Scots Church is celebrating its centenary on 1st March next, and it has been made the occasion of the publication in book form of the history of the Portland congregation from its inception in March, 1842. It is a neatly printed booklet of 75 pages, interspersed with photographs of the ministers who began and have carried on the ministrations of the church to the present time.

In a foreword, the Rev. John Priestley says the gathering of the material for the history began some four years ago. Mrs. Kenny, of Cape Bridgewater (who passed away in November, 1941) had retained many letters and documents relative to the ministry of Alexander Laurie, who founded the church at Portland, and made them available to the compiler of the history. The original manuscript comprised some 200,000 words, of which several typescript copies were made. As the estimated cost of printing was beyond the means of the congregation, it was with regret that some curtailment of the work was deemed necessary.

The opening chapter deals with the founders of the Church, and the circumstances attending the arrival from Scotland of the Rev. Alexander Laurie and his induction as the first Minister of Scots Church are set out in detail. He was ordained in Edinburgh in 1841; and arrived at Portland on March 1, 1842. The population of the township and suburbs was estimated at about 800 souls. During the first two months of his residence he preached in the house of Dr. Sutherland, surgeon. Finding the place too small, he set about making an appeal to the people for funds to set about a temporary place of worship, and one was provided at a cost of about £100. It was built by Joshua Black, and the site was Julia Street. It was lent by Black. Later, a grant of land was available at the corner of Gawler and Percy Streets. The temporary building was removed to it, and it remained the place of worship during Laurie's ministry. Joshua Black, who helped in the first instance, was in 1849 the builder of the first portion of the present church in Tyers Street. Fifteen months after his arrival a call was signed by forty householders to Alexander Laurie. Among the signatures were William Sutherland, Robert Herbertson, Thomas Strachan, James Whyte Joshua Black, Donald Cameron, David Edgar.

Portland was only part of Laurie's charge. With the rapid settlement of the rich lands on the Wannon, revealed to the Hentys by Major Mitchell, his ministrations were widely extended. He made journey after journey on horseback through the country, taking twelve days for a trip. Three Sundays a month he spent at home. Port Fairy also claimed a great part of his time and energy. There were large congregations there, and for nearly two years he lived there, dividing his time between the two places. In 1846 he received a fresh call to Portland this time accompanied by a promise of support. From this time on there is little record of his work, and after a successful and happy beginning he was, in 1848, no longer a minister of the Church and found himself in an editor's chair instead.

The next Minister was the Rev; Thomas Elliot Richardson, M.A. The present Church in Tyers Street was built and opened on September 29, 1850. Joshua Black was the builder. Rev. Richardson, curiously enough, followed the example of his predecessor and became editor of the "Guardian."

Rev. Andrew Ross was the next minister. During his ministry the present Manse was built at a cost of £450.

The Tyers Street church was without a minister from June, 1856 to April, 1857, when William Ridley, B.A., from New South Wales, was inducted on June 28th, 1857.

Rev. Samuel Kelso was inducted March 6, 1859. The enlargement of the church was undertaken and made possible by the generosity of Mr. J. N. McLeod, who gave £350 for the purpose. Rev. Kelso remained in Portland for nearly ten years. He was made Moderator in 1863. During his ten years, £2200 was reported to have been spent on buildings. In 1868 he accepted a call from Pleasant Creek. He had a useful pastorate at Stawell for 23 years, retiring in 1891. He died in 1902.

After Mr. Kelso's arrival in Portland a very important meeting of the congregation was held to discuss the "Basis of Union" with the Free Church. It was being discussed in every church in Victoria. Some were very much divided concerning it and some rejected it, but Portland accepted it without a single dissentident.

There still remain residents of Portland who retain personal recollections of Rev. Kelso, and so the intervening years may be regarded as a history of our own times.

After his departure, Scots Church was supplied by various ministers for nine months. John Wightman Lawson then came to Portland, and was called and inducted. He was established as a favourite before he was called and the ladies presented him with a silk pulpit gown on the occasion of his induction on January 25, 1870. Like his predecessors, he conducted services in Bridgewater and Narrawong. Following discussion on instrumental church music, the use of the harmonium was agreed to, and "Psalms and Hymns for Divine Worship" was adopted. The harmonium was played for the first time by Mrs. W. Tulloh. It is recorded that while the congregation was willing to have the instrument, they were not equally willing to pay for it, and it seems that the minister paid a considerable price of the amount himself. After a successful ministry for some few years, Rev. Lawson went to Dunolly. While he was there there came into the Dunolly Manse a son, Harry, who has counted for a good deal as Premier of Victoria and in the Senate of the Commonwealth.

