of the city of Edinburgh, meaning that, until the abolition of patronage in the Church of Scotland in 1874, the town council held the right to nominate the churches' ministers. Ministers of the first charge Ministers of the second charge New Greyfriars After an explosion destroyed part of Greyfriars in 1718, the town council decided to rebuild the church to accommodate two congregations. The western half of the church was occupied by New Greyfriars, which opened on 31 December 1722. In its earliest days, the congregation was also known as Wester Greyfriars. Like Old Greyfriars, New Greyfriars was a burgh church and, prior to the abolition of patronage in the Church of Scotland in 1874, the town council held the right to nominated the minister. Unlike Old Greyfriars, the congregation was a sole charge served by one minister. The town council often appointed promising ministers to the sole charge of New Greyfriars on the understanding that they would be promoted to one of the city’s two-charge churches soon afterwards. For this reason, many ministers of New Greyfriars served relatively short incumbencies. Greyfriars After the death of Samuel Dunlop in 1928, no new minister was appointed to Old Greyfriars and the charges of Old and New Greyfriars were united as Greyfriars with William Wallace Dunlop Gardiner, the last minister of New Greyfriars, becoming the first minister of the united congregation. The partition between Old and New Greyfriars was demolished and the church was restored as one sanctuary between 1932 and 1938 under the architect Henry F. Kerr. Lady Yester's Kirk united with Greyfriars in 1938 and, after Gardiner's departure in 1940, Greyfriars and the New North Church united in 1941; Duncan William Park Strang, the last minister of the New North Church, became minister of Greyfriars. When Highland, Tolbooth, St John's united with Greyfriars in 1979, Ewen Angus MacLean, the last minister of Highland, Tolbooth, St John's, became minister of the united charge, which adopted the name Greyfriars, Tolbooth, and Highland Kirk. After Greyfriars, Highland, Tolbooth united with Kirk o' Field Parish Church in 2013, the name reverted to "Greyfriars". References Notes Citations Bibliography Dunlop, A. Ian (1988). The Kirks of Edinburgh: 1560-1984. Scottish Record Society. Steele, Alan (1993). The Kirk of the Greyfriars, Edinburgh. Society of Friends of the Kirk of the Greyfriars. External links Greyfriars Kirk Church of Scotland Lists of clerics History of the Church of Scotland History