St James the Great, Dollar.

An Episcopal congregation began worshipping in Dollar in April 1863. At first, services, taken by the Reverend A.W. Hallen, Rector of St John’s, Alloa, were held in Tait House, Dollar Academy, but in November 1863, thanks to the kindness of the Deacons’ Court of the Free Church (later the West Church, now converted into houses) the congregation was able to use the Free Church on Sunday afternoons. Early in 1864, part of the newly-built Atheneum (latterly the Strathallan Hotel, now converted into flats) was offered for the congregation’s use, and they worshipped there until 1882. Land for the church was given by Sir James Orr of Harviestoun and the building was designed by Alloa architect Thomas Frame and Son. Work began in the autumn of 1879 but was halted on 28^th December that year, the night of the Tay Bridge Disaster, when the storm caused the main gable to collapse. Because of financial constraints, building did not resume until 1881 and was completed by July 9^th 1882, when the church was consecrated; the vestry was added in 1934 and the porch, designed by local architect Colin Campbell, in 1957.

Rectors of St James

Photo (where available)	Dates of Ministry in Dollar
	Neville G.M. Lawrence	To start with the Episcopalian presence in Dollar was a simple Mission, and in 1852, Neville Lawrence appears to have been Priest of the Dollar Mission. His later status is unclear. He was ordained in 1852 and by 1855, he was the Incumbent of St. Paul’s Forebridge, Staffordshire when he was present at the opening of St. Paul’s Cathedral, Dundee. He was Incumbent at Forebridge from 1853-1872. This doesn’t mean he actually lived or worked there, however, (merely that he collected the income from the Parish) and it appears he sent the curate from Dollar, Albert Eschelbach, to actually minister in Forebridge. Lawrence himself may have continued to minister in this area as he conducted St James’s first wedding in 1870. Later on, Lawrence served as curate at All Saints Edinburgh from 1872-1876. He later moved to Weymouth, Dorset.
.	Albert Eschelbach	Revd. Eschelbach served in Dollar from 1866-1868. He was an Assistant Curate of the St. James’s Mission appointed by Revd. A W Hallen, Rector of St. John’s. Alloa. He was educated in Gottingen, Germany. He was ordained priest in 1866 by the Bishop of Edinburgh. By 1868 he was Curate in full charge at St. Paul’s, Forebridge, Stafford
	Alexander Troup M.A Rector 1873-1878	He probably came from the North-East and was Rector of Strichen, Aberdeenshire 1854-1855 and of Buckie, Moray 1855-1871. Worship took place in the St. James’ Chapel or Hall. Alexander Troup was Convenor of the Building Committee which planned the current church. He died in office in 1878. His obituary described him as “ of a modest, retiring disposition…his many good qualities and real worth was known only to his more intimate friends”[Alloa Advertiser 16 Mar 1878]
	Henry Edward Maskew Rector 1878-1906	Born in 1825 in Hampshire, he was Chaplain to the Armed Forces during the Crimean War and was based in Zante, Greece before coming to Dollar. He was Rector at the time of the consecration of the church on June 6th 1882. He died in 1915 in Ealing, Middlesex, England.
	William Clements Gwyther M.A. 1906-1912	William Gwyther was born in 1866, educated in London and Keble College, Oxford. He was ordained in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales in 1896, was a Chaplain at St. Ninian’s Cathedral, Perth, then followed his time at St. James’s He moved on to become Rector of St Mary’s Dunkeld and later was also Dean of this diocese and a Canon of the cathedral until his death in 1940.
	William L Lewis 1912-1921	Before he came to St. James’s, William Lewis was Chaplain to the Marquis of Breadalbane at Taymouth [Devon Valley Tribune 5 Nov 1912]
	John M Wood-Smith 1921-1932	In 1926 The Dundee Courier reported that John Wood had given an address on “The Ethics of the League of Nations” to the Dollar branch of The League of Nations Union. He left Dollar in 1932 to become the vicar at Watford, Northamptonshire, England.
	Henry Sutcliffe Hay M.A. 1932-1939	He was born near Bradford, Yorkshire in 1893 and educated at Dollar Academy. He came to St. James’s from being vicar of St. John’s, Yeadon, near Leeds. In 1939 he moved on to become Rector of Christ Church, Morningside, Edinburgh.
	John Leslie Stretch L.Th. 1939-1950	Leslie Stretch came to Dollar in 1939, after serving as priest at St Catherine’s Bo’ness. He moved to St Mary’s Newport on Tay in 1950, and then returned to St James in 1953 following the death of his successor Patrick Broun.  He was a canon of the Cathedral from 1951, and he died in post in 1970.  His widow Rhoda remained in Dollar for the rest of her life.
	Patrick Broun 1951-1953	Patrick Broun came to St James from St John’s Forfar, where he served for 18 years. He died in a road accident after only two years at St James. Patrick’s widow Betty stayed in Dollar for the rest of her life.
	John Leslie Stretch 1953-1970	John Leslie Stretch served twice as Rector of St James. .
