MORISON Memorial Church might have deep roots to Clydebank’s past but they are firmly looking to the future.

The town institution has been marking its 125th year in recent months and held a special dinner and dance for about 60 people at the Beardmore Hotel on Friday to continue the celebrations.

Rev William Young, minister of the United Reformed Church, said there was a strong sense of history but while looking forward.

He said: “When the church started, it was the end of the Victorian era and Clydebank was a young industrial town – a lot has changed.

“We just feel blessed we have been able to survive all that and we are still in the centre of the town and have community at our heart.

“In a lot of ways we piggy-back on our history, from the legacy of others that have gone to the church and of being concerned about the community.”

Morison Memorial URC started in 1892 and moved to its present Dumbarton Road building, between the town hall and library, in 1896. It survived virtually unscathed by the Blitz and is the oldest continuing space of worship in the centre of Clydebank.

Rev Young said when the church was founded there was a great “moral drive” in the temperance movement. And while the focus isn’t alcohol, they still concern themselves with the community and the world, with young people and the Girls’ Brigade, Christian Aid fundraising and more.

The cafe in the church on Thursdays has been going for 15 years now and manager Isobel Ferguson is a recent addition to the congregation – “only” 40 years.

She said: “I had boys in the Boys’ Brigade and they thought it was only fair I come to church too.”

The church’s location could see it get a boost to its numbers in the coming years, positioned right at the upcoming redevelopment of Queens Quay and hundreds of new homes.

Rev Young, himself a relative newcomer to Clydebank at four years, having been born in Cincinnati, Ohio, said: “After homes and buildings being lost, there’s a resurgence going on and we pray we can stay here for that.”