Churches - Changes

Resolution 4: New Church & Mission Projects

General Assembly receives the churches listed below as local churches and mission projects of the United Reformed Church.

1.Mission Project: Ingleby-net, Northern

Ingleby Barwick is a fast growing private housing development on Teesside with a population heading towards 20,000. Social links and support networks take time to develop; and in a community that lacks necessary community facilities the only Church with dedicated premises is the Church of England. The Methodist and United Reformed Churches have joined in creating a project, Ingleby-net, which is an experiment in a new way of being Church. It will be a specific Christian contribution to building of community and the establishment of social and support networks. It works alongside, and is specifically designed to complement, the work being done by the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches. In January of this year a Church Community worker was appointed to run the project under the Methodist Lay Worker scheme. The running costs of the five year project are being met by the Methodist Church. The Durham and Teesside District of the United Reformed Church have contributed £60,000 capital towards the house from which the project is run.

2.New Church: Church Langley Church, Harlow, Essex, Eastern

(Church of England, United Reformed Church, Baptist)

Church Langley is a new housing development of 3500 houses on the East side of Harlow – between Harlow and the M11 and the older villages of Old Harlow and Potter Street. Ten years in the build Church Langley is now about finished but there are another 2000 houses being built on adjoining land known as New Hall Farm.

The Church and Community Centre building was partly funded with grants from the Eastern Synod and the Chelmsford Dioceses. It has a Chapel, which is only used by the Church, and two halls, which we use as Church and Sunday School, but which is used by the Community Association throughout the week.

As a Community Association we run and maintain the centre, run 2 pre schools groups, an after school club and a Holiday club, and we have just started a Breakfast club. In addition to this we make the halls available for other activities and organizations.

As a Church we were founded in a Portacabin 10 years ago by the Church of England, The Baptist Union, The United Reformed Church and The Methodist Church.

We have been in our building for 8 years. Church Langley Church became the Parish of Church Langley 3 years ago, a member church in the Baptist Union 2 years ago and has been a United Reformed Church Mission Project from the beginning.

The Church has 38 Members – 11 of whom are Free Church members – 2 would call themselves United Reformed Church. Methodist interest is now only through the West Essex United Area.

We have 3 Services a week on Sunday, Tuesday evening, and Thursday morning. Ministry is two thirds Church of England and one third Free Church split equally between the Baptists and United Reformed Church.

It is the unanimous decision of the Elders and Church Meetings that this is now the time for a change of status from being a Mission Project to being a local church within the United Reformed Church. This request is supported by the Anglican Vicar, The Baptist Minister, the West Essex United Area and the Eastern Synod.

Resolution 5: Closure of Local Churches

General Assembly receives notice of the closure of the local churches listed below and gives thanks to God for their worship, witness, and service throughout their history.

1.Claypath Church DURHAM, Northern

The closure of Claypath Church in Durham City is probably unique in that it chose to close with a non-elderly membership of more than twenty, a worshipping congregation – in term-time – often approaching two hundred.

The history of the church goes back to 1662 when dissenting preachers gathered in Durham. The first church, Presbyterian, was established in 1689 and called its first minister, Jonas Blamire, in 1697. Throughout the 18th century, it catered for all Protestant Dissenters (two ancient silver communion cups in Durham Cathedral Treasury are inscribed, ‘…for the Dissenting Meeting’).

In 1783 a Congregational Church was established in Framwellgate Peth and in 1821, the two churches united as the Congregational Church in Claypath. The original church was rebuilt in 1751 and in 1886 (when Dissenters were allowed to build fronting a main road), the present typical Victorian building was erected. In 1958, the gallery was closed off, in 2001 it was re-opened.

With the arrival of the Revd Bob Gordon in 1971, the fellowship began to grow dramatically, particularly to students in the rapidly expanding University. The two following ministers, however, were drawn from outside the United Reformed Church and, over the years, the church was distanced from denominational affairs. The most recent had centred his ministry on the students which had grown but the adult membership gradually dropped off.

Shortly after District’s declaring a vacancy in April 2003, a decision was taken by the congregation to close and most members now worship as an independent fellowship in the city, supported by the Newcastle-based Jesmond Trust.

2. Baker Street, Stockport, North Western

The church was formed in 1893, as a Mission, and has been known as Baker Street Mission up to its closure in 2003. The premises were built by local people, after breaking away from another local Congregational church, to bring the Word of God to the community of Heaton Norris, Stockport.

