History
The 20th Century
From 1916 to 1964
In August 1914 the First World War began. In that year the Rev William Barclay came to Kirkcudbright as parish minister. During the war he acted as a chaplain to the forces. He left Kirkcudbright in 1926 to take up an appointment in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where he died in 1969.
He was followed in 1926 by the Rev J E Mothersill, a Canadian,
whose ministry was a long and successful one. By the time he
retired in 1963 a number of notable events had taken place in the
life of the church. Perhaps the most significant of these
occurred in 1929 when the Parish Church became known as St
Cuthbert’s Parish Church of Scotland. 
Also during Mr
Mothersill’s ministry a beautiful Communion Table was
dedicated, bearing the names of Kirkcudbright men who had lost
their lives in the two World Wars. The church organ was
reconstructed, and many other changes took place including the
introduction of the Weekly Freewill Offering scheme and the
replacement of the Common Cup at Communion with individual
glasses. Also one of the colours of the 5th K.O.S.B. was laid up
in the Church in April 1964. Mr Mothersill gave up the charge in
this same year.
From 1964 to Merger With St Mary's
The Rev Adam Jack was inducted in October 1964. Under his ministry St Cuthbert’s continued with the stability experienced under Mr Mothersill. In 1965 the Church was honoured by visits from Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. On the first occasion, in June, the Queen was indisposed and the Duke of Edinburgh unveiled a plaque. In August Her Majesty and the Duke made a return visit and an amending vellum celebrating this event can be seen beneath the plaque in the main vestibule. The clock in the tower was installed to commemorate these royal visits.
In January 1965 the Church newsletter began and continues to this day. The Wednesday Club, for Senior Citizens of the town, was founded in March 1967 and is still flourishing, while in 1970 the Church featured in two programmes on BBC Radio: the Sunday Evening Service; and Sunday Half-Hour, a programme of hymn-singing.
In 1976 Mr Jack retired to Crieff and the Rev William Allan was minister till 1978 when he resigned from the charge. His ministry was a period of consolidation and no great changes took place in the life of the Church. There was a delay in setting up the process of choosing a new minister, largely because of the timing of Presbytery meetings, and the vacancy lasted from May 1978 till June 1980. As is liable to happen during a long vacancy, the life of the Church became somewhat stagnant.
In June 1980 the Rev Stewart Wilson became minister. A late entrant to the Ministry - he had previously been an Art teacher — Mr Wilson brought an enthusiasm and vitality to the Church which was very infectious, so that membership and attendances began to increase and organisations to flourish once more.
Among many innovations introduced after Mr Wilson’s arrival was the ordination of the first female Elders in St Cuthbert’s. The suggestion that there might be women Elders had been mooted as early as 1944 by the Presbytery but was rejected at that time by the congregation by a mere 5 votes. So it was not until 1981 that the first women Elders were ordained in St Cuthbert’s (although our sister church of St Mary’s had women serving as Elders for some time before this). The original seven, ordained on 11 January 1981, were soon accepted and their numbers have increased steadily.
Union & Renovation
It was at this juncture, 1983, that the merger of St Cuthbert’s and St Mary’s took place. At first this new united charge was known as St Cuthbert’s and St Mary’s Church of Scotland, but by common consent and by the decree of the Kirk Session the Church reverted to its old name of Kirkcudbright Parish Church. Aother important change took place at the Union, the church became a "quoad sacra" parish instead of a "quoad omnia" parish. This means that financial and architectural matters have passed from the hands of the Kirk Session to the Congregational Board which comprises an equal number of members of Session and the congregation. The Session continues to have the general overseeing of the spiritual and pastoral affairs of the Church.
St. Mary’s Church building and hall were sold to a developer who converted the interior of the church into flats, while the facade of the church remains as it was.
From 1986 to 1989 a three year renovation programme was carried out, and the church was redecorated at a special service on Sunday, 19 March 1989 which included a "Welcome to the Lord in symbols of Bread and Wine". The total cost of this project over the three years was £112,000. Fund raising was a "Real Town Effort" as well as for the Congregation.