Castlehill Baptist Church
came into being in 1975. It all started as a small group of Christians meeting
together once a month in the Whitehurst Hall. There was no church in the
Castlehill area of Bearsden at this time. Bearsden Baptist Church had started
a Boy's Brigade (4th Bearsden Co.) which met in St. Andrew's school and
attracted a large number of boys from the Castlehill, Bonnaughton and
Baljaffray areas of Bearsden.
Bearsden Baptist Church had
a vision for Castlehill and it started with a Holiday Bible Club held for 1
week in the Whitehurst Hall in August 1975. This turned out to be a very
successful outreach with many children being contacted through the club. As a
follow up to the club a Sunday School was started. The leadership of Bearsden
Baptist Church felt God calling them to the Castlehill area. There was a
desire within the church, and from the community to start a monthly service. A
number of members from Bearsden Baptist Church moved fellowships, coming to
Castlehill once a month to support this new work. This new service took the
form of a family service and started in 1976.
Things happened quickly in
the area and soon there was a deep feeling in the Bearsden fellowship that the
work which had started should be taken a step further. after much prayer, the
diaconate at Bearsden felt God leading them towards commencing a weekly
service. The Whitehurst Hall was no longer available, so the fellowship moved
to Castlehill Primary School. A Sunday School started in the school, along
with a BB Bible class meeting every week.
Rev Gilbert Ritchie was the
first pastor of Bearsden Baptist Church. He was born in Knightswood area of
Glasgow. During his early years, until his late teens, he was a member of
Hillhead Baptist Church in Glasgow. He was ordained into the Baptist Ministry
following a student pastorate at Port Dundas Baptist Church. His first Church
took him to Bridgeton, then God called him to work as the first Director for
Youth within the Baptist Union of Scotland. From there he moved to Stenhouse
Baptist Church in Edinburgh, then in 1974 to Bearsden. He left Bearsden in
1985.
When the fellowship at
Castlehill commenced, Rev Gilbert Ritchie would take the services at Bearsden
Baptist each Sunday; On the 2nd Sunday of each month he would start preaching
at the service in Bearsden, leave during the service, travel the short
distance to Castlehill and then conduct a full service there. On the 4th
Sunday of each month, he would complete the service at Bearsden, then rush up
the road, arriving in Castlehill, just in time to preach the latter part of
the service. This arrangement lasted for about 5 years but as both the church
at Bearsden and the fellowship at Castlehill expanded and an increase in
pastoral demands, this became an arduous task to fulfil. The Church sought
God's will for the church and in 1982 Bearsden Baptist appointed James Millar
as student Pastor to Castlehill.
Rev James Millar
James Millar hailed
originally from the Orkney Isles, and was studying for the Baptist ministry at
the Scottish Baptist College in Glasgow, when he received a call to come to
Bearsden as student pastor for the Castlehill fellowship. Jim, his wife Irene
and their 2 children arrived in Castlehill in 1982 and stayed with the
fellowship for 18 months. This was a step of faith for the Millar's. At the
time the fellowship did not have a home for the family, and their was no
church building, but Jim and Irene brought with them an Orcadian warmth and
were welcomed into their new task. They stayed with one of the church families
in somewhat cramped conditions, but God blessed them and provided a suitable
house for them. God continued to work in Castlehill through Jim and Irene and
the Church leadership. In 1984 Jim felt God calling him to leave the work in
Castlehill and with deep regret the fellowship said farewell to the Millar
family.
Rev John Hay
The work in Castlehill
continued to grow steadily. With the departure of the Millar family, the
church at Bearsden felt it right to continue with a student pastorate and
appointed John Hay as the second student pastor. John and his wife Lesley had
been missionaries in Japan with OMF, returning to the UK for family reasons.
John was very clear about his calling to the ministry and took up studies at
the Scottish Baptist College. As so like his predecessor John came to
Castlehill whilst still studying at the college. The fellowship at Castlehill
took the Hay family to their hearts very quickly. John's faith in Christ had a
strong influence on the work in Castlehill which prospered to the point that
the Church at Bearsden and the fellowship at Castlehill felt it was God's
calling to appoint John Hay as an associate Pastor with specific
responsibilities for Castlehill. As John's time at the college ended, so began
a new chapter in the life of the fellowship at Castlehill.
John was inducted as
associate pastor in 1984, with specific responsibility for Castlehill. From
here the next logical step, took the fellowship to the point where they became
self sufficient, and in 1989 Castlehill Baptist Church was constituted in it's
own right, becoming a member church of the Baptist Union of Scotland. John and
Lesley continued to work in Castlehill during which time God blessed them and
the work they were doing.. In 1997 they felt God was calling them to return to
the mission field in Japan, again with OMF. so with a great sadness,
Castlehill Baptist said farewell to it's first full time Pastor.
Rev Mark Pexton
Castlehill Baptist Church
for the first time in it's short life found itself without a Pastor and
entered a period of vacancy. The fellowship appointed a vacancy committee
under the auspices of Rev Jim Simpson who acted as Moderator. With much prayer
seeking God's guidance, the vacancy committee were compelled to consider Mark
Pexton as the new pastor for Castlehill Baptist Church. Mark was, like Jim
Millar and John Hay before him studying at the Scottish Baptist College for
the Baptist ministry. Mark was invited to preach, then returned as sole
nominee. During this time the fellowship clearly felt God calling them to
invite Mark to become the next Pastor at Castlehill. Mark finished college in
June 1999, and in August that year was ordained into the Baptist ministry, and
inducted as Minister and Pastor of Castlehill Baptist Church. And so
Castlehill welcomed Mark, Maria and their 2 boys into the fellowship.
Mark served at Castlehill
until summer 2007, when under great conviction of God's calling, moved to
Leven Baptist Church in Fife.
The church is currently
without a Pastor. Services are being conducted by various deacons and visiting
preachers.
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