In the late nineteenth century, a number of temporary church buildings were erected in the new suburbs developing around the West End of Glasgow.

Members of the group included James Parker Smith, Liberal Unionist MP for Partick and owner of the Jordanhill estate; Francis Newbery, director of the Glasgow School of Art; William Kennedy of Hugh Kennedy and Sons, railway and public work contractors; and R. W. Shanks, a Partick fishmonger.

The church building itself was a small wooden chapel the group had acquired from the grounds of Douglas Castle, family seat of the Earls of Home, and sat 114 people.

In 1893, Pickering and Fleming provided funds of £250 a year for the church to have its own priest-in-charge until the end of 1897, and the Revd Theodore Younghughes was subsequently appointed.

A permanent church building was required, and the noted ecclesiastical architect, George Frederick Bodley, was commissioned to draw up plans.