Our History

In 1954 several families moved from Westray to the Mainland of Orkney. Among those who settled in and around Kirkwall were members of Westray Baptist Church. There were other families already on the Orkney mainland who were also members of Westray Baptist Church. They had all been blessed under the ministry of Rev James Pottinger in Westray, and he encouraged them to consider forming a Baptist Church in Kirkwall. This was further encouraged by a meeting with a family from Scotland, Ian and Cathie MacRae. Ian had moved to take a post as Radio Engineer at Kirkwall Airport.

On 29th April 1959 a meeting was held in the old Community Centre on Great Western Road, (where the Fire Station is now situated.) Thirteen were present. Five Deacons were appointed, with Ian MacRae as secretary and George Rendall as treasurer. In June 1959 the President of the Baptist Union of Scotland visited and gave advice on the way forward. Arrangements were made to meet in the Community Centre and have the first public service on Sunday 6th September conducted by Rev. John Johnston from Wick Baptist Church.
This date coincided with a Northern C.E. Convention and included friends from Shetland, Westray and Wick.

List of Founder Members:
Mr & Mrs Ian McRae
Mr & Mrs James W. Scott
Mr & Mrs George Rendall
Mr & Mrs James S. Rendall
Mr & Mrs John A. Scott
Mr & Mrs John R. Mowat
Miss Molly Rendall
Mr Harold Rendall

A Sunday School was provided for the younger children during the service.
The Deacons were responsible for the services. In February 1960 The Baptist Union helped to provide visits from the ministers in Westray, Lerwick, Dunrossness, Burra Isle, Wick, Keiss and Scarfskerry. This was very much appreciated.

Meeting Place The Community Centre closed for July and August and the services were held in the wooden hut in School Place. This belonged to the Education Authority and was available over the School summer holidays.
From August, a room in the Masonic Hall was used for the services.

In 1961 Mr Ken Denman, who had served with The Faith Mission, came to provide pulpit supply.
Ian McRae moved away, and Mr J. W. Scott became secretary; a post he held till 1994.

In April 1962 the first baptismal service was held when three of the young folk were baptised. (The service was held in the Brethren Hall in Stromness.)

Move to Victoria St Building Kirkwall Baptist Church

In May 1962 the Victoria Street Hall was purchased from The Paterson Church of Scotland, formerly The United Presbyterian Congregation, Kirkwall.
The Hall had been built for “evangelistic work” according to the record of the History of the United Presbyterian Congregation Kirkwall. A gift of £400 had been made to the Church on condition that the congregation “shall set about building such a hall”.
The foundation stone was laid in April 1879, and the hall was formally opened on 7th February 1880.

Quote from the opening Ceremony: “It is Bible truth especially that we wish to have taught here, both to the old and to the young.”

The founder members of Kirkwall Baptist Church had begun a Christian Endeavour Meeting in 1956, three years before the Church was in place. This provided a foundation for youth work, which has always been an important part of Kirkwall Baptist Church’s ministry.
C.E. as it came to be known, was a non-denominational evangelical society founded in 1881 by Francis Edward Clark. By 1906 C.E. had grown worldwide with four million members. This no longer exists as C.E., but the youth work has kept going with groups for juniors and seniors on Friday evenings, and summer camps, and holiday clubs.

With the purchase of premises, weekly prayer and Bible study commenced on Tuesday evenings (later moving to Wednesdays).
Mr Kenneth Denman and Mr Edward Holloway provided pulpit supply in 1961 and 1962.

Ministers of Kirkwall Baptist Church
Rev Kenneth Denman   1963-1966.
Rev Kenneth McNeish   1967-1974
Rev Ian McNair   1974-1978
Rev Francis Gordon   1979-2002
Rev Donald Currie   2003-2014
Rev Timothy Proudlove   2015-2025

In 2019 the premises underwent a major refurbishment. The main auditorium was completely gutted with new insulated walls and floors. The hall was re-orientated with a demountable platform on the south wall. The heating and lighting systems were completely renewed with air-source heat pumps remotely operated and new audio-visual system. Externally, stonework repairs and re-pointing was carried out.

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

A Warm Welcome

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When

We meet at the Church Building (details here) for our Sunday Morning Service starting at 11:15am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access from the side door along the lane on the right hand side of the building as you approach, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you. There is an accessible toilet in the main foyer.

Our Services:

Sunday Mornings

Kirkwall Baptist Church-4413

Our main Sunday service begins at 11:15am with a welcome from one of our team members and notices for the week. Then follows a time of sung worship, led by our band. We typically have 5 or 6 songs lasting approximately 25 minutes. Please feel free to stand or sit during the worship time. There is usually a brief children's talk or video before one of our leaders or preaching team will give a sermon that is Bible based and that we can apply to our everyday life. We then finish with a final worship song. There is an opportunity to receive prayer at the end of the service with one of our prayer team.
Our Sunday morning service is usually streamed live to our FaceBook page.

On the first Sunday of the month we celebrate The Lord's Supper as part of our morning worship.
With regard to any children who may have stayed in the service we regard it as the responsibility of the parent or guardian of any child to decide whether or not it is appropriate for the child to take part in Communion.

What about my kids?

Our Sunday morning service includes Sunday School and Bible Class:

Creche (pre-school) in the rear hall through the door to the left of the platform.
Sunday School (Primary 1-7)
Bible Class (Secondary 1-3)

Children stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service for the welcome, songs and notices. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. At the end of the children's talk someone will announce that it’s time for the younger members to go to their various groups.

The kids group activities vary depending on the age but usually there is a friendly welcome, Bible stories, music, craft, etc. Please pick your children up as soon as the service finishes.

Café Church:

Sunday Evenings at 7:00pm

cafe church

On Sundays at 7:00pm we meet in a more informal Café Church style service around tables.
The service includes a time of worship, discussion, prayer, and a member of the preaching team gives a word. Refreshments are served. We also include a time of communion as part of our worship except for the first Sunday of the month.

Getting Connected

Small Groups

Small Groups are as important in the life of the church as Sunday worship. Large group teaching can be best applied in smaller settings and all of us need the support, encouragement and prayer of friends. Smaller groups can also be more effective in reaching out to our communities.Meeting formats vary but generally include the four Ws: Welcome,Worship, Word, Witness. That means time to relax and unwind, time spent worshipping God, time studying and discussing the previous Sunday’s teaching and time thinking about application and praying for each other and for others outside the group. The number and composition of the Small Groups changes from time to time and all are always open to visitors and new folk. When numbers become too large the Small Group may split to form two groups.

The following is a list of current Small Groups as of 2025:

Tuesday: 7:30 pm in Finstown (weekly) – talk to Ian and Lindsay.
Wednesday: 2:30 pm in Kirkwall (weekly) – talk to Rhoda F.
7:30 pm in South Ronaldsay/ Kirkwall (weekly) – talk to Mike and Alan.
8:00 pm online (fortnightly) – talk to Paul and Hannah.
Thursday: 2:00 pm Ladies Bible study in Kirkwall (weekly) – talk to Carolyn.
8:00 pm in Kirkwall (weekly) – talk to Rognvald and Margaret.
Friday: 7:30 pm Upper Room, Youth Group @KBC (weekly during term time) – talk to Fraser.
Saturday: 5:30 pm in Tankerness (monthly) – talk to Gordon and Kirsti.
Sunday: After morning service – Young Adults Group (fortnightly) – talk to Daniel.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make Sundays run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team. We usually have a special Ministries Sunday each year with stalls for each of the ministries we are involved in, both for the church and in the community. See our Join A Team page for more information.

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.