lack of maintenance led to structural problems and the church had to be rebuilt in the late 1950s. The rebuilding work, however, proved to be unsatisfactory. Major structural faults were soon discovered and by the 1980s the building was again in urgent need of replacement or major repairs. It was decided to completely rebuild, albeit with flats above the new church building. The current church building was opened by the then Moderator of the General Assembly, John Miller, in 2002. Famous visitors The congregation has had many famous visitors, including Queen Elizabeth II who laid the foundation stone for the (since replaced) new sanctuary in 1957. In 1924, during the Olympic Games held in Paris, the athlete Eric Liddell chose to preach at the Scots Kirk instead of running on a Sunday. His story is told in the film Chariots of Fire, but the building used as the Scots Kirk in the film was actually the former Broughton Church in Edinburgh. During the negotiations for the Treaty of Versailles both the American President Woodrow Wilson and British Prime Minister David Lloyd George worshipped at the church. Current status The current minister is Rev Jan Steyn who has been minister since April 2017. The members of the congregation have been dispersed throughout the Île-de-France since the inception of the church. The Scottish diaspora being not numerous, the Scots Kirk Paris has a long history of being an international congregation. So though fully part of the Church of Scotland and conscious of its Scottish connections, the church always primarily seeks to offer English-language Presbyterian Christian worship and pastoral care to an international fellowship. See also American Cathedral in Paris International Presbytery (Church of Scotland) Protestantism in France Scots Kirk, Lausanne References Notes Bibliography External links Church of Scotland website Buildings and structures in the 8th arrondissement of Paris Paris Reformed churches in Paris Presbyterian churches in Europe