St George’s-Tron Building Redevelopment Update

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The text of the update is below:

St George’s-Tron has a near perfect location. If you were going to plant a church in Glasgow, this is the spot you would choose—the most central and accessible location in the city. Our building is at the very centre of the second biggest shopping area in the UK.

But why should our location matter?

Because the huge majority of the thousands of people who walk past our door may never have heard the Gospel. We are in a post-Christian society. Like Paul in Athens, we are living in world with many different objects of worship – celebrity, ‘spirituality’, health, football, clothes, cars, self. And we can no longer assume, if we ever could, that people have heard the Gospel.

“I remember being very nervous the first time I walked into the church. I didn’t know what was in there. I didn’t know what to expect.
If the door hadn’t been open at that point, when I felt I had to go in, I don’t know if I would have had the courage to come back.”
congregational member & ex-atheist
Kate Airlie

We need to ask what our building is saying to the shoppers and tourists that throng past our doors. We are used to our building, it is familiar and may even be lovely in our eyes. But what does it look like to someone who has never been inside before—someone who has perhaps never even been into any church? — Who knows nothing about Jesus?

Our church building is surrounded by temples to the idols of today - shops, cafes, restaurants and more shops. How does it compare?

Jesus offers the one and only bargain that is essential and free for everyone. Jesus provides the drink that will ensure you are never thirsty again, the bread that satisfies all hunger. Do we want to hide, and keep this for ourselves? Is our building a private club, for those in the know?

We are right in the middle of the marketplace, and God has put us here for his purposes. How are we going to respond to this? How does our ministry reach out into this marketplace?

An Open Building

The shops are open a minimum of 56 hours per week. The cinema has a least 12 showings a day. Pubs and restaurants are pushing Glasgow City Council to allow 24 hour opening. How do we compare?

While a 24 hour church might be far in the future, expanding our existing activities is hampered by the current constraints of the building. We need more flexibility, more capacity, more space.

A Welcoming Building

Someone recently commented that they thought our building had been closed down years ago! While we don’t want anyone to mistake us for the latest coffee shop, we surely don’t want to be invisible or shabby. Shouldn’t our building be as attention grabbing as those surrounding it? After all, we are offering a prize that surpasses all others.

We want our building to reach out to all those passing by in ignorance of Christ. We want to make it as easy as possible to walk in, giving encouragement to those who are unsure of what we offer. Our building could, and surely should, echo the welcome of the Gospel. We want it to say, loud and clear ‘what goes on here is more important than anything else. You must come and find out what it is!