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Christ Church with St Philip
Worcester Park
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Our History |
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The Story of Christ Church Methodist,
Worcester Park
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The community, which was eventually to become the congregation of Christ
Church Methodist Worcester Park, first formed in February 1872. At that time
Worcester Park was a hamlet of about 200 people separated from London by green
fields and shady lanes. The houses of Worcester Park were for the most part
grouped around what is now the lower part of Central Road.
In this rural community, one of the best known figures was James Amos, the
village constable. It was in his parlour that a group of like minded individuals
met and agreed to take rooms in Longfellow Road to use as a meeting place
for prayer and praise to God and for use as a Sunday School on Sunday afternoons.
At first the meetings were not distinctively Methodist. However, in August
1872 the Superintendent of the Kingston Primitive Methodist Mission came to
Worcester Park and invited the Group to link up with the Mission, which they
agreed to do.
Following this, attendance grew and it was felt that the time was right
to build a Church. Feeling greatly daring, the leaders acquired a site in
Longfellow Road and a little Church was built to seat about 100 people. The
foundation stone was laid on 25 May 1874 and the Church was opened on 16
August of the same year. The cost of the Church was £425 – a large
amount in those days. When the Church was opened £300 of this had been
raised and the rest remained a debt on the small community.
The Church continued to grow and in time it became necessary to arrive early
for Sunday evening service in order to be sure of a seat. In 1893, with the
debt still hanging over them, the congregation agreed to make a concerted
effort to clear it and, after much fund raising activity, on 6 January 1896
a special service was held to mark the extinction of the debt.
This period of success, which culminated in the extinction of the debt,
was followed by a time of disappointment and depression. Many of the early
pioneers of the Church had died, the Sunday School closed and there were
moments when there was talk of closing the Church.
In 1903, however, the tide turned. The village of Worcester Park was beginning
to grow and new people came to the Church who had the enthusiasm to turn it
round. Various mission initiatives were held and by the time of the 40th anniversary
in 1912, the total membership was 40; a good number considering the size
of the village.
In the summer of 1916 a fresh link was established. A small Wesleyan community,
which had been meeting on the corner of Lindsay Road, had to close down because
of the war and a number of members transferred to the Church in Longfellow
Road.
In the 1920s the growth of Worcester Park began in earnest and speculative
builders bought up most of the available land. It became clear to the congregation
in Longfellow Road that if a prominent position was to be secured for a new
Church it was “now or never”. An unsuccessful attempt was made to purchase
a site on the corner of Windsor Road but attention was then drawn to a piece
of land in Cheam Common Road near Ruskin Drive. This site was offered for
£1000 but when the owner heard that the land was to be acquired for
a Methodist Church he reduced the price to £800.
With the aid of a loan from Barclays Bank, the land was secured. The next
few years were spent in fundraising activities to pay off the loan and to
build a Lecture Hall at the back of the site. This was opened for public worship
on 8 September 1928 and the congregation left the small chapel in Longfellow
Road for good.
Until this time the Church had been run and services led by lay people but
in November 1928 the Church appointed its first ordained Minister – Rev’d
William Pickering.
Following the building of the Lecture Hall the congregation feared that
it would be many years before there would be sufficient funds to build a
Church. However, in 1930, an anonymous gift of £1000 was made to the
Building Fund. The effect of this was that work on the Church building could
start immediately and the Foundation stone was laid on 13 September 1930.
The opening day of the new Church was 16 May 1931.
As a result of Methodist Union in 1933, the Church at Worcester Park was transferred
from Kingston Mission to the Tooting Circuit in September 1934.
The Foundation Stone of the new Wesley Hall (which owed its name to the
fact that it was built in the year of the bi-centenary of John Wesley’s conversion)
was laid on 28 May 1938 and the Lecture Hall was incorporated into these new
premises. The opening day was on 15 October 1938 when the membership of the
Church was recorded as 256.
The Church survived the war years with some difficulties, including the
Church roof having to be reconstructed after being damaged by a bomb blast.
In 1947 the membership of the Church had reached 335 and it was stated that
at least 600 families came within its direct influence. The Sunday School
had grown so that by that time there were 405 children and a staff of 50 teachers.
Work among young people was particularly strong during the ministry of Rev’d
Reg Brighton from 1947 to 1955.
During the latter part of the 1950s the Church’s Minster was Rev’d A Harrison
Clulow and it was during this period that the Church’s membership reached
its peak.
In 1964 the Church was able to take the opportunity to buy the two houses
on Cheam Common Road that it still owns today, so that the whole corner site
was in the possession of the Church for its immediate and future work and
witness in the neighbourhood.
In 1972 the Church celebrated its centenary and it was not long after this
that the St Philip’s congregation began sharing the Methodist premises – leading
eventually to the Local Ecumenical Partnership that we have today.
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Christ Church with St. Philip
Revised: 28-Sep-2007 |
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