HISTORY

1825 - 2010

Our story so far....

The following information was compiled by Mr. Peter Stapleton.  Mr. Stapleton has taken references from an old booklet entitled "The History of Shillington Congregational Church" which was written by Mr. H.W. Cooper, a former pastor of Shillington Congregational Church.  Mr. Stapleton has also called upon elderly members of the church past and present for their assistance, and of course, he has added some of his own memories.

Revised  November, 2010.

Our Non-Conformist roots go back the Queen Street Congregational Church and Tilehouse Baptist Church - our sister churches in Hitchin.  It was recorded in an early church book of Back Street Meeting House, Hitchin that several ineffectual efforts to introduce the gospel to Shillington were made, and I quote, "A Place Notorious for the Wickedness of its Inhabitants".

It was in 1825 that Rev. C. Stoper made an effort to evangelise the village.  He hired a large room and preached once a fortnight on Sunday evenings, and on occasions during the week.  The whereabouts of this hired room is not known for certain, but there is proof that an old barn in the grounds of the original Shillington Post Office opposite the Anglican Church was used for worship.  The Rev. Stoper died shortly after staring this work, and was succeeded by the Rev John Wayne, who, it is recorder, found a large and attentive congregation at Shillington.

It was in 1837 that the first seeds to build this chapel were sown.  A wealthy friend of then minister, the Rev John Wayne, had a friend named James Daniel Morrel, who said he had a strong desire to reside in Shillington and build a chapel in which, I quote, "to labour for the good of souls".  Unfortunately , James died at the age of 23, just after completing his academic course.  After his death, two of his relatives, a Charles James Metcalf and his son, took an active interest in Shillington.

This support continued until 1839, when a committee of both the Beds. and Herts. Union of Churches was formed with the purpose of raising funds to build a chapel.  A total of £520 was required to purchase the land and erect the building.  The original building consisted of just the body of the church - no balcony, no porch, and no Sunday School room.  These all came alter.

The first foundation stone was laid by Charles James Metcalf on 23rd August 1840, and the building was opened on 25th November the same year.  And so began the Union Chapel in Church Street in the year 1840.

The church prospered.  In 1894, a plot of land was purchased on which to build a Sunday School.  One year later the foundation stone was laid, and the building was completed later the same year.  The total cost was £225-7-6d.  Many volunteers helped with the work, carrying bricks, timber and slates to help reduce the costs.  It was some time later that the two connecting doors were added.
Another notable event at this time was the need to purchase a house in Church Street to provide a manse for the minister.  So in 1897, funds were raised to purchase Number 13 Church Street - a house we still own today.  It is not recorded how much it cost - but members raised money through sales of work, and the deacons of the day subscribed £21-12-0d.  This must have been a tremendous amount of money for the poorly paid men to raise.  And finally the Bedfordshire Union of Churches gave a grant of £30.  We could assume our manse cost less than £100.

The church continued to grow through the early years until 1935, when it was at a particularly low ebb both spiritually and financially, but by no means dead.  It was at this time that Edgar Rand became lay pastor whilst continuing with his job as a dental technician in Luton.  Through this guidance the church was once again built up.  During this period, in 1939, radiator heating was installed.  It is very much the same gravity feed system that we have today, except that we now have an oil fired boiler.  The system still operates without the use of a circulation pump.  Originally the building was heated by a boiler in the centre of the church.  You can just see where the chimney went through the ceiling.

We now move to 1947, when the chapel was re-certified and registered as the Congregational Church, Shillington.  The witness continued but numbers have gradually decreased since the early days.

Another important change in the life of the church was the decision, in 1971, not to join the newly formed United Reformed Church.  The Church Meeting felt it could not join the URC because it did not recognise lay pastors in the form accepted by our church.  We were fortunate at that time to have the strong leadership of Brian Newson, and so application was made to join the Congregational Federation.  Over recent years we have benefited, or may I suggest, survived, with the legal and spiritual support of our Federation., who are now Trustees of both our church and the manse.  I would now like to mention a few notable contributions made by both past and more recent pastors and ministers.

• Firstly, Humphrey Williams, a plasterer by trade.  It was he who added the plaster arches and scripture texts we still have at the back of the pulpit, giving our church this special feature.

• Secondly, Herbert W. Cooper.  Mr. Cooper was a great organiser.  The Sunday School Easter Monday concerts were a result of his organising talent.  We would turn the church into a theatre with stage and curtains to provide an annual village concert.  Villagers would queue early to get in, and the side aisles would fill with chairs.  The programme consisted of flag drills, songs, drama and dance.  Believe it or not, it was quite a success when I danced the Sailor's Hornpipe!

• Thirdly, I would like to mention Brian Newson.  I was privileged to be Church Secretary during his ministry.  Somehow Mr. Newson managed to perform a full time job in Dunstable together with full time responsibility of our church.  It was during this time that the early seeds of Church Unity in Shillington were sown.  This was to continue under the guidance of the Rev David Vinton.

Now as you can see for yourselves, the church is a very basic building.  There is no damp course - bricks are laid direct on the earth.  Cavity walls were, of course, unheard of in those days and therefore we have single brick walls tied together with metal ties.  Now we believe a water course runs directly under the church.  We know for a fact that on both sides of the church there were wells serving the cottages, these wells were in direct line with the other wells further down Church Street.  This gives us a severe damp problems - so much so that we only lay the carpets for the duration of the church service.

