Category Archive Places of Worship

Crown Terrace Methodist Church

Crown Terrace is the only Methodist church in Aberdeen.

“In the late 1750s, a citizen of Aberdeen, Dr Memyss, approached John Wesley to send a preacher to Aberdeen and establish a Methodist society there. In 1759 John Wesley sent Christopher Hopper to preach. John Wesley himself came in 1761, the first of 14 visits to Aberdeen. The existing church building in Crown Terrace was erected in 1873.

In 2003 the main sanctuary was refurbished. The original pipe organ was dismantled by a team from Latvia who took it to Riga to be reassembled and used in a church there. The replacement is an electronic pipe organ built in Holland. All the pews were replaced by chairs (made in Poland), and a demountable stage was provided to allow greater flexibility and community access.

In 2009 Aberdeen celebrated the 250th anniversary of Methodism in the city.”

Crown Terrace Methodist website

Blairs Museum and Chapel

Chapel of St Mary, Blairs

Housed in part of the former Roman Catholic national junior seminary 7 miles southwest of Aberdeen, Blairs Museum offers a unique insight into Scotland’s Catholic history and heritage with spectacular collections spanning more than 500 years.

“For 157 years, Blairs College was home to a magnificent collection of paintings, church textiles, sacred silver and Jacobite memorabilia belonging to the Scottish Roman Catholic Church.

From its establishment Blairs College was recognised as a safe place to receive and preserve artefacts relating to Scotland’s Catholic heritage. Over the years Blairs accumulated an internationally renowned collection of fine and decorative art from a number of benefactors, including bishops, priests and friends of Blairs as well as inheriting important collections from the former Scots Colleges throughout Europe. When the College closed in 1986, an independent trust was created, overseen by the Scottish Catholic Heritage Commission, to preserve, interpret and display this important collection of religious heritage.

Today, Blairs Museum gives visitors a unique insight into Scotland’s Catholic heritage, providing an enjoyable, memorable, and inspiring experience for all.”

VisitAberdeenshire

Blairs Museum Website

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Aberdeen Mosque and Islamic Centre

The Aberdeen Mosque and Islamic Centre

“The Aberdeen Mosque and Islamic Centre (AMIC) is the main mosque and Islamic centre in Aberdeen, Scotland. AMIC is a charitable, non profitable, non political organisation. Its purpose is to hold congregational prayers and Islamic religious activities, with provision of free religious services to members of the Muslim community relating to Islamic marriage, birth, death and burial in accordance with Scottish law. AMIC also aims to promote unity and provide channels for better communication and understanding between the Muslims and non-Muslims in the area.”

AMIC Wikipedia Entry

Kirk of St Nicholas

St Nicholas’ Kirk

The Kirk of St Nicholas is a historic church located in the city centre of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is now officially known as the “Kirk of St Nicholas Uniting” as it has membership of both of the Church of Scotland and the United Reformed Church. It is also known as “The Mither Kirk” (mother church) of the city.

“The Kirk of Saint Nicholas has been at the heart of Aberdeen, providing spiritual worship and refuge, since its ancient establishment in the 12th century. It is both a holy building and one that chronicles the history of the city and her inhabitants.

The present West Kirk dates from 1755, with various refurbishments and additions since then. In 1989 the north transept was adapted to house St John’s Chapel, dedicated to the North Sea Oil industry, featuring magnificent contemporary woodwork by Tim Stead and Shona McInnes’ stained glass window.

The Kirk of Saint Nicholas Uniting, as it is known today, was founded in September 2002 as a Local Ecumenical Partnership of the Kirk of St Nicholas (Church of Scotland) and St Nicholas United Reformed Church.”

VisitAberdeenshire

St Andrew’s Cathedral

St Andrew’s Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew, is a cathedral of the Scottish Episcopal Church. It is the see of the Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney.

The original building was designed in the perpendicular Gothic style by the architect Archibald Simpson, one of the main architects of Edinburgh New Town, and is one of Simpson’s many commissions in the city. While three sides of the Cathedral were built out of the usual local granite, for which Aberdeen is famous, the facade of the structure, facing King Street, was built from sandstone.

St Mary’s R.C. Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of St Mary of the Assumption, usually known as St Mary’s Cathedral, is Aberdeen’s Roman Catholic Cathedral.

The Cathedral Church is the main place of worship in the Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen. It was opened in December 1860 as the principal Catholic Church in the west end of the city, replacing St. Peter’s Church in the Castlegate, when there were about 1,000 Catholics out of a population of 74,000 and the number of Catholics was increasing. It became the Cathedral (the church of the Bishop’s Chair ) when the post-reformation diocese was set up in 1878.

The architect of the church was Alexander Ellis, a local man. The spire, added with the bells in 1876-1877, was designed by R.G. Wilson. The church was rededicated in I960, the centenary of its opening, after the interior had been extensively simplified, anticipating by some years the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965.

Cathedral website

St Machar’s Cathedral

St Machar’s Cathedral

St Machar’s Cathedral (which, before the Reformation, was the Cathedral Church of St Machar) is a Church of Scotland church in Aberdeen. It is located to the north of the city centre in Old Aberdeen near Aberdeen University. St Machar’s is no longer a cathedral but rather a high kirk, as it has not been the seat of a bishop since 1690.

“St Machar’s Cathedral stands dramatically on a high bank above the River Don within the Old Aberdeen conservation area.

On a site of Christian witness for 1,500 years, the granite pile of the fifteenth century cathedral with its massive twin spires, world-famous heraldic ceiling and glorious stained glass is one of Scotland’s ‘must see’ treasures. It is surrounded by a graveyard which contains tombs that date back to the fifteenth century.

The oldest building in active use in Aberdeen, it is of international artistic and architectural importance, and it is of huge significance for the history of Scotland.

With its superb acoustic, the cathedral is a popular venue for musical performances. 

It is open 365 days a year for formal worship and for those seeking a place of quiet contemplation, as well as for visitors.”

VisitAberdeenshire
Stained Glass above altar