About Us

Introduction

Mayfield Salisbury is a vibrant church on the south side of Edinburgh which offers engaging ministry to all ages. We do not shy away from the difficult questions the world poses us and, through our worship, children’s and youth clubs and house groups we offer a space in the midst of busy lives where people can search, wonder and pray together.
We are an inclusive congregation, crossing boundaries of class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status and family situation. Our ethos of inclusion, in line with our understanding of ministry and service, comes from our deep belief that the ministry of Jesus Christ, which we offer, is intended for all people. We support Rev’d Dr Giles Frazer, an Anglican Priest, when he writes that 'Inclusivity... [is] a gospel imperative, fundamental to the nature of God and at the very heart of the mission and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ To that end we welcome all those who wish to journey with us.

Our minister

Our community

Mayfield Salisbury has over 500 members and also many other adherents and friends who are part of our wider community.  There are three services of worship on most Sundays and a wide variety of other activities. Some of these give particular opportunities for involvement in worship, such as our choir, our ‘welcome’ team and our Sunday school. 

Others have a wider brief, like the group who are involved in reducing our carbon foot print through our Eco-Congregation initiative. Still other activities are more centred on fellowship, like our young people’s group COZ and the walking group, or on caring for others such as our car-pools or through our very active Christian Aid group (details on our ‘activities’ page). 

We also have an extensive network of House Groups : small groups who come together regularly to explore faith and offer each other fellowship and mutual support. The make-up of these groups varies widely as do the study materials they choose. Another point of contact is our parish magazine, Grapevine , and many are involved each month in its production: writing articles, taking photographs, proof reading and distribution. Our web site too requires constant attention to keep it up to date and a small team work on this. If you have any comments on our web or any queries please leave a message on our contact us page on this website.

We also share our premises throughout the week with many other organisations and on Sunday afternoons the Chinese Evangelical Church holds its services of worship in our sanctuary and halls.

Our History

Mayfield Salisbury arose not as the result of some violent schism but solely because of the rapid growth of the city. In the mid nineteenth century Newington, with its dwellings, shops and businesses, was bounded on its south side by an old drove road (now East and West Mayfield) beyond which were the farms and fields of Mayfield. But about 1870 Duncan McLaren of Newington House, a past Lord Provost and MP, began feuing his Mayfield land and by the time of his death in 1886 it was almost wholly built over. It was against this background that Mayfield Free Church (as it was first called) was born in 1875. The site for the present church at the corner of West Mayfield was selected in July 1876, and the main sanctuary was completed in 1879, the spire being added in 1894. From the start ours was a broad church which rapidly became widely known as a preaching centre, so that over the 130 plus years of our existence we have been blessed with a distinguished line of much loved and erudite preachers as minister. A detailed account of our history, inluding the booklet which was produced for our centenary in 1975, can be found on our history page through this link.

What we are aiming to become

Those who have committed to a life based on faith believe they have something to offer in today’s world where increasingly people are searching for a route to spirituality. Our aim here at Mayfield Salisbury is first to centre our lives more and more on prayer. Timothy Radcliffe OP reminds us that ‘the point of the Christian life is just to be with God. Jesus says to the disciples: ‘Abide in my love.’' Today many churches are frantically busy attempting to attract new worshippers. Many new worship styles aim to make people happy, to entertain them. Our hope here is to become a worshipping community where people can come together to encounter God. To this end we aim to offer a variety of distinctive services which are appropriate and meaningful for every stage of life. We are blessed by being led by a minister who is not only a great preacher but is particularly skilled in the art of spirituality and the conduct of public worship .