IN THE MIDST OF A BUSY CITY WE FIND
A PLACE OF QUIET
A PLACE OF REFLECTION
INTO THE STILLNESS AND THE QUIETNESS OF THIS PLACE COME THE
NOISES OF
THE CITY AND WE ARE THANKFUL FOR THIS PLACE OF SANCTUARY.
LET US SAY A PRAYER OF THANKFULNESS FOR IT
JOIN WITH US
**********************************
THE CHURCH IS ON THE HIGH STREET IN SHREWSBURY, NEXT DOOR TO
RACKHAMS, AND IS OF EASY ACCESS, ON SUNDAYS IT IS POSSIBLE TO
PARK IN THE LOADING BAYS, ABOUT 6 SLOTS NEAR THE CHURCH, WITH 3
AVAILABLE FOR DISABLED PARKING FURTHER DOWN THE HIGHT STREET.
FOR THOSE WITH SAT NAV THE POST CODE IS
SY1 1LR. THERE ARE ALSO LOADING BAYS ROUND THE CORNER IN
SHOPLATCH AND 3 CARPARKS IN BARKER STREET NEAR ROWLEYS HOUSE,
THE CHARGE IS £2 PER DAY ON SUNDAYS.
THERE IS ALSO NOW A BUS SERVICE AVAILABLE.
**********************************
Services
Each Sunday at 10.30 am.
Services for September 2010
Work on the building is continuing, and we are making
progress, thankfully, we now have an operational kitchen
downstairs and a loo, However it has been discovered that the
sandstone facade is in an extremely fragile condition and the
inner wall is problematic too, we now have a barricade round
the base of the Church, this is to protect passers by when the
sandblasting, with water, starts, but although we are
experiences difficulties with heating etc, we are continuing
with our usual Services. Unfortunately this also means that
Amnesty International are unable to continue to use the Church
Porch on Saturday mornings, they are hoping to find an
alternative place, and we shall be pleased to see them back
when the work is complete.
As from January this year we have now discovered we have some
dry rot which also needs attention, but as a result of an
interview with Radio Shropshire we have been contacted by the
Historic Churches Society who think they may be able to help
with funding, we also achieved a front page column in the
Shrewsbury Chronicle detailing all the work that is being
undertaken.
Worship at Shrewsbury takes many forms, in the belief that
variety exists at the centre of a rich spiritual life. We
experience prayer, meditation, poetry, discussion, music and
sometimes silence at our meetings. We come together to foster a
greater understanding of ourselves and others and are unified
by the belief that worship is a journey, not a private
process.
We have a monthly Newsletter. If you wish to receive this,
please let me know.
The Church is available for Rites of Passage - please contact
either Mrs Hughes or Mrs Rossell regarding availability and
costs.
Marguerite Rossell, Secretary. 01743 360795
Activities
Eric's funeral is on the 24th August at 2pm at the
Crematorium, and afterwards at the Wildlife Centre in Abbey
Foregate. The Service will be led by Rev Peter Hewis, and the
family have requested no flowers, and no black clothes. There
will be opportunites to donate to both the Hospice and The
Wildlife Trust.
At last several of the pews at the rear of the Church have been
removed leave an agreeable space for us to share coffee and
have our Circle Meetings, still more work to be done, as we
have a shortage of storage space.
Our history
As a result of the Great Ejection of 1662 two of
Shrewsbury's Anglican clergy, Francis Tallents and John Bryan,
came together to found a dissenting church. Because of the
persecution at that time meetings were held in private homes,
until a small building was made available for them in the
garden of a timber merchant's house in the High Street, then
known as Bakers Row. This was later enlarged as the house was
removed, but in 1715 the Jacobite risings were at their height
and the building was razed. Dissenters were not welcomed!
However, the building was speedily replaced, at a cost of
£429.16 and a half pence paid for by the government, and handed
over to the congregation.
It was substantially renovated in 1839/40 and repairs were
again necessary in 1884/5. The old front was considered too
dark and sombre and replaced by "a light and handsome front
entirely built of local stone". The old pews were replaced in
1904 and later the royal charter, painted by Mr Richard
Chandless of Shrewsbury, granted by George I was hung above the
pulpit, and a new organ acquired and re-sited.
In 2002 further repairs were needed, the entire roof was
replaced, windows repaired and the electrical system renewed,
and the whole building redecorated. On completion we held a
celebratory service of thanksgiving and renewal, both for the
church building and our spiritual lives, and we thought that we
had a weatherproof and beautiful church to hand on to future
worshippers. However we later found that the work had not been
completed as efficiently as we were led to believe.
Charles Darwin worshipped at this church with his mother and
sisters, and attended the minister's school until he went on to
Shrewsbury School; and because Dissenters were not given places
at Universities he was baptised at St Chads, and at Shrewsbury
School he attended Services at St Mary's with the rest of the
school. While in Cambridge, and on The Beagle, his religious
leanings slipped away, and although he married Emma Wedgwood,
from a devout Unitarian family, he lost all his belief in a
Deity.
Ministry
We have no minister but are very well served by visiting
ministers and lay leaders, interspersed with regular "Circle
Meetings" where we adopt a theme and celebrate it either with
poetry, readings and music, or use it as a basis for
discussion.
Our February Circle meeting will be attended by Mrs Ann
Bartles-Smith of Amnesty International who will tell us all we
wish to know about the movement, and we hope it won't be too
long before we can welcome them back to our Porch on the High
Street.
Contact us
Church Charity No. 234242
Chairman - Mrs Joan Hughes - telephone 01743 460333
Secretary - Mrs M Rossell - email rmrossell@aol.com
Unitarian Links
WHAT UNITARIANISM IS ALL ABOUT.
TO PROMOTE A FREE AND INQUIRING RELIGION THROUGH THE WORSHIP OF
GOD
AND THE CELEBRATION OF LIFE; FOR THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY
AND
RESPECT FOR ALL CREATION; AND THE UPHOLDING OF THE
LIBERAL CHRISTIAN TRADITION.
We offer gratitude for the blessings of this earth we have been
given
We offer our gratitude for the measure of health we have been
given
We offer our gratitude for the family and friends we have been
given
We offer our gratitude for the teachings and lessons we have
been given
We offer our gratitude for the life we have been given.
|
