Who we are

Murrayburn Longstone can trace its history back to 1782, when we were in the village of Slateford. We moved into the current building in 1955, and have recently combined with St Nicholas, in Sighthill, to form the Murrayburn Parish. As part of this, we have changed our name from Slateford Longstone to Murrayburn Longstone.

We believe that we were all created by a loving God, who wants to have a loving relationship with us and with everyone in our community. The Bible tells us that the religion that is acceptable to God is “to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). With this in mind, we are keen to share what we have learnt, through serving the local community and caring for those around us.

Our People

Our minister is Sam Torrens.

Hailing from Northern Ireland, Sam has served for over 30 years as a Church of Scotland minister, first in the Highlands and then in Edinburgh with Barclay Viewforth and then Slateford Longstone ahead of the Union with St Nicholas to become Murrayburn Church. Sam is married to Minnie, a Mental Health Nurse (addictions) and together they have three adult children and two grandchildren. Most Saturday mornings Sam can be found cheering on Murrayburn FC the new church team, and most other mornings Sam can be found hiding in a coffee shop looking for inspiration in caffeine and prayer! Sam’s passion is to see churches getting into step with God and bucking the trend of decline. As such, Sam is involved with a missional movement called CAIRN which sees God moving in our nation, inviting us to join in.

To view the rest of the Church Team, please see our ‘Meet the Team’ Page.