	Michael Cosgrove Paternoster M.A. 1971-1975	Michael Paternoster was ordained at Southwark Cathedral in 1961. After serving as general secretary of the Anglican / Orthodox Society of St Alban and St Sergius, he came to St James Dollar in 1970. He was later to serve at St James Stonehaven, and St James Aberdeen, before retiring to Wells Somerset. His published works include “Thou art there also” “Stronger than death” and “Man: The World’s high priest”
	Henry C. Crooks 1976-1981	Harry Crooks had a career as an Army Officer  before training for the priesthood in Edinburgh, and becoming Rector of St Paul’s Kinross and St James Dollar. He  lived in Kinross, and retired to Bristol in 1981.
	William Leng Glazebrook 1976-1982	Bill Glazebrook also had a career in the Army, before ordination in 1976.  He was priest in charge of St James Dollar under the oversight of Harry Crooks, and lived at St James Rectory. He later served at All Saints Glencarse, and in Oxfordshire, before retirement in Perth
No photo available	John Shone 1982-1986	St James became part of the Hillfoots Team ministry in 1982, and was overseen by John Shone, Rector in Bridge of Allan., and Dean of the Diocese from 1982 to 1986
No photo available	Hugo M.D. Petszch 1983-1986	Hugo  served as curate in charge of St James from 1982-86, overseen by John Shone He then became Rector of  Roseneath in New Zealand, returning after three years to be Rector of Blairgowrie, Alyth and Coupar Angus, and then chaplain at Glenalmond College. He later became Deputy Head of Benenden School in Kent.
	Gregor MacGregor 1987-1990	Gregor was originally a minister of the Church of Scotland and served in Stromness. He was later ordained a Priest in the Episcopal Church, and served in the East Neuk of Fife, in Glenrothes, and at the Cathedral of the Isles  Cumbrae, before coming to Dollar in 1987. A committed Third Order Franciscan, he and his wife Elizabeth introduced many to the prayer discipline of the Society of St Francis. After a brief three years of highly effective ministry in Dollar, he went to St Luke’s Wester Hailes,  a chapel in a tower block and from there was elected Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness. On retirement he had hoped to take up ministry in Pilton, Edinburgh, but suffered a stroke; his ensuing disabilities preventing further ministry. He accepted this patiently and devoted himself to prayer.
	Charles P. Sherlock 1991-1997	Charles was ordained priest in Guildford in 1978, and after a curacy in Ashtead, and  ministry in Ethiopia and Yugoslavia in the 1980s, came to St James in 1991. In 1997 he went back to Ethiopia to work as fundraiser for the Addis Ababa Fistula Hopsital. He was then  priest in charge in Crieff Comrie and Lochearnhead from 2001 to 2007.  After a further period in Ethiopia, he spent four years with parishes in Norfolk before retirement to Auchterarder.  In retirement he served for 18 months in 2018 to 2020 as chaplain at Glenalmond College.
	Gottfried J. Grünewald 1998-2005	Rector 1998-2005.He was ordained in 1969 and much of his ministry was in youth and student chaplaincy and ecumenical and retreat work in Denmark. He came to Scotland to be Priest in charge of St Anne’ Episcopal Church in Dunbar before coming to St. James’s. After his retirement in 2005 he returned to Denmark.
	Jeremy R. Auld 2006-2010	Rector 2006-2010. He entered the ministry after a career in Law in Edinburgh and Fiji. St James’s was his first post as Rector. In 2010 he became Provost of St. Paul’s Cathedral, Dundee and in 2020 moved to become Rector of the Benefice of Woodstock and Bladon in Oxfordshire. In 2024, he took up a position in Nice, France.
	Andrew R. Frearson 2010-2018	Rector 2010-2018. He was ordained as priest in 1984 He served first in the diocese of Birmingham. For 10 years he was part of the clergy team at Christchurch, Norcross, Georgia, USA. He returned to England to be Team Vicar at St Andrew’s Bracknell, Berkshire and came to St. James’s in 2010. Since leaving he has spent some time in the USA and is now living in Gloucestershire.
	Christopher Lowdon 2019-2024	Rector from 2019-24. He qualified as a Barrister in 1994 and worked as a wine merchant in London before being ordained in the Diocese of Derby in 2006. He subsequently served in Derby and the Isle of Man before moving to Scotland in 2019. In the summer of 2024. In the summer of 2024 he moved to the Parish of Upper Caldecote, near Biggleswade in the Diocese of St Albans.
	Vacancy 2024-	Interim Rector Elaine Ryder

Other Clergy of Dollar

Duncan Finlayson 1977-1994		Duncan Finlayson was technically a curate in Bridge of Allan, but was licenced to St James’s as well as St John’s, Alloa.
Fianach A.M. Lawry 1988-2013		Self -supporting Minister 1994 until her death in 2013. Fianach was in the first group of women to be ordained in the Scottish Episcopal Church on 17th December 1994 at St. Ninian’s Cathedral, Perth. She was for many years a Chaplain at Glenochil prison. Her career was in publishing and she was responsible for the design of the “Blue Book” the 1982 Liturgy.
Hector I. Soga 1988-2014		Self Supporting Minister (Non Stipendiary Minister ) 1989-2014. Most of his career was as a German teacher at Dollar Academy. He was ordained priest in June 1989. He is currently the organist at St. James’s.
Roger E. Carman 1997-2006		Self Supporting Ministry. 1998- until his death in 2006. Roger studied for the priesthood after a career in Electrical Engineering. He was ordained as a priest in 1998.