A short history

The Adventist Church in Crieff goes back a long way, although the formal church is quite young. Back in the 1920s and 30s a Mr and Mrs Murphy ran a small Hydro in Crieff. Mrs Murphy was the Matron at our first Adventist hospital in Dublin, and her husband was instrumental in bringing Pastor George Keough into the church.

In 1945 Drs Ted and Gertrude Brown moved from Edinburgh to a house in Crieff called Akaroa, where they set up a nursing home and informal meetings were held there on Saturdays. Patients and staff, Adventist or not, were welcome to join in the worship. Eventually the small group was officially formed into a company in February 1970, graduating to a church in 1972. The membership consisted of the nursing home staff, spouses, and just one couple who were not employees. It was around this time that the British Union Conference (the governing body of the Adventist Church in Britain) purchased the nursing home from Dr Brown.

In November 1977 the church building was erected by Maranatha on what was the tennis court of Akaroa. An extension to the church was built in May 1992, also by Maranatha. Local members and tradesmen completed the internal work on both buildings.

Membership has fluctuated during the years as Adventist staff transferred to and from the institution, but it is now at the stage where there are fewer employees than non-employees. The official membership stands around 50+ but it is not usual to have 70 to 80 people at a service – the congregation swelled by visitors and local community friends.

Our aim and vision is to be a community that reflects faith in God demonstrated by faith in our fellow men and women, thus honouring the command of the Lord Jesus found in passages such as John 13:34, 35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

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