the minister is Rev. Dr. Martin Fair with associate minister Rev. Stuart Irvin. Dr Fair was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2020–2021; the only time that a minister of a congregation in Arbroath has held the position. The West Kirk in Keptie Street was opened as St Margaret's Chapel of Ease in 1879 and upgraded to a parish church in 1886. The height of the tower was doubled in 1903 by the addition of two storeys, a parapet and pinnacles. St Margaret's changed its name to Arbroath West Kirk in 1990 when joined by the members of Ladyloan St Columba's following that church's closure. Falling attendances at Knox's Church lead to its congregation uniting with West Kirk in 2019 and the site in Howard Street being put up for sale. Knox's Church was built in 1866 and linked with St Vigeans Church, St Vigeans in 1983. Other congregations There is an Episcopalian congregation based at St Mary the Virgin Church in Springfield Terrace. The minister is Rev. Peter Mead. St Mary's Church evolved from a meeting house set up in 1694 by Episcopalians forced out of Arbroath Parish Church. The present church building dates from 1854. The Scottish Episcopal Church in Arbroath is part of the Diocese of Brechin. St Thomas of Canterbury Roman Catholic Church is in Dishlandtown Street. The church opened in 1848 and has distinctive twin octagonal and crenellated front towers. The priest is the Rev. Fr. Andrew Marshall and the church is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld. The parish includes a primary school which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1998. St John's Methodist Church in Ponderlaw was opened and preached in by John Wesley in 1772 and since the closure of Dunbar Methodist Church has been the oldest Scottish Methodist Church still used for worship. The original church building is octagonal and situated behind a vestibule added in 1882. Other groups that worship in Arbroath include the Arbroath Corps of the Salvation Army, which meets in Marketgate; the Elim Pentecostal Church, which meets in Ogilvy Place; the Jehovah's Witnesses, who meet at the Kingdom Hall in Burnside Drive; the Springfield Christian Assembly, which meets in the Gospel Hall in Ponderlaw Lane and the Arbroath Town Mission on Grant Road, an interdenominational group established in 1849 and led by Dr Robert Clapham for sixty years, until 2010. The