catholics.
On the 6th January 1966 the Livingston Ecumenical Experiment was officially launched by the induction of the Church of Scotland minister the Reverend (later Dr.) James Maitland and the institution of Episcopal priest the Reverend Brian Hardy by Presbytery and Bishop functioning together for the first time in the history of our country.
Plans for an ecumenical centre were designed but as residential housing was a priority, the centre was put on hold and St Columba’s (funded by the Church of Scotland) was built in Craigshill. It was opened by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1969. This was closely followed by St Paul’s in Ladywell. The Scottish Episcopal Church undertook to build St Paul’s, a massive undertaking as it had to be large enough to accommodate a Church of Scotland congregation.
The Congregational Church took a different angle on church building when Rev Hamish Smith proposed to build a multipurpose building. So instead of traditional church buildings like St Columba’s and St Paul’s, the Lanthorn Community Centre in Dedridge consists of a suite of rooms and halls with two chapels attached. The chapels are used by the Roman Catholics and the Ecumenical Parish, although Sunday worship is held in the large hall. ‘The finance for this complex came from the Congregational Church, the LDC, Midlothian County Education Committee, the local District Council and the Roman Catholic Church.
Two further worship centres were set up in Knightsridge and Carmondean areas of Livingston. The Knightsridge community now worship in the Mosswood Community Centre, started in 1975, and the Carmondean community worshipped in Deans Community High School until Nether Dechmont Farm was completed as a community centre in 1994. In 2003 a sixth Worship centre was established in Murieston Village Hall in the south of the town. Unfortunately due to funding difficulties and the number of church buildings in Livingston, the proposed Ecumenical Centre has yet to come to fruition.
Currently there are six worship centres supported by a Team ministry of a Church of Scotland minister, one Episcopalian priest and a Methodist minister.
Finally in 1984 it was agreed at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to change the name of Livingston Ecumenical Experiment to Livingston Ecumenical Parish. Although the Parish was still expected to submit progress reports and continues to be watched, the change of name was an important step as the people of Livingston gained the right to exist as a Church rather than an experiment.
It has to be recognised that it was the ordinary people in the Ecumenical Experiment who gave the Parish a future. Through their hard work and dedication alongside the visionary leadership that the Parish has enjoyed over the years, the Ecumenical Parish continues to challenge perceived differences in doctrine and worship, and enjoys the benefits of drawing from the rich traditions of all the denominations involved..