Contribution to education

While still in Hope Street, the church provided evening classes in elementary education. These classes were gradually phased out with the introduction of a compulsory public education system in Scotland.^[4] Dr. Paterson was one of the founders of the Glasgow Commercial College in 1846. The college aimed to provide a university-level commercial education to young businessmen. Paterson himself taught Logic and Rhetoric and the college also taught Political Economy and other subjects. It met in the Anderson Buildings on George Street, Glasgow. The college later merged with the Glasgow Athenaeum, which was the ancestor of the University of Strathclyde.^[8]

The Baptist Theological College was founded in 1894, and until 1925 it was housed within Adelaide Place Baptist Church. The first president was Professor Joseph Coats MD who was a deacon of Adelaide Place for many years. Three early pastors of the church also served as tutors at the college: Dr. James Paterson, Dr. James Culross and Dr. T. H. Martin.^[9] More recently, Jack Quinn (pastor from 1984 to 2013) tutored at the college.

Baptist Union of Scotland

In 1870, the Baptist Union of Scotland was formed of 51 churches in the hall of Hope Street Chapel (which later moved to Adelaide Place).^[10] Howard Bowser, a former deacon and treasurer of Hope Street Chapel, became president of the Baptist Union in 1871^[2] and the philanthropist Thomas Coats (1809–1883) took over the presidency in 1873.^[11]

Adelaide Place was for many years the centre of denomination activity for Baptists in Scotland, with the annual Baptist Assembly often being held on the premises. Because of this role, and the fact that APBC founded many daughter churches, it was described by the Evening Citizen newspaper as "the Cathedral Church of the Baptists in the West of Scotland."^[12]

World Wars and interwar years

Twenty men from Adelaide Place and a further 17 from the St. Clair Street branch (near Maryhill Road) were killed in the First World War.^[13] Six men from Adelaide Place were killed in the Second World War. The names of the fallen from both wars are inscribed on a commemorative communion table.^[14]

The St Clair Street Women's Fellowship started two sewing meetings to make up comfort packages for church members on active service. Some female members of the congregation volunteered to help with air raid precautions,^[14] and Marjorie McInnes regularly carried out fire-watch duties from the church roof during blackout.

During the war, the main church building was open to the public every day for meditation and prayer. The BBC broadcast to the Empire a radio programme of a church service held in Adelaide Place on 9 March 1941.

In 1933, £2,500 was raised to carry out repairs to the stonework of the church, which had been damaged by smoke pollution, and to make improvements to the St Clair Street Halls, the manse and the Church Officer's house.^[15]

Post-war period

St Clair Street Women's Fellowship had been set up at the St Clair Street location as a response to female hardship during the years of the Great Depression. It continued until 1952, when the project was closed and the St Clair Street building sold, due to the reduced population of Glasgow city centre as people moved out to the new suburbs.^[7]

The depopulation of the city centre placed pressure upon the church, as a smaller congregation struggled with the costs of the church building and activities. In the 1950s and 1960s the church discussed the possibility of merging with another city centre church or moving out of the city centre, but decided against both options. In the 1970s, the church set up the Adelaide Place Baptist Church Development Trust to coordinate a renovation project. The stonework was cleaned, a new heating system was installed, carpet was laid and the church was rewired.^[16]

In 1974, Rev. Donald McCallum was so moved by a meeting with a homeless woman that, with some volunteers, he opened a flat to house and care for vulnerable young women in the vicinity of the church.^[17] In 1982, a charitable trust was set up to run the initiative. Rev. McCallum named it the Elpis Centre after the Greek word for 'hope'.^[18] The Elpis Centre now offers accommodation and support to around 18 vulnerable women at any one time.^[19]

Renovation in the 1990s

Dry rot was discovered in the building in the early 1990s. Once again, there were discussions about closing the building and moving the congregation to the suburbs because of the expense of repairs. The congregation instead decided on extensive renovation and redevelopment programme, incorporating businesses that could feed their profits back into the work of the church. Adelaide Place Development Company Ltd (SC142177), with the trading name 'Adelaides', was set up in 1993 to oversee the business,^[20] and work commenced in 1994.^[21] The eastern part of the church was converted into a guest house, the basement into a nursery, and a mezzanine cafe was set up with access from Bath Street.^[22] The main auditorium was also made available for hire at times when it was not being used by the congregation. The cafe was later closed, with the facilities being used by the guest house and nursery instead.

Light of Renewal project

The church carried out another renovation project, named 'The Light of Renewal', in 2017- 2023. The building's external stonework was repaired in 2017. The guest house was closed in 2018 and the bedrooms and reception office were converted back to offices and meeting rooms for the church. The audiovisual system was also updated in 2018. The main auditorium was renovated in 2022 - 2023, with the installation of a community cafe space, re-glazing of the windows and improvements to disabled access.^[23]