If you’re interested in church history, have an explore of our gallery and enjoy reading the background of how we got started and a few of the stories of how we came to be who we are now.
How we got here
Our story started in 1843 after the “Disruption” of 18th May when some 450 ministers left the established church. Locally these included Meldrum, Kintore, Oyne, Chapel of Garioch and ourselves the Free Church Congregation which in September 1843 became Inverurie United Free Church which is now Inverurie West Parish Church.
By September 1843 a site on Constitution Street had been identified and an estimate accepted for a building. Work commenced on 21st September when a foundation stone was laid, it was completed and dedicated as the Free Church in early 1844 at a cost of £393.60.
Between 1874 - 1877 a new free church was under construction on West High Street which is still our place of worship as the Inverurie West Parish Church.
In 1936 the Chapel was built and an Apse added in 1950.
Re-development
At the turn of the millennium our congregation took the brave decision to do something radical with our building in order to better serve the community of the future. It took eight years of planning, fundraising, dedicated pledges, and a lot of hard work! While the reconstruction was taking place we worshipped in the nearby Inverurie Academy from 31st December 2006 until 9 March 2008 when our first service was held in the church as it is now.
In 2025 our upstairs/downstairs arrangement, with the Acorn Centre on the ground floor and the worship sanctuary on the first floor, continues to thrive at the heart of our community.
For more information about what it looks like, check out the Our Building page
Our Ministers since 1843
- Thomas Gray (1843 – 1867)
- Patrick Minto (1868 – 1885)
- William Cruickshank (1885 – 1923)
- Alex S. Crichton (1923 – 1947)
- William Cochrane (1948 – 1958)
- Colin McPherson (1959 – 1966)
- Leonard Scott (1966 – 1989)
- Ian Groves (1989 – 2016)
- Rhona Cathcart (2017 – present)