1880 – 1890
The first public meeting held about the proposed new church was held in Clarkston Toll House on 24th January 1881. After many further meetings and much discussion as to the site, it was decided to accept the third offer from M Jas. D. Hamilton of Greenbank on the west side of Eaglesham Road. As there were, conveniently, no road making costs, the architects were instructed they could increase the cost of the new church from £2900 to £3100. The eventual cost of the building and furnishings was £4055.
On Tuesday, 20th November 1883 James Fraser was ordained as minister of the new church. Soon afterwards, gas lighting and a harmonium were installed, a church officer was appointed (at a salary of £20 a year) and the church was cleaned and washed. Greenbank Church opened on Sunday 13th April 1884.
Soon there was a popular Sunday School that had grown so big that the hall at the back of the church could not hold everyone and the church had to used as well. By 1886, there was a monthly meeting on Friday evenings for children with ‘magic lantern exhibitions and similar amusements’. A Boys Brigade company was set up and by 1888 there was a Young Men and Young Women’s Guild.
Greenbank, however, was not a parish church. To achieve this an investment fund had to be established to help pay the minister’s salary. A huge effort by the congregation resulted in a Bazaar held in the Victoria Halls in West Regent Street, Glasgow over three days in October 1888, which raised £1,180 equivalent to almost four years of offerings at the time. This allowed the Parish Of Greenbank to be created, which, at that time, included Busby, Sheddens, Waterfoot, Thorntonhall, Giffnock and Clarkston. The first elders, nine in number, were ordained in October 1889.