One hundred and seventy-nine years ago, on October 7, 1844, the Glasgow Herald newspaper ran a story about the “Opening of the new church at Ardrossan”.

It mentions that the new church, which “comfortably seated one thousand people”, was opened on Sunday,  September 29 by the minister of the parish, Rev. John Bryce, who preached in the morning, followed by Professor Hill of Glasgow in the afternoon, and the Rev. D. V. Thomson of Kilmarnock in the evening.

The collections amounted “to a handsome sum of £70” – amazingly, that’s about £11,400 in today’s money.

For those who don’t know, this church which began as the New Ardrossan Parish Church, would go on to change its name to the Barony Church in 1929 and then Barony St. John’s Church in 1985. It’s now the derelict building currently getting restored on Arran Place.

The article got me thinking how lucky it was that the Ardrossan ministers and congregation of 1844 didn’t pay any heed to American Baptist minister, William Miller who established “Millerism” in the 1830s.

Miller’s downfall was predicting the exact date of the second coming of the Son of God: "My principles in brief, are, that Jesus Christ will come again to this earth, cleanse, purify, and take possession of the same, with all the saints, sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844."

Obviously, March 21, 1844 came and went without the world coming to an end, so this prompted further discussions and “calculations” whereupon Miller announced that he had used the Rabbinic calendar rather than the Karaite calendar, so the new date of the end of the world would be April 18, 1844.

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald: The newspaper clipping

Now, I would have thought that announcing a date far, far into the future would be more beneficial, as it would keep the congregation believing and increasing. But Miller actually did believe in his calculations.

So, as April 18 passed, Miller wrote: "I confess my error, and acknowledge my disappointment; yet I still believe that the day of the Lord is near, even at the door."

A final date was calculated as October 22, 1844. Oops.

As this date came and went without the world ending, it became known as “The Great Disappointment of 1844”. Thousands of followers had sold their houses, giving all their money and possessions to the poor and needy.

Hiram Edson, who went on to become the pioneer of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, commented: "Our fondest hopes and expectations were blasted, and such a spirit of weeping came over us as I never experienced before... We wept, and wept, till the day dawn."

At its peak, the Millerites had between 50,000 and 500,000 depending on who you believe. Its followers went on to form the Advent Christian Church, which today has over 61,000 members in the USA plus an estimated 100,000 worldwide, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which today has over 22 million members. 

Who would have thought that while Ardrossan folk were praying for a bigger parish church in 1844, that folks in America would be praying for the end of the world?

It’s still a crazy world we live in. Stay safe folks.