History

Church in St Vincent Street

A Warm Welcome to Our Historic Church Building

Our church building may be new to us, but it has a rich and fascinating story. It began life as Broughty Ferry Baptist Church, and has served the local community for well over a century.

A Story That Begins in 1876

The Baptist fellowship in Broughty Ferry started small — around twenty people meeting in the home of a member, and a rented room in a working men’s club where Eastern Primary School is now. As the congregation grew, so did their hopes for a permanent home.

A New Building for a Growing Church

By 1881, sufficient funds had been raised to build a dedicated church on land kindly donated by the Cummings family, members who lived next door at Links House on King Street. The building was designed by well‑known and prolific Dundee architect John Murray Robertson, whose work can be seen throughout the city, including the former Free East Church (now Broughty Ferry Parish Church) on Queen Street.
The Cummings family continued to support the church, donating more land for a hall in 1903. Tradition suggests that the brick hall was erected during the First World War by the women of the congregation while the men were away on service.

Growing and Changing Through the Years

Over the next eighty years or so, the halls were extended and altered several times to meet the needs of a busy congregation.

A Building of Architectural Interest

In 1991, the church was recognised by Historic Scotland as a Category C listed building. View the Listing here. It is reckoned to be one of the earliest Arts & Crafts style churches in Scotland, with traditional Scottish stonework, a simple medieval‑inspired design, with a distinctive apsidal sanctuary. It is a rare and architecturally significant example of its kind.

A New Chapter Begins

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Photo: Rev Dr Brian Talbot, Pastor of Broughty Ferry Baptist Church, and Rev Alberto de Paula, Minister of Broughty Ferry Free Church, mark the official handover of the building in May 2025

When we acquired the building in May 2025, it was structurally sound but clearly showing its age. We are now engaged in a sympathetic upgrade to refresh the main building, improve accessibility, and ensure that both the church and halls are suited for 21st‑century worship, outreach, and community use.

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Picture: Artist's Impression of the completed 2026-27 refurbishment

This beautiful building has served God and generations of people in Broughty Ferry — and we are excited and privileged to help continue that story for hopefully many years to come.

02/10/2026

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 Hello

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

Where and When

On Sunday mornings, we meet for worship at The Brook at 10.30am, while our main building at 86 St Vincent Street (previously the Baptist Church) is being refurbished.

Parking in central Broughty Ferry, even on Sunday morning, can be challenging. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team who will help you get settled in, find toilets, etc.

We serve tea, coffee and biscuits after the service. It's a great way to meet people, chat, or ask questions.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access via the main door, accessible toilets off the hallway, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. There are no steps. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival if you have particular requirements and they will help you to get set up.

Our Services

The main service begins at 10.30am with a warm welcome and some notices from our minister or the person leading the service. The service proper usually begins with a song (modern or old, hymn or psalm) and a prayer followed by a talk mainly to the children. The songs are usually led by piano and/or guitar but occasionally we'll sing without any musical accompaniment. After another song the younger children leave for their "Sunday Club". (Older children start off in the hall and join us later in the service.) There are some more songs, some prayers for the sick or needy, world situations etc. Then there will be a reading from the Bible followed by a sermon that is based on that passage from Bible and that we can apply to our everyday life. We then finish with a final worship song and closing prayer. Most people stay for refreshments and time to chat to each other.

Although that is the most usual pattern the order and form of service can vary a bit. Some people bring their own Bible but Bibles (we use the English Standard Version) are provided if you want to follow the reading and the sermon. We'd love you to join in the singing and listen carefully to the reading and sermon but you can just watch and listen if you prefer to do that,

The evening service is slightly shorter, there are fewer songs and no children's talk.

What about my kids?

We have a great programme lined up for kids of all ages:

Sunday Club (generally from age 3 to Primary 6 or 7)
Bible Class (P7 or S1 to S5)
Other Young people stay in the service.

Children stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service for the welcome, songs and children's talk. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. Someone always announces that it’s time for the younger members to go out to Sunday Club in their room. You can go with your children, especially if they are new, but most children happily go through with the Sunday Club leaders.

You can pick your children up from the Sunday Club room as soon as the service finishes.

Getting Connected

House Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our small house groups allows you to make new friends, share together, and support each other. We have three house groups that meet on alternate Wednesday evenings. If you are interested, please speak to our minister, one of the elders, or one of the Welcome Team. They will gladly put you in touch with one of the group leaders who will be delighted to invite you along to their group.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church please speak to the minister, one of the elders or someone on the Welcome Team

Other Ministries

We also run the following ministries:

Prayer meetings most Wednesday mornings and at least every second Wednesday evening
Youth Club on Friday evenings
Messy Church - generally one Saturday per month
Both men and women's get-togethers for coffee and chat
A church lunch after the morning service 6 times a year
On the third Sunday of the month we collect food and deliver it to either Dundee Food Bank or the Eagles Wings Trust.

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to check details, etc. before your visit, you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we will try to help.

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.

Leadership


Alberto de Paula
Alberto is our minister or teaching elder. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in Brazil, serving in several churches there before coming to the UK with his wife and children in 2004. He has been minister of this congregation since its start in 2014.

We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.

Best wishes

Alberto

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