Dallas Church History

The original Church was built approximately 1226 on the same site. In 1793 the roof of the existing Church was declared to be incapable of repair and the present Church was built and opened in 1794. There were two glebes, one on either side of the river Lossie. The Church had extensive reconstruction carried out in 1904. In the early seventies the Church was Linked with Rafford Church and then with St Leonards Church. In 1994 the Church Had a Bi-Centenary Celebration on 1st May with the Rev. Peter Robertson, who was our Minister at that time. Members of the congregation made banners to celebrate our 200th Anniversary The banner below was created by the then Minister’s wife Patricia Robertson and still hangs in the church today.

Included in the banner can be seen – The Church – St Michael’s Church, The Cross – Reminder of the Cross on which Jesus died, People – representing everyone, Trees, Birds, Fish and Flowers – A reminder of God’s wonderful creations, The Burning Bush – Church of Scotland Logo, Stream -The river Lossie beside which the church is built.

A second banner to mark the 200th anniversary was created by Val Shand, one of the elders. Shown above it’s main meaning is the Parable of the Sower, Mark 4 vs 3 – 20. The various elements included are Brown – soil ploughed ready for sowing. Sower – Sowing seed by hand as would have been the case in 1794. Green – Seeds have sprouted and grown. Yellow – Field of corn ripened and being harvested.

In 2000 The Guild Council of the Church of Scotland held a Millenium Guild Banner Exhibition where the selected entries were shown in churches and halls throughout Scotland and also in London. The book of the bible allocated to Moray West was 2 Thessalonians and the Guilds in the area all created relevant banners. Only one was put forward to be included in the exhibition and St Michael’s Guild were honoured to have their banner, entitled “Go Forward in Faith”, selected to represent Moray West. The banner is shown below and is still proudly displayed in the church.

In 2006 there was renovations to the Church Hall with a new kitchen and new toilets etc. Now this year we in St Michael’s Church are in our 230th year as the new West Moray Church of Scotland Mission Church.

Where we are today

Because of the changes since December 2023 when we were told that we had to be a Mission Church or close. The Congregation did not want the Church to close, and we were not allowed to have pulpit supply. The Rev. Peter Robertson said he would volunteer with services twice a month up until Easter. We the Session agreed to have services on the Second and Fourth Sunday of each month. Two of our Congregation, Cliff and Anne Fyvie were willing to help with a Prayer Meeting once a month and have the Fourth Sunday of the month a “Café Church”. Our Services used to be at 12 noon after Rafford and St Leonard’s so we decided to change the time to 10.30am with tea/coffee at 10am before the Service. As Rafford Church closed on 31st December, we now have an increased congregation with the help of Rafford and Pluscarden Church. As of now Rev. Peter Roberson is happy to continue with us for the foreseeable future.