Feature: Leamington church celebrates the 150th anniversary of its opening

A Leamington church is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its opening this month.

Members of the congregation at St Paul’s in Leicester Street have produced a booklet to mark the occasion, which includes some of their personal accounts and details of the history of the church.

It also includes a message from The Reverend Jonathan Jee, who has been the vicar of the church since 2000.

He said: “It is a huge privilege to be the vicar of St Paul’s at this time.

“We thank God for those who started the church 150 years ago, and for the way God has brought new life since 1963 when the church nearly closed.

“Today, we have a church family of around 750 people of all ages and many nationalities.

“God has made us to know him and our church is full of people whose lives have been changed as a result.

“We have put together a booklet with lots of people’s stories about the difference Jesus has made in their lives, and anybody is welcome to pop into church and pick one up.

“Anyone interested in exploring the Christian faith is welcome at our services and events.”

The church was the vision of The Reverend Thomas Bromley, Vicar of St Mary’s Leamington.

As the town grew rapidly in the Victorian era, he saw the need for a new parish for the people who lived in the new housing in that part of town.

He called the first meeting about this on July 13th 1872 and, although only seven people initially turned up, this set in motion the building and commissioning of St Paul’s.

The foundation stone was laid on Ascension Day 1873 and "by God’s grace and many minor miracles, the church building was completed with no debt on the fabric and a balance of two pounds, 16 shillings and 11 pence in the bank”.The first service held in the new building just one year later – on Ascension Day 1874.

The hall and tower were added a few years later.

Across the various stages of the building process, generous donations were made to the project including one from an anonymous lady from St Mary’s church, who donated a massive £600 - the equivalent to £86,000 today.

It was the people of the parish who paid for the majority of the costs.

A plaque, which pays tribute to Thomas Bromley who died in 1886, remains in the church to this day.

The church originally had 1,150 seats, more than half of which were rented to help pay the Vicar’s stipend.

The first minister in charge of the church was the curate from St Mary’s, The Reverend JH Rogers.St Paul’s became a separate, independent, parish in 1877 – under The Reverend James Bradley.

The early work of St Paul’s reflects the issues of the times - poverty, alcoholism and violence were rife in Leamington, and the clothing clubs, temperance societies, Mothers' Union and Scouts groups at the church all provided support to the local community.

At a church meeting in May 1916, during the First World War, the then Vicar of St Paul’s made a moving reference to the men at the Front, adding that “although 600 joined the colours from their church and parish the greater part were still safe, which he attributed to the intensity in the power of prayer”.

The church has said: “Much of the ministry and testimony of the church before the 1960s is now lost to time and memory, but we would like to honour those who led St Paul’s through these decades.The church had its ups and downs over the years, and was nearly closed in 1963.

The congregation had dwindled to just a few people, the building was dark and cold and the roof leaked.Ten Vicars turned it down.

But under the leadership of Norman Warren as Vicar, the church started to grow again.

Norman was an evangelist and many came to a living faith in Jesus through him.

His booklet, Journey into Life, was used to bring many thousands to faith all around the world.

By the time he left in 1977, the church was thriving again.

He was followed by Andrew Dow in 1978, whose teaching gift helped to mature and grow the church further, and in his day there was a major redevelopment and the balcony was added, making space for the lounge.

Bill Merrington came as Vicar in 1989, with strong pastoral gifts.

At that time, many churches were splitting over charismatic ministry issues, “but Bill held St Paul’s together and handed over a church where the ministry of word and spirit can flourish together”.

The Rev Jee said: “We now have a new vision, as a Mission Hub for Coventry Diocese, together with others, to give everyone in thearea a meaningful opportunity to respond to the Good News of Jesus, by Easter 2033.

"That will be the 2,000th anniversary of the resurrection by our calendar.

"To that end, we are praying towards establishing New Worshipping Communities, to reach new people in new places in new ways, just aswe were planted 150 years ago.

"And we are looking to help to renew churches that have grown tired or stuck, just as we were renewed from 1963.”

The church is holding several events to celebrate the anniversary including the This is Our Story' Arts Festival from May 9 to 17, and St Paul’s Fest, a summer fair at St Paul’s school on June 8.

https://stpl.org.uk/