200th Anniversary of First Minister’s Ordination

This year the Airdrie congregation celebrated the 200^th anniversary of the ordination of their first minister Rev. Thomas Halliday in 1824.  Though the church itself was constituted many years before this, they were unable to get a minister until Rev. Halliday accepted the call. 

We were excited to have this opportunity to highlight God’s faithfulness to us over the last 200 years with two separate events. 

On Saturday the 7^th September we had an Open Doors Historic Exhibition.  We had displays throughout the church on Thomas Halliday, our Covenanter history, Communion ware, including some from 1826, old and rare books and letters, explanations of Communion, baptism, the pulpit, the blue banner, psalm singing, a timeline of the history of our church with pictures and displays about the congregation’s connection to the first RP missionary, the World Wars, the town itself, and more. 

You can view more pictures from the displays at the end of this post.

There were photo montages, and video interviews with some of the older members of our congregation. 

Our friends at James Dickson’s Books ran a book stall, and there was plenty of tea and coffee and cakes.

There were dress up clothes and activities for the children as well.  

Everyone received a booklet containing a memoir of the life of Thomas Halliday and one of his sermons. We had 80 people come throughout the day, 50 of whom were visitors from outside the congregation, including a few local politicians. 

On Thursday the 12^th September we had a Service of Thanksgiving in the church. 

Rev. Stephen McCollum gave an overview of the beginning of the Airdrie church and the life of Rev. Thomas Halliday.  We then had video greetings from previous ministers: Rev. Ray Morton and Rev. Andrew Quigley.  This was followed by a service of worship where Prof. Robert McCollum preached on Ebenezer – The LORD Has Helped Us from 1 Samuel 7.

Afterwards there was a time to view some of the exhibits from the previous Saturday and enjoy tea and coffee and cake together.  

It was an evening full of joy and thankfulness for all the Lord has done for us, and a challenge to keep going forward in His strength. 

Pictures From the Historical Exhibition