Saint Michael

Introduction

Saint Michael’s Parish was founded in 1946 to serve the west end of Dumbarton, previously part of St Patrick’s parish.

Architecture and furnishings

The rood panel in the tower is by Jack Mortimer. The statue of Saint Michael is by Benno Schotz and was erected in memory of a former parish priest. The Lewis Organ was first built in the High Church in Dumbarton in 1903 and was rebuilt in St Michael's, rededicated on 19 January 1981.

Gillespie Kidd and Coia designed the church in 1951. The church is a very long building with an aisle to the south and a tower at the southwest corner, built of red facing brick with concrete dressings and a low pitched copper roof. The body of the church is lit at upper level by diamond-shaped clerestory windows, 11 on the north side, and at lower level by rectangular windows. At the east end there are tall multi-paned windows flanking the altar, with no fenestration in the east gable.

At the west end there is a large multipaned window with a flat pointed head, divided horizontally by a concrete awning over the entrance, with a smaller multipaned window to the left. The church has entrances from a brick platform with decorative iron railing wrapped round the southwest angle. The aisle is in three sections, with an entrance bay on the west having a double door and a door and a multipane glazed tripartite window. The Crucifix on the sanctuary wall was donated by St Patrick's High School.

Parish life

The parish Bereavement Group contacts families after a funeral and arranges an annual memorial Mass in November. The parish has a St Vincent de Paul Society that provides financial and material support.

Sacraments and pastoral care

Couples planning to marry should mention it at the end of Sunday Mass at least six months before the proposed date. The clergy should be notified promptly by telephone when someone in the parish dies.