The premises were extended in the mid-1950s to the current size. The premises were home to many organisations both church-based and secular, serving the local community, the longest of which, the ‘Grannies Club’ lasted over 80 years. With membership falling from its peak of over 200 in the early 1900s to just 14 in 2003, the decision to close was taken. The remaining members have now found a spiritual home in neighbouring churches thankful for the fellowship they shared as a family at Baker Street over many years.

3. Heywood URC, North Western

The church had a 179 year history, formerly a Congregational church on two sites, York Street and a Sunday school on Rochdale Road East. In 1969 York Street closed and the churches joined together at Rochdale Road East.

Heywood URC was involved in several pastorates over the years with Castleton, Bamford, Norden, St Andrew’s and Hallfold United Reformed Churches. These links were much enjoyed and the support appreciated. The congregation was strong until recent years when the numbers declined. The church supported District Council meetings, Synods and their local community. Over 200 people who had been associated with Heywood URC attended the final Service of Thanksgiving led by the Moderator on September 7 2003.

Following the closure members have found new spiritual homes at various churches locally and continue to serve and worship.

4. Lower Chapel Darwen 1687 – 2003, North Western

One of Lancashire’s oldest Congregational/United Reformed churches, Lower Chapel has been standing on the same site since 1719 and has played a great part in the development of Darwen from a group of hamlets to a thriving industrial town in the nineteenth century. With its nearby primary school which opened in the 1850s, Lower Chapel has provided a powerful witness for over 300 years and at its zenith served over 1200 worshippers on a Sunday. In the 1930s it was discovered that the buildings were in desperate need of repairs and extensive renovations were carried out. These included the removal of the gallery, the re-siting of the organ and complete re-roofing. The work was carried out almost entirely by the members of the church.

When the school closed in 1974 the church lost its link with the local children and despite adaptation to a dual purpose building membership declined, the Sunday School closed and in early 2001 the members reluctantly decided that, should things not improve, the building should close in 2003.

The final service was held on the morning of Sunday 27 March 2003 led by Revd Tamas Sugar. The majority of members transferred and were welcomed into to local churches. Thanks be to God for 300 years’ witness and for the thousands of people whose lives have been influenced by the fellowship.

5. The Church on the Hill (Stubbin Chapel / Elsecar URC 1839 to 2004), Yorkshire

The Yorkshire Synod, meeting on 6 March 2004, passed this resolution: “With regret and understanding, Synod endorses the resolution of the South Yorkshire District Council that Elsecar United Reformed Church closes with effect from 29 February 2004. Synod expressed concern for all those people affected and thanked God for the witness of that church.”

Stubbin Chapel was born out of a Mother church in Masbro, Rotherham together with dedicated Christians from the West Melton church. In 1839 Queen Victoria had reigned barely two years. Gladstone and Disraeli were new upon the political scene and social and economic conditions were vastly different from today, but religious fervour and commitment in faith followed on from the early Congregationalists and the church prospered in this small mining community. The building cost £1,700! The first Minister was Revd William Orgar, from Leeds, in 1844.

In 1976 the members were devastated by the appearance of wide cracks in the stone walls of the church caused by mining subsidence. It was closed immediately for safety reasons and the church was demolished. Services were subsequently held over a shop in the village. The members resolved to rebuild on the same site and two years later, at a cost of around £60,000, a new multi-purpose, one-level, church was opened. The generous giving of the members and village friends provided all the internal fittings. Finally, the graveyard at the rear was completely renovated in 2000 because of vandalism and dumping, and it now complements the church.

However, the members had serious concerns over recent years about the diminishing numbers of people attending worship and events. Endeavours have been made to introduce new initiatives without success. Now age and illness have reduced the attendance level to single figures.

The members are grateful to their sister church at Herringthorpe for their prayers and constant support, but they have had to make a realistic decision to close this house of God and to seek other ways of continuing their service to the Lord. This is only a fragment of this story, and they hope to publish a small booklet with more detail of the happenings at “Stubbin” Chapel.

6. St Edith’s United Reformed/Methodist Church, Wilton, Wessex

St Edith’s United Reformed/Methodist Church, Wilton, Wiltshire closed on 4 January 2004 after a number of years of gradual decline.

An active local congregation flourished for many years, and children’s work alongside creative worship was always a top priority. Although the demand for children’s work remained strong, as did the interest in new ways of worshipping, the declining adult congregation could not sustain the work.

It is possible that nonconformist worship began in Wilton in the early 18th century in Crow Lane.  In the mid 1960s the then Congregational Church was joined by the local Methodists.

