The Dundonald Free Church
As described above the splitting of the Church of Scotland into the Established and Free Church was accomplished without bitterness in Dundonald. The new Free Church members showed considerable diligence and had built a church before the 1840s were over, by which time their membership amounted to 165. Once the new church was up and running Thomas Burns left the congregation in the hands of Andrew Cunningham while he returned to Monkton to set up the Free Church there. Later, in 1847, Burns led a Free Church expedition to Otago in New Zealand where he helped to set up the settlement of Dunedin. He became the first chancellor of Dunedin University.
Although the separation of the churches in Dundonald had been fairly amicable matters took some time to settle and there were some occasions when feelings ran high with each Kirk keeping a wary eye on the other. But by the 1860s matters had settled down and relations between the churches had stabilised. In 1872, when the parish church suffered a severe lightning strike which damaged the steeple and rendered the church unsafe for many weeks (5), the Free Church opened its doors to the members of the Parish Church so that they could continue their worship.
In 1885 the Free Church building was rebuilt on the same site to plans by Mr Park, Braehead, Kilmarnock with the work being carried out by Orr and Maclean, Builders, Troon. At the opening of this new building Mr J Sime, minister of the Parish Church, was invited, along with others to address the assembled company.
The ministers who served Dundonald Free Church are listed in the appendix. Amongst them the best known is probably Rev James Moffat whose translation of the New Testament is highly respected and known to generations of divinity students. He later became a Professor of Divinity in Glasgow. In 1912 the Free Church appointed their last and longest serving minister, Rev William Scott who continued the high standard of scholarship exhibited by Dr Mofffat. He served the church for 30 years and he and his wife are still well remembered by older members of the community.
The story is told of the occasion on which Major Mann Thomson of Dankeith sent his chauffer and car to the manse inviting Mr Scott to give private tuition to his son at the mansion house. Young Mann Thomson was soon to enter one of the country’s prominent public schools and Mr Scott would be well paid for any help he could give. Mr Scott’s reply was brief and to the point. If the boy could call at the manse like any other boy or girl of the parish, he would have free access to the library and share in any tuition which that Mr Scott could freely provide. The story ended amicably with an apology from the Major and the boy received his tuition, entered public school and by all accounts did well.