St John the Evangelist.

Welcome to St John the Evangelist Catholic Church

Dear Visitor

Welcome to our church. 

Feel free to sit and enjoy the silence, to say a prayer, or simply to wander round.

History

The present church occupies the site of an Episcopalian chapel consecrated by Bishop Sandford – hence nearby Sandford Gardens - in 1825 and bought ten years later by the Catholic Church.

The parish boundaries at that time consisted of East Lothian, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, Berwickshire and part of Midlothian – fortunately the local livery stable was run by a parishioner!

As the congregation in Portobello grew, the need for a bigger church became more pressing and eventually the old church was demolished and a new one – the present church – was opened in 1906.

The Building

Externally, the most prominent and distinguishing element is the 130-foot tower, a Portobello landmark, and very visible from the East Coast main line.

Internally, the church is in the Gothic style, consisting of the nave, two aisles, two side chapels, the sanctuary, and the baptistery (no longer used as such – the baptismal font has been moved on to the sanctuary). The High Altar is of white alabaster with a painting of the Last Supper, on copper and gold ground, after the school of   Fra Angelico. A feature of the nave is the octagonal piers with carved angels carrying scrolls on which is written (in Latin):

“Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The stained-glass windows above the High Altar, featuring the Nativity, Crucifixion and Resurrection, are by Edward Frampton.

The Parish Today

The church building is the centre of our active parish community which seeks to live the message of Jesus Christ and share it with the world. We are closely linked with our sister parish of St Mary Magdalene’s in Bingham, and also part of PACT - Portobello & Area Christians Together.

In recent years, we have installed a new lighting system, repaired the Tower, and refurbished the outside of the church. Costs have been met through the generosity of parishioners and the local community, along with substantial grants from The Wolfson Trust, Heritage Environment Scotland and The National Churches Trust.

We have also been delighted recently to receive the gift of a stone statue of the Sacred Heart, the work of the distinguished 20th century Scottish sculptor, Hew Lorimer. 

St John the Evangelist Information Handbook 2023-2024 

available for each household in the parish

 Please collect your free copy at Masses or at the back of St John's church

Update - 30 October 2022

This Sunday we warmly welcome Archbishop Leo Cushley to our parishes. He will celebrate the 9.30am Mass at St John’s and present diocesan medals to Alice Codling, Tom and Gena Gallagher and Frances McDevitt. Then, after continuing the celebration in the Hall, he will travel to St Mary Magdalene’s for what will be the 11.30am Mass (not 11.15).

Below are excerpts from the ‘official’ letter (as required by the statutes) from Fr Jock to Archbishop Cushley proposing them, which was duly accepted and ratified by the Diocesan Council of Priests.

After our recent correspondence on the matter, I now write formally to request that you place before the Priests’ Council, nominations for three diocesan medals for parishioners of St John the Evangelist Church, Portobello.

The first is Frances McDevitt – who in Holy Week celebrated 50 years as our gifted, generous and reliable organist (though she is….very keen to stress that she began playing when she was in short trousers!) Born and brought up in the parish, she is a most faithful parishioner in every way. For instance, she recently co-ordinated the Fundraising Group for our Tower Project, now successfully completed, and is at present the very competent Secretary of the St John’s Pastoral Council.

The second is Alice Codling. She has been Pastoral Assistant at St John’s for the last three decades, during which time, as well as being a wise and faithful counsellor, first to Mgr Rae and then to me, she has co-ordinated our parish Adult Formation (as a LIMEX graduate) and run our very active RCIA group with considerable skill, creativity, and patience. In addition, she worked at the Gillis Centre with (then Sr) Clare Wardhaugh when she was the Pastoral Co-ordinator there, and was also on the team of the Craighead Institute….If one person has ‘held’ the history of the parish since she moved here from Preston in Lancashire in her early married life, it has been her.

Finally, the ‘third candidate’ is/are a married couple, Gena and Tom Gallagher– and I thank you for being open to our presenting them for a single medal. Tom has been our chief welcomer/passkeeper for many years, co-ordinating a faithful team, while together they were responsible for the parish ‘shop’/piety stall for over two decades. Tom has also supported Gena for thirty years in running our very active ‘Thursday Club’ (for elderly folks) – that meets every Thursday afternoon. In addition, Gena has had a wonderful ministry with the sick, taking communion to them, visiting them in hospital and doing their shopping. When, in response to a recommendation, I was running the idea of proposing a medal for her/them past another faithful parishioner, he mentioned a vivid image he retained of meeting her in a supermarket, carrying four bags of shopping for four different housebound parishioners.