Two parishes in Newcastle-under-Lyme have been celebrating this autumn as they complete two very different projects that both aim to strengthen faith and engage with and support their communities (read here or watch video below).
St Andrew's in the Westlands has officially opened its new church hall, constructed on the footprint of the original church built for the estate in 1938. That orighial building became the church hall when replaced by the more substantial current church in the 1960s as the population grew. With its timber structure deteriorating, the PCC began raising funds and making plan a dozen years ago: the project was then prolonged by cost increases post-covid forcing a back-to-square-one review and significant change of plan which has now come to fruit.
St James the Great, Clayton was also built in the 1960s with striking architecture and a sanctuary dominated by a huge sculpture of the risen Jesus. In anticipation of their 60th anniversary next year and with the support of the Saltley Trust, they commissioned a local artist, Ian Mood, to work with many groups* in the church and from the local communitiy. The result was a series of nineteen 'Stations of the Resurrection' which take verses and ideas from the gospels and particularly the Easter Day narrative and encapsulate them together with the reflections of various church and community groups, in images painted by Ian.
Both projects, in their different ways, present opportunities to share the gospel and give support to their neighbours - something noticed by Archdeacon Megan:
"Some churches faithfully see the importance of connection with the community and are determined that somehow they can do it, in whatever way is appropriate to them. Particularly I think both of these two are realising the issues around mental health and how important they are in society at the moment and finding their own ways and engaging with them."
Both these parishes of contrasting Anglican traditions began with the Church of England building new churches alongside the explosion of housing estates in the middle of the last century; and both congregations of today, in perhaps harder times, want to continue to encourage thinking about faith and nurturing neighbours, providing both physical and spiritual means to support that.
"There are plenty of new housing estates going up in this part of the world. Hundreds of houses are being built. They're much needed. And they also need to hear about Jesus." said Bishop Matthew after dedicating the Stations at a special service which included music sung by the Keele Bach Choir.
"I think that [building new churches] was one of the ways in which, in the past, we've attempted to make sure that people were reached with the gospel and that there was a church to go to. I think we might still contemplate from time to time the possibility of building new churches. But we're also looking at alternative ways in which God's people can meet in a particular place. It could be a community centre, it could be a school, of course. Or it could be a church we share with other Christian denominations."
St Andrew's cChurch hall project has taken around twelve years to come to fruitiion: A bequest gave the PCC an opportunity to consider investing for the long term, and while other grants have been crucial to completing the project, over 60% of the cost has been borne by the congregation. Covid interuptted progress and the resulting increase in building costs forced the PCC to re-evaluate the plans and take a different course.
In the end, construction was undertaken by Fords of Blythe Bridge who specialise in similar timber-framed, energy-efficient buildings more often for schools to a design from Stafford-based Croft Architecture. With a skeleton of pre-fabricated panels, construction on site was significantly quicker than traditional methods.
"We're delighted with the building, both in terms of an external appearance and it's a lovely space inside as well that works both when it's fairly full, but it also works quite well for medium sized groups as well. It's just it's a really pleasant environment to be in." said vicar of St Andrews, Revd Andrew Dawswell.
*Groups involved in the creation of the Stations of the Resurrection included:
- Clayton Hall Academy (adjacent high school)
- Harplands Hospital - the main provider of mental health services for north Staffordshire at at which the vicar, Revd Dr Julia Babb is also chaplain
- Keele Bach Choir
- Newcastle Food Bank
- Whispers of Hope (refugee/asylum seeker charity)
- Place of Welcome
- Jimmy's Ark
- St James Singers
- various groups within the congregation