St. Andrew's Scots Church, Malta

St. Andrew's Scots Church, sometimes known as the Church of Scotland, is a 19th-century church in Valletta, Malta. The church was built to the neo-gothic design of Maltese architect Giuseppe Bonavia.[1] It is still an active church today, as a joint congregation of the Church of Scotland, as part of the Presbytery of Europe, and the Methodist Church of Great Britain.[2]

St Andrew's Scots Church
Saint Andrew's Scots Church, A Union of the Church of Scotland and the Methodist Church of England
Saint Andrew's International Church
Il-knisja ta' San Andrija
St. Andrew's Scots Church
St Andrew's Scots Church
35°53′51.4″N 14°30′35.3″E
LocationValletta
CountryMalta
DenominationChurch of Scotland (Presbyterian)
Methodist Church of Great Britain
WebsiteWebsite of the Church
History
StatusActive
Founded1824
Architecture
Functional statusDivine Service every Sunday at 10:30
Architect(s)Giuseppe Bonavia
Architectural typeNeo-gothic
Completed1857
Administration
PresbyteryInternational Presbytery Church of Scotland
SynodMethodist Church UK, South-East District
Clergy
Minister(s)Rev. Beata Thane
Laity
Organist(s)Head Organist Mrs. Lisa Bonello

History

Casa Torrensi

The site was previously occupied by Casa Torrensi, built during the Order of St. John in the 17th-century, and carried the address number of 60. The site is located in the proximity of the Demandolx townhouses, of which two from three survived the war. The remaining two are today occupied by the Ministry of Finance.[1]

The church

The site was bought by Reverend John Keeling in 1824 in order to build the first non-Catholic church in Malta.[3] It is the first Neo-Gothic building on the Maltese islands.[4] Initially the church was built for the Methodist community, only to be later acquired by the Church of Scotland and used by the Presbyterian community.[5] Since the turn of the 20th-century it has a mixed congregation that includes presbyterians, methodists, other protestants/reformists and some Catholics.[3]

The church was built in 1857 by Reverend Dr. George Wisely. He ministered a small methodist congregation from the year it was built till 1896.[6]

It was the first neo-gothic church to be built in Malta, on the designs of Maltese architect Giuseppe Bonavia.[7]

Wiseley was minister of St Andrew's and Presbyterian Chaplain to the Forces in Malta from 1854 to 1914. The current minister is Rev. Beata Thane from Church of Scotland. Previous Ministers were Rev. Kim Hurst from the Methodist Church, Rev. Doug McRoberts, a Church of Scotland minister, who succeeded Methodist Rev David Morris, who in 2002 had followed Rev Colin Westmarland (minister from 1975 onwards) who was the first minister not to be a UK military chaplain.[8]

Missions local and overseas

SINCE 2005 Dar Teresa Spinelli - Refuge for women and minors in Malta

SINCE 2005 Sr. Catherine, a Maltese nun in Tugwashanye, Zambia

START 2011 "Out of Africa... Into Malta" project. -

Resulting projects: . 2013 Launching Malta Microfinance . 2013 Launching Blue Door English (BDE)

SINCE 2015 "The Foodbank" - Registered Foundation in October 2018 "The Foodbank Lifeline Foundation"

ANNUAL PROJECTS International Presbytery Mission

Further reading
  • British Temperance Reformers and the Island of Malta (1815-1814)
  • British PM urged to learn from Church of Scotland project helping migrants in Malta. 24 August 2015. Times of Malta. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  • Foodbank’s future at risk. 28 March 2015. Times of Malta. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  • Anzac experience in Malta. p. 6.
  • Mirabelli, Terence (2015). "The ANZAC experience in Malta - Arrival" (PDF). Ta’ Xbiex: The Island Publications Ltd: 6, 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 March 2016. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

See also

References
  1. F. Denaro, Victor (1963). "Yet more houses in Valletta" (PDF). Melita Historica. 3 (4): 15–6.
  2. Gill, Robin (2002). Changing Worlds: Can the Church Respond?. A&c Black. p. 113. ISBN 9780567369390.
  3. "Valletta". www.malta-canada.com. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  4. Mahoney, Leonardo (1996). 5000 years of Architecture in Malta. Valletta Publishing. p. 309.
  5. Scicluna, J. (2018, April 15). Il-knejjes u kappelli mibnijin fi żmien l-Ingliżi (2). Torċa, pp. 22-23.
  6. Borg, Malcolm (2001-01-01). British Colonial Architecture: Malta, 1800-1900. Publishers Enterprises Group. ISBN 9789990903003.
  7. Schiavone, Michael J. (2009). Dictionary of Maltese Biographies Vol. 1 A-F. Pietà: Pubblikazzjonijiet Indipendenza. pp. 220–221. ISBN 9789993291329.
  8. Ltd, Allied Newspapers. "150th anniversary of St Andrew's Scots Church". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
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