The history of the present St John's Renfield Church has its roots in three separate congregations reflecting the ecclesiastical, industrial and demographic fortunes of nineteenth and twentieth century Scotland.

Glasgow like other industrial towns was confronted with the appalling, overcrowded and insanitary living conditions[1] engendered by the rapidly increasing population.

Its first minister was the young Dr Thomas Chalmers who already had a considerable reputation as moral reformer and evangelical preacher[3] and whose leadership during the Disruption in 1843 was to make him, in the words of Carlyle, "The chief Scotsman of his age."

Chalmers had managed to persuade[4] the Provost and Magistrates to appoint him as Minister to the new church in order to allow him to put into practice his unorthodox, evangelical ideas for alleviating the material and spiritual squalor generated by industrialism.

[5] Thanks to this approach, which became a model in its time,[6] he hoped to bring about a moral change by fostering independence and by privileging personal contact, parochial care and schooling.

[7] Chalmers' Ministry had considerable success[8] but was relatively short, for, in 1823, he was appointed to the chair of moral philosophy at St Andrews University.

On 14 May 1843, Dr Brown preached his last sermon in Macfarlane Street, and then, with the support of 1151 out of 1175 members of the congregation,[10] left the church.

It was a lay overflow congregation from the "Old Light Church" in East Cromwell Street, consisting of some 30 members and led by two elders: a weaver and a currier.

The membership of the congregation continued to rise slowly, however, it was decided in 1855, because of shifting patterns of residence, to sell the Renfield site and move westwards.

[17][18] Again, because of population shifts, it was decided that it would be advantageous for the congregations of Free St John's and Renfield to unite, which was finally accomplished in 1923.

[21] Following the appointment of the new Minister, Dr John Wilson in 1861, there was a rapid rise in membership and, in 1873, a new site with seating for 1000 was opened in Breadalbane Street under the name of "Sandyford U.P.

[25] A former minister (1966–1976) was the Very Rev Dr James A. Simpson, who subsequently moved to Dornoch Cathedral and became Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1994.