Peterhead Methodist Church 1940 to the present Day

The next traumatic event in the life of our church was to come in 1941. To appreciate the distress more fully, it is necessary to go back to the June Leaders' Meeting of that year. The minister was to be moving on to a new appointment, and, in their words of farewell, the Leaders were grateful that the church was now clear of debt and were most appreciative of the re-decoration work which had been carried out but a short time before. It was in this spirit of thanksgiving they prepared to welcome their new minister, but how different indeed was the situation:

Just after midnight on an August Sunday morning, a German bomber raided our town. This in itself was no new experience for our residents. Our nearness to the Norwegian coast and the passing of regular convoys of ships along our sea route meant that enemy planes were often in the vicinity. On this occasion, however, various parts of the town were to suffer, our Methodist Church being among them. The house next to the church and our own building bore ample evidence of bomb damage. When the preacher appointed for the morning service that day arrived from Aberdeen, he found a sorry sight. In the roof of the church was a huge hole. Inside the building itself, the pulpit steps were smashed, as were most of the pews on the upper Queen Street side of the church. The gallery was damaged extensively and most of our stained glass windows were broken. The hall was also affected by the bomb blast. These few sentences must convey little to those who did not know these circumstances at first hand. Only those with knowledge of them can recall the anguish of heart at the sight of such love and devotion over many years being brought almost to nothing in a matter of seconds. But the Methodists of the 1940's had inherited the spirit of their forefathers when it came to facing adversity, and they were aware of the great heritage into which they had been privileged to enter.

Temporary accommodation was readily forthcoming in that the Deep Sea Mission in a great gesture of spiritual rescue put their Institute in Charlotte Street at the disposal of their Methodist brethren. Grateful although we were to the Mission staff, it was the Society's desire to return to our own premises as soon as matters could be put in hand. Little could be done about the state of the church itself, but the schoolroom which could be cleared was fitted out as best as possible to serve as hall and temporary chapel. Two thirds of the platform was removed and this allowed the choir to occupy one corner. The friends who can still remember those days will remember the capacity congregations of a Sunday evening, when, in more ways than one the people sat under the minister in an atmosphere which characterised the spirit of the warmth of Methodist fellowship.

With the end of the war came the hopes that the Society would be able to get prompt approval from the authorities to proceed with the repairs to the church, but, as it became evident that approval would be delayed for some time, the Trustees agreed in February 1947 to have the building cleared by volunteer labour with a view to using the church during the summer months provided it was considered safe for public worship. Thus it came about that, for a time through the summer, the congregation gathered in the more ample accommodation of the church itself, although it was a case of gathering together in one half of the building - the half which had suffered the less damage. In the meanwhile estimates for the repairs were obtained from various tradesmen with a view to seeking official approval to proceed with the work of restoration. As it was the intention to install a new heating plant, this could not be included in the figures for the War Damage Commission who were only concerned with putting the building in its former state. The estimate for the heating system amounted to £465 and this had to be found by local effort.

Just as the Methodists of a former day had rallied to raise money to build the church in Queen Street, so now the members and friends, not forgetting the children of the Sunday School, rallied to subscribe to the renovation fund with its special emphasis on the installation of the heating plant. In this way sum of £237.13s.2d was raised, and, in addition, other fund-raising efforts for the same cause were subscribed to readily, besides which there were two grants of £50 each from Connexional funds. The total repair bill met by the War Damage Commission amounted to £1,395.2s.7d and the final cost for the heating installation was £522.2s.9d.

See also See also the following articles

The Queen Street Methodist Church building

Peterhead Methodist Church Today

James Turner the Peterhead evanglist who changed the North East of Scotland

The Foundations of Methodist Church in Peterhead