The current hall dates from 1959. It was built as a replacement for the old Mission Hall in the village of West Carron. By this stage many of the houses in West Carron had become vacant and the management of Carron Ironworks needed to land to expand the factory. And, in the terms of Miss Dawson's will, they purchased land next to the Carronbridge Inn (the Soo Hoose) and the present building was constructed. We have some pictures of an artist's impression of the new hall as well as a picture of the hall being built.
Robert Clark's drawing of the Dawson Mission hall in its current location
The construction of the present hall in 1959
In today's blog, we are moving forward 43 years from the opening of the new hall in 1959. In the year 2002, Dawson Mission celebrated its centenary and a special event was held to celebrate this important milestone. The leaflet produced at this time provides an insight into the functioning of the Mission by this stage and also something of the history of the mission in the second half of the 20th century.
There were some distinctive features of the work of the Dawson Mission. In the last Day Share blog, we featured the work of R. B Stewart who played a prominent role in the founding of the Mission. He was the spiritual leader and later the term 'superintendent' was given to the man who took the role of leading the church. There was a succession of superintendents as follows:
R.B Stewart 1902-1909
William Fitch 1910-1942
Alex Bain 1942-1967
Stephen Philip 1967-1970
Albert Flaherty 1970-1983
By 2002, the mission was led by a group of stewards (in 2002 they were Willie Paton (whose son, Matthew and his wife Isabel are now members of the Dawson Community Church), Robert Clark (who with his wife Elza are members of the Dawson Community Church) and Tom Clark who has now moved to Tain.
The Mission has remained independent from other church organisations. It has traditionally had links with the Faith Mission and there are still links today as speakers associated with the Faith Mission are invited as guest speakers. Matthew Paton supports Gordon Thomson from the Faith Mission in his service for God. Ian Maclean and Brian Liddle both speak at the Faith Mission Rallies in Edinburgh. There are also some links with the Keswick Convention as the original constitution makes mention of the well-known Christian gathering of evangelical Christians which began in 1875.
The Keswick Convention with its famous strap line of 'All One In Christ Jesus' is the model for the Dawson Mission which does not subscribe to a particular sect or denomination. Also, Keswick has been well-known for its emphasis on the authority of the Bible as the Word of God. Bible teaching and preaching featured prominently in weekly activities of the Mission. Here is a list of the weekly meetings in Dawson Mission in 2002.
Sunday Morning Service (Breaking of Bread) 10:30 - 11:15am
Bible Preaching 11:15 - 11:45am
Family Service on Third Sunday of the month 11:00 - 12pm
Sunday Evening Service 6:30 - 7:30pm
Monday Night Children's Discovery Club (at Carronshore Primary School) from 6:30 to 7:30pm.
Wednesday Evening Prayer Meeting and Bible Study 7:30 to 9:00pm
Thursday Women's Own 2:30 to 3:30pm
Friday Night Teen Scene 7:00 to 9:00pm.
The emphasis on outreach to different categories and age groups is also evident. It is interesting that at the centenary celebrations, Lillian Clark gave a talk entitled, "Sunday School Memories," but there is no mention of a Sunday School as part of the weekly programme of activities. However, it is good to see that Dawson Mission was prepared to move out into the community and to use Carronshore Primary School as a base for outreach to the children. The Mission were also engaged in work with the local teenagers.
Music and singing was an integral part of the life and work of Dawson Mission with invited speakers and singers from various places coming as a 'deputation' to Saturday rallies on the first Saturday and third Saturday of each month from October to March. The Mission held occasional praise evenings and there was the Dawson Mission Male Quartet. I have been told that Tom Clark was an excellent organist. So Dawson Mission was able to put into practice Paul's exhortation which he gave to the church at Colossae:
[16] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.[Colossians 3:16 ESV]
There is no doubt that singing hymns and choruses and engaging in worship from the heart is a vital part of the life of a New Testament Church.
I would like to close this blog with another observation from the perspective of an outsider from Ayrshire who has moved to Falkirk fairly recently. It is encouraging that the Mission has changed its methodology and approach but has not compromised its founding principles. Dawson Mission gradually adapted to the society and to the changing culture in the area around the church. It did not retain its focus specifically on reaching the workers of the Carron Works because that was no longer relevant but it adapted to a wider community in a postmodern culture. It has survived by God's grace because of the flexibility of those leaders over the years to move with the times and to recognise that change is necessary in order to engage in serving the community for the Lord. In short, the Mission moved from an outreach work to a local community church. At one time, members of the Dawson Mission were also members of local churches in the Falkirk and Larbert area. So the Mission was a specific outreach to this community which did not have a church in the immediate vicinity. It was to witness to a hard to reach community where the need was considered greatest. It has gradually changed into a Christian fellowship serving a wider area.
But the principles of the Dawson Mission have never been eroded.
The supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ in the hearts of His people.
A respect and a love for the Word of God as God's inspired message to people in all generations.
A desire to worship and praise the Lord.
A love for the Gospel as the only message which can transform the lives of men and women of all ages and all classes.
A desire for fellowship with God and with His Son Jesus Christ and to demonstrate this fellowship with each other and with the locality.
A heart for reaching out to the local community and beyond.
Recognising that prayer and reading the Word of God are essential for discipleship.
A recognition that Jesus has to be first in all aspects of the work of the Mission.
Avoiding being bound by any tradition or culture or influence which would restrict the freedom which is in Christ Jesus.
Practising inclusion as it was demonstrated in the life of Jesus - welcoming people from all backgrounds with all their problems and burdens and showing compassion to our society which is broken and disintegrating.
It is because I have a personal conviction in the above principles that I am happy to be part of the Dawson Mission as it continues to serve the Lord until He comes back again. Though the name has changed to Dawson Community Church, the present church meeting in the white building next to the Soo House is glad to adhere to the principles which have guided the leaders of the Mission throughout its 120+ years. We pray that the Lord will guide us to serve the postmodern community with the same passion as the original mission served the small working community of West Carron which is now consigned to history.
In future blogs, I would like to focus on some aspects of the history of the Mission which made it stand out. In particular, I have been interested in the work with children and we have examples of slides used as illustrations for choruses and Bible stories. I have also recordings of singing at the mission. Other distinctive features were the outings and holidays arranged by the mission superintendents and stewards. In my mind, these provide an insight into the working of the Mission in a way that all my rambling writings could never do.
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