Ambassador Church: The place of worship built by members

Donald Ross, who is now 77, has kept a Telegraph article dating from 1972, when he and members of the congregation pitched in to build the new Ambassador Church in the town's Oronsay Avenue.

Church members previously met in a hall in the Clune Brae before it was decided to take the church 'to the people', where new homes were being built at Park Farm.

Donald's knowledge through owning his own business, Art and Engineering Ltd, proved invaluable when creating a new home for the congregation.

He said: "There was a builder who was a member of the church and we used his bricks. Myself and a few others did some labouring to get it built.

"One of the other church leaders and myself did the electrics, it was all built by the local people themselves."

Donald recalled how people worked when they could in their spare time and said there was great satisfaction and excitement when the church opened.

The Tele report from the time was headlined 'Church Members Help Build Place of Worship' and told how it would be called the Ambassador Hall.

Donald said: "We needed to get up in the housing scheme where young people and their families lived."

It soon started running youth clubs on Friday nights then organising day trips and football.

Donald says that the church is really led by the people and that is why it is still so relevant today.

He said: "The church reaches out to those who are in need and when drugs became an issue here we got involved with other agencies such as Teen Challenge Strathclyde.

"We saw that there were people suffering from addiction who needed help. That became our outreach and we held events for people who had been through Teen Challenge.

"We also hold a lunch club every Wednesday for everyone in the community.

"Our belief is we love God and we love people. Sadly church numbers are declining. The church needs to get involved in helping people and always keep itself relevant."