St. Andrew's Scots Church, Malta


St. Andrew's Scots Church, sometimes known as the Church of Scotland, is a 19th-century church in Valletta, Malta. The church was built to the neo-gothic design of Maltese architect Giuseppe Bonavia. It is still an active church today, as a joint congregation of the Church of Scotland, as part of the Presbytery of Europe, and the Methodist Church of Great Britain.

History

Casa Torrensi

The site was previously occupied by Casa Torrensi, built during the Order of St. John in the 17th-century, and carried the address number of 60. The site is located in the proximity of the Demandolx townhouses, of which two from three survived the war. The remaining two are today occupied by the Ministry of Finance.

The church

The site was bought by Reverend John Keeling in 1824 in order to build the first non-Catholic church in Malta. It is the first Neo-Gothic building on the Maltese islands. Initially the church was built for the Methodist community, only to be later acquired by the Church of Scotland and used by the Presbyterian community. Since the turn of the 20th-century it has a mixed congregation that includes presbyterians, methodists, other protestants/reformists and some Catholics.
The church was built in 1857 by Reverend Dr. George Wisely. He ministered a small methodist congregation from the year it was built till 1896.
It was the first neo-gothic church to be built in Malta, on the designs of Maltese architect Giuseppe Bonavia.
Wiseley was minister of St Andrew's and Presbyterian Chaplain to the Forces in Malta from 1854 to 1914. The current minister is Rev. Beata Thane from Church of Scotland. Previous Ministers were Rev. Kim Hurst from the Methodist Church, Rev. Doug McRoberts, a Church of Scotland minister, who succeeded Methodist Rev David Morris, who in 2002 had followed Rev Colin Westmarland who was the first minister not to be a UK military chaplain.
Missions local and overseas
SINCE 2005
Dar Teresa Spinelli - Refuge for women and minors in Malta
SINCE 2005
Sr. Catherine, a Maltese nun in Tugwashanye, Zambia
START 2011
"Out of Africa... Into Malta" project. -
Resulting projects:
. 2013 Launching Malta Microfinance
. 2013 Launching Blue Door English
SINCE 2015
"The Foodbank" - Registered Foundation in October 2018 "The Foodbank Lifeline Foundation"
ANNUAL PROJECTS
International Presbytery Mission