William Carlan Chapman, M.A., was the next minister. He was ordained and inducted on December 2, 1874. Failing health compelled him to apply for leave of absence. This was granted and he went to Swan Hill for the winter, but it was all in vain, and he passed away on September 1, 1876. His son, Rev. David Chapman, is now serving the church in South Australia. Mrs. Chapman died in 1918.

Rev. John Bagley, who succeeded Rev. Chapman, was inducted on February 1, 1877. He held his position longer than any of his predecessors, fourteen and a half years. His pastorate was, like many others of Portland, marked by many ups and downs, financial and otherwise. It was during his time that the title deeds of the site in Percy Street, that was said to have been granted to Laurie, were obtained. John Bagley resigned on 27th July, 1891. He became minister emeritus, and died in 1898.

Thomas Shanks, M.A., who came to Victoria from Scotland in 1890, was appointed to Scots Church, Portland, and inducted January 27, 1892. He held office for fourteen years, establishing a new record. He gave good service, but was distressed that the response to his labours and appeals were so slow. He appreciated the assistance he received, but regretted the lack of men workers, the scarcity of young men being lamentably noticeable. In 1906, a call came to him from Port Adelaide and he accepted it.

Up till now all the ministers of Portland had been born and trained overseas, but on the departure of Rev. T. Shanks that custom was definitely broken, and all since have been Victorian born and trained in Ormond College. The first was Ferdinand Ernst Yeaman, who was inducted on March 7, 1902. He served the church well for eight years, leaving for Fairfield in August 1910.

He was followed by William Tait, M.A., inducted on November 2, 1910. He gave splendid service for nearly 18 years. In November, 1927, he intimated his desire to visit the Old World and tendered his resignation accordingly. The congregation, in agreeing to his departure, put on record their great appreciation of the ability and high moral and spiritual standard he had maintained during his ministry in Portland.

William Herbert Duncan McMeekin, who succeeded Rev. Tait, was inducted on 23rd October, 1928. During his term, Portland celebrated its centenary and some notable memorials were added to the embellishments of the church building.

We come now to the pastorate of Rev. John Priestley, which began on 31st July, 1935. The ministrations and pastoral work of the Revs. Tait, Yeaman and Priestley are fully recorded and will serve more and more the main purpose of this history as time goes on.

Chapters III and IV deal with the church property in Portland, and it makes interesting reading, particularly to old residents deeply interested in the beginning of things spiritual as well as temporal. Personal benefactions have been numerous and generous, and doubtless served as an inspiration to church adherents who followed later.

Chapter V deals with Finance, in which the stipends of ministers, voluntary collections and donations, arrears, special efforts, building repairs, lighting, etc., are constantly recurring subjects.

Chapter VI deals with the Service of Praise. It opens with this query: "Can anyone explain how it was that our ancestors of a century ago sang their Psalms victoriously and in them urged one another to 'sing a new song' and to praise the Lord with harps and psalteries and organs, but regarded the person who would attempt to sing a new song or to use the harp or organ as a spiritual outcast? Yet so it was." The evolution of instrumental music is set out chronologically and finishes on a high note in that an electrical blower was added in 1936. Miss Vera McEachern became sole organist in 1904 and has continued to the present time. The present organ was installed in May, 1915, at a cost of £880.

Chapter VII relates to Sunday School and organisations of the church. Honorable mention is made of all who gave faithful service as teachers, or assisted the school financially.

Chapter VIII does honour to 'Workers Who Made the Church in Portland.' Their names are legion for they are many. Photographs given of the present Board of Management, and of Scots Session, 1941. Under this heading biographical mention is made of outstanding workers in the church, quite apart from the ministers, beginning from the inception of the Church. The list includes many old families who were good workers for the town as well as for the church.

Chapter IX deals with 'Outstations of the Church' comprising Bridgewater, Narrawong, Heywood, Walook and Cashmore, Bolwarra, Wattle Hill, South Portland, Broadwater and Maretimo.

The publication is remarkable for its wealth of detail, high literary standard and earnestness of purpose. By collecting, collating and preserving for posterity the history of Scots Church from its beginning to the present time it accomplishes a most laudable and difficult undertaking.

The compilers were fortunate in being able to secure at this late stage almost a complete gallery of portraits of the clergy who have filled the pulpit of the church from its in ception to the present time.

The programme will commence on Sunday next at 7.15 a.m., with a service at the corner of Julia and Percy Streets. Services will be continued at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. (the first two being broadcast from Station 3WV). On Monday night in the Free Library Hall, a public welcome will be extended to the Moderator-General (the Right Rev. Dr. John Flynn, D.D.) and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Victoria (the Right Rev. Dr. Button, Ph.D.). On Tuesday there will a Pageant of Presbyterianism over 100 years, whilst a floral fete will be conducted in the afternoon at Scots Sunday School, depicting various phases of the centenary.