Arrochar Parish Church The Story So Far
		From The Lennox Herald of 21st. June, 2002 Minister revives outdoor preaching at historic Loch Lomond site Rocking them in the Aisles by FIONA MacLEOD A minister is taking his congregation back in time for services. The Rev. Dane Sherrard has revived the old Scottish tradition of outdoor sermons by preaching at the Pulpit Rock, a well-kept secret near Ardlui on Loch Lomondside. Rev. Sherrard of Arrochar and Luss churches, has not been able to use his pulpit in Luss for the past 18 months because of extensive renovation work. Consequently, on one Sunday every month the Luss congregation travels to the church at Arrochar, the next week the service is held in the village hall and on the subsequent week the service tours different churches within the presbytery. Communion Once a month the Rev. Sherrard has been finding alternative places, with a difference, to worship such as on a Loch Lomond cruise boat. And recently the congregation joined him at the outdoor pulpit which had not heard a sermon for more than a century. At Pentecost this year, Rev. Sherrard conducted communion at the site of an ancient Gaelic legend, a house-sized, pyramid-shaped rock called Clach nan Tarbh. Meaning the Stone of the Bulls, this ancient rock was first used for preaching in 1825 when the residents of northern Arrochar, who were mostly shepherds, complained that they had to walk eight miles to get to and from services. Their minister, the Rev. Peter Proudfoot, promised he would come and preach to them, if they built him a pulpit. With money donated from local worthies Watson of Glenfalloch House and Grieve of Keilatur, explosives were used to quarry out a 10 foot high hole in the face of the Stone of Bulls, large enough for the minister, an elder and the precentor who led the singing. The men built a wooden platform with a pulpit and bolted it to the front of the hole which was even fitted with a door - one of its hinges can still be seen today. Some men sacrificed more than their time and hard work - a Robert McFarlane was blinded in an explosion to create the hole. After 75 years, a mission church was established at Ardlui in 1895 and Pulpit Rock fell into disuse. Later the wooden door and pulpit were taken down and used by tinkers for fuel. Despite the poor weather, 50 people attended the communion last month, gathering in the natural amphitheatre in front of the pulpit, to hear the sermon. Rev. Sherrard described is as a particularly appropriate day to hold communion at the rock. He said: 'Pentecost is the birthday of the church and the first thing the disciples did was to preach in the street, and it seemed right for us to do the same." "It was greatly enjoyed by the 50 who attended, despite the rain and the midges." Rev. Sherrard said that when Mr. Proudfoot preached, the services could last a week. "Family members would return home for communion, there would be preparatory services at the rock on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, communion on the Sunday and a thanksgiving service on the Monday." Campaigning group, the Friends of Loch Lomond, plans to cut back the young trees which obscure the site of the pulpit and is exploring the possibility of having a lay-by built for siteseers to park their cars. Hannah Stirling, the group's co-founder and president, said: "With the advent of the national park, restoring visibility and access to the rock has become our latest project. This is a vital part of Loch Lomond history which will add to the richness of any visitor's experience." The ancient myth behind the Stone of Bulls is that two bulls once lived either side of the loch and bellowed at each other. Eventually they met and their fight was so fierce that it dislodged the stone which fell into its present position. It is more likely that the rock was brought to the site by the movement of an ancient glacier. Rev. Sherrard, who has been behind a dramatic increase in congregational numbers at Arrochar, plans to preach again at the rock despite admitting that the Scottish weather is not the best for outdoor services.