In 1981 when the church at Crow Lane became unsuitable for worship the joint United Reformed/Methodist Church was invited to join with the local Roman Catholic congregation at St Edith’s, Kingsbury Square.  It was in 1984 that a Shared Church Agreement between the three denominations was signed,  being one of the first of its kind in the country.

It was during the past year that the United Reformed/Methodist congregation at St Edith’s discerned that God was calling them to do something different and that they were to close their doors to enable them to work more ecumenically within their local community.

7. Cockfosters United Reformed Church, Thames North

Cockfosters United Reformed Church was established as a Congregational Church and held their first service on 10th September 1939. The membership consisted of the Minister and a substantial number of the congregation from the former Finsbury Park Congregational Church that had held their final service a week earlier. As with many other churches, it was most popular during and immediately after the war years 1939-1945. In fact, evening services were particularly well attended during that time as it was the one church in the area that could effectively be ‘blacked out’.

In later years, from about 1975 onwards, the church became a prominent member of Southgate, Oakwood and Cockfosters Neighbourhood Group of Churches (now Churches Together in Southgate, Oakwood and Cockfosters) with the minister and some elders taking leadership roles in many of their activities.

Because of declining membership, the Church Meeting, last summer, took the decision to close and the final service took place on 21 September 2003 after 64 years of witness. The buildings were sold to what is now called Trinity Welsh Presbyterian Church and therefore Christian worship continues there.

8. Paddington Chapel 1813-2003, Thames North

There was a strong desire to respond to the spiritual needs of this rapidly developing West London area in 1800s. It was Thomas Wilson, one of the “Fathers and Founders” of the London Missionary Society among his many achievements who was to spearhead the building of a chapel in Old Marylebone Road. The first attempt to secure a site was frustrated because the freeholders would not lease the land for a nonconformist place of worship. However a more favourable site became available and then secured on a seventy-year lease. Work commenced in March 1813 and was completed in August. The first service was held on 10 September 1813. Following the setting up of Sunday School, the work of the church developed into Lisson Grove area which subsequently led to the development of the Earl Street Mission. Along with Old Marylebone Road site, the Paddington Chapel members ran all manner of groups and workshops for men, women and children on these sites. Other priorities over the years included substantial commitment and support for lay and ordained members working in Christian mission overseas. Unfortunately the work in Lisson Grove ceased shortly after the Second World War and mission centred once again in Old Marylebone Road. This site was sold approximately thirty years ago and Paddington Chapel continued worship in St Marks Church, Old Marylebone Road following the close relationship, which developed with St Mary’s Church Bryston Square. Paddington Chapel Ministry during the last few years focused on providing a regular act of nonconformist worship particularly for the many visitors to London. In 2003 the church members of Paddington Chapel agreed that they could no longer sustain a regular service and on 21 September 2003 the final act of worship was held when members of the United Reformed Church and friends of Paddington Chapel celebrated the work of Paddington Chapel and gave thanks for its past one hundred and ninety years of Christian service and ministry.

9. Wingrave United Reformed Church, Thames North

There have been Nonconformists in Wingrave since the mid 17th century, but the history of the present building, where the United Reformed Church members have worshipped, began with the bequest of a carpenter’s workshop in 1813. The workshop was demolished and a new building erected when it formally became an Independent Church in 1817. This appears to have been a union of Baptists, Quakers and Congregationalists. Ten years later the graveyard was added, and the present Georgian Church was built onto the original building in 1832. Two classrooms were added in 1904 to complete the premises.

In a village with a population of about 2000, it is hardly surprising that, with the passage of time, it would no longer be possible to sustain three places of worship. The Methodist Church dates from the mid 1800s, whilst the Parish Church is about 800 years old.

For much of its life, Wingrave United Reformed Church has been linked, at various times, with other similar churches in Tring, in Aylesbury, in Winslow and in Wing. Sometimes these links meant giving support to other congregations, and sometimes it was the Wingrave people who received help. Like most churches it has had times when things have been going well, and times when there has been less success. There are many in the village who still recall the times when the church was full, but now, with an ageing and less mobile membership of less than ten; and buildings that need a considerable amount of upgrading and refurbishment, the time has reluctantly come to end the United Reformed Church presence in Wingrave.

The days of rivalry between the various congregations in Wingrave are now long past, and we have worked closely together for the last fifteen or twenty years. The United Reformed Church may itself no longer be present – but there are still active witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ here. The members are grateful for the pastoral care they have received and will continue receiving from the local Anglican vicar, the Revd Bob Willmott.