Charlotte Chapel (Edinburgh)

Charlotte Chapel Logo

Charlotte Chapel is a bible-believing, Gospel-centred church family, made up of people from all walks of life. They meet on Shandwick Place, central Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. It is an independent Baptist church, and is happily part of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches.

History

The church was established in January 1808, when Christopher Anderson, a young Edinburgh businessman, began evangelical work in the Pleasance area of the city. By 1816 his Pleasance church was too small and he bought Charlotte Chapel, recently vacated by a Qualified congregation which had joined the Scottish Episcopal Church and then moved to St John's Church, on Princes Street. This original two-storeyed building seated 750. Anderson was pastor until 1851 and membership peaked at 232 in 1873, although many more attended services. Membership began to fall due mainly to emigration, and by 1901 the church had no minister and only a small congregation. Joseph Kemp, of Hawick, who was appointed pastor, began a revival, holding open-air meetings in Princes Street. Membership rose once more and in 1907 plans for a new building were prepared. The Rose Street church building was built at a cost of £7,250 and opened in 1912 with seating for exactly 1000.

Assembly Rooms (Edinburgh) site of the Chapel's Bicentenary Luncheon.

In 2008 during the latter part of pastor Peter Grainger's tenure, the church held its 200th anniversary celebrations over the course of an extended weekend in October which included a large cèilidh at an area school, a formal luncheon at the Assembly Rooms (Edinburgh), and a concert by modern Christian hymn writers Kristen and Keith Getty.

Also for the bicentennial the church saw many former members return and guest ministers visit including James Moser, Derek Prime, and American-based radio pastor Alistair Begg. Begg, a native of Scotland, was formerly "Pastor's Assistant" to Derek Prime at Charlotte Chapel beginning in September 1975 and returned to lead the 2008 celebrations, preaching at both the Sunday morning and evening services at the church's former Rose Street location. In addition, a scholarly book exploring the church's history and concluding with the 200th anniversary was later written by "honorary elder and former secretary" Dr. Ian L.S. Balfour entitled "Revival in Rose Street: A history of Charlotte Baptist Chapel, Edinburgh." ^[1]

As of 29 May 2016, the church family moved to new premises at 58 Shandwick Place. Over 700 people gathered for their first service after a 4-year development programme.

Senior Pastors of Charlotte Chapel

• W. Graham Scroggie (1916 - 1933)
• J. Sidlow Baxter (1935 - 1953)
• Gerald Griffiths (1954 - 1962)
• Alan Redpath (1964 - 1968)
• Derek Prime (1969 - 1987)
• Peter Grainger (1992 - 2009)
• Paul Rees (2009 - date)

Worship

There are two services every Sunday: the morning service begins at 10:30am and the second at 7:00pm.

Building

The new Shandwick Place building has 3 floors. There is disabled access via the Stafford Street entrance, a lift to all floors, children's facilities and Sunday School/creche.

Belief

The doctrinal basis of Charlotte Baptist Chapel is the fundamental truths of Christianity, as revealed in Holy Scripture, including:

• There is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
• God is sovereign in creation, revelation, redemption and final judgement.
• The Bible, as originally given, is the inspired and infallible Word of God. It is the supreme authority in all matters of belief and behaviour.
• Since the fall, the whole of humankind is sinful and guilty, so that everyone is subject to God's wrath and condemnation.
• The Lord Jesus Christ, God's incarnate Son, is fully God; he was born of a virgin; his humanity is real and sinless; he died on the cross, was raised bodily from death and is now reigning over heaven and earth.
• Sinful human beings are redeemed from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only through the sacrificial death once and for all time of their representative and substitute, Jesus Christ, the only mediator between them and God.
• Those who believe in Christ are pardoned all their sins and accepted in God's sight only because of the righteousness of Christ credited to them; this justification is God's act of undeserved mercy, received solely by trust in him and not by their own efforts.
• The Holy Spirit alone makes the work of Christ effective to individual sinners, enabling them to turn to God from their sin and to trust in Jesus Christ.
• The Holy Spirit lives in all those he has regenerated. He makes them increasingly Christlike in character and behaviour and gives them power for their witness in the world.
• The one holy universal church is the Body of Christ, to which all true believers belong.
• The Lord Jesus Christ will return in person, to judge everyone, to execute God's just condemnation on those who have not repented and to receive the redeemed to eternal glory.

References

• Revival in Rose Street: A history of Charlotte Baptist Chapel, Edinburgh, Edinburgh: Unknown, 2008, ISBN 9781904429111 

About

Charlotte Chapel has several 'daughter' churches:

• Niddrie Community Church in the Niddrie area of Edinburgh.
• Wester Hailes Baptist Church (founded 1971)
• Barnton Baptist Church (founded 1986) Now Citygates.

External links

• Charlotte Chapel Official website
• Unashamed Workman - Preaching website of Charlotte Chapel Associate Pastor, Colin Adams
• The Episcopal Congregation of Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh, 1794-1818. University of Stirling PhD Thesis by Eleanor M Harris

Coordinates: 55°57′5″N 3°12′18″W / 55.95139°N 3.20500°W / 55.95139; -3.20500