From the opening day, the church started to prosper, and it soon became apparent that more space was required.  More than 200 people would attend a Sunday morning "Prayer Meeting", with more later at the morning public worship.  In 1852 the side seats were installed.  This was followed in 1854 by the building of the two side galleries at the cost of £67 and then by the need to install additional pews in the main body of the church.  Doors were added to the pews at this time as a protection against draughts.  We believe the costs were for material only and that the church members provided the labour.

Later, in 1875, the front porch was added.  It was also at this time that oil lamps were purchased to replace the candles which were previously the only means of lighting.  It is recorded that "the candles gave a very dingy light and caused much annoyance in snuffing".  Just to add a personal note, my grandmother, Mary Ann Twydell, was responsible for many years for the cleaning and lighting of the oil lamps.

Our church also provided the first street lighting in the village.  Local villagers paid for the oil to keep an outside lamp burning and also so light the corner of Church Street.  Electricity was installed in 1934, and although people were extremely poor during this period, members and friends paid 1/- for the privilege of switching on a light for the first time.  Their love and commitment to the church was immense.  In order to pay off these early building debts, tea meetings were arranged.  The charge was 8d for men and 6d for women.  Because of their efforts, the debt was soon totally cleared and members were actually asked to "stay their giving as the debt had been cleared".  These members were obviously stalwarts of the church who found joy in maintaining the place they loved from their very small earnings.  Another stepping stone during this period was the registering of the chapel for the performing of marriages.  For the first time members were able to marry here.

The first harmonium was purchased in 1868, to be replaced five years later by the first organ, which was purchased from mr. Halsey of Hitchin.  Nearly twenty years later this organ was deemed beyond repair and the current organ was installed on 16th December, 1886 at a total cost of £50.  As there was £1 left from the fund raising, it was decided to purchase an organ stool at a cost of 6/-.  In the early days, the organ was operated by a hand pump which was not replaced by an electric bellow until 1949.  I well remember with envy the organ blower's job.  At one time it was recorded that he was paid 10/- a year to pump the organ.

During the early years, extremely high moral standards were required of church members.  Failure to meet the requirements set by the Church Meeting meant excommunication.  One set rule of the church was "that any member, male or female, forming a connection with an 'Ungodly Person' and persisting therein shall be suspended for a time and if they continued with the association, finally they shall be excluded from the fellowship of the church".  Any member of the church found drinking in a public house would be expelled at once.

In 2000 the church once again faced some difficult and what we believed at the time some unsolvable problems.  The major problem being that the church roof was unsafe and total replacement was the only option.  Prayerful consideration at a number of church meetings led to a change in policy in that if we were able to obtain grants for the work we would make our building and facilities available to other suitable village organisations.  We were successful in obtaining two grants and together with our own funds were able to refurbish our building to th high standards we have today.

An example of the additional use of the facilities is that the Women's Institute now meet in the schoolroom for their monthly meetings.  The addition of a stair lift for the disabled has helped to make the large upstairs schoolroom available for all.

Just a word about the way of life for those early church members.  As I said earlier, they were very poor people, the men working on the land and the women making lace.  The Non-Conformist believers were also very prudent with their money.  They didn't drink or waste what they earned.

Some became small shopkeepers and businessmen, and through hard work and prudence became quite wealthy.

In the Congregational Federation we have a history of a great many self-made wealthy people who used their wealth for the promotion of the Non-Conformist belief.

Church Street in the early days was self-sufficient in meeting the needs of the inhabitants.  There were three public houses in Church Street, two bake houses and a shop.  Water was mainly from wells, and electricity was not available until the late 1930's - so oil lamps and candles were the only forms of lighting.  And of course, main drainage did not come into the village until the 1960's.

We in this church owe a great debt to our ancestors, whose great sacrifices for the church started and maintained the Non-Conformist faith in Shillington.

There have been turbulent times over the past years - but still the church survived.  Numbers have now started to grow again, although we know not what the future holds.  We do believe that "where God guides He provides".

In more recent years the Church adopted a policy to make the Church buildings more available to other village and local organisations and encourage better use of the excellent facilities, which have recently been provided.

A new kitchen and disabled toilet, have been installed together with an outside ramp. This has made the building more accessible to both disabled and elderly people and enabled us to provide additional services to the village. Also a new sound system, with a deaf aid loop, has been installed to assist the hard of hearing. A monthly Lunch Club is now providing a three course lunch for more than 30 regulars. No charge is made, so that no one is excluded, due to cost. The lunches are funded purely on free donations, as and what can be afforded by diners.

The monthly evening social is now renowned for a great time by many villagers, who don't come to church, but enjoy our social fellowship.

Most recently, has seen the refurbishment of the top meeting room, this room has been equipped with table tennis, darts, mat bowls and card games, providing a wonderful games room for adults and accompanied children.

It is hoped by opening up the Church in this way and showing love and friendship to all, more will wish to experience Sunday fellowship with us.

The Revd. Angus McCormick started his ministry in October 2002.  Services are held each Sunday morning at 10:30 and are preceded by Sunday school.

In the Congregational Federation the service of Holy Communion is open to all and is held at the end of morning worship the first Sunday of each month.

We pride ourselves in the warmth of welcome to all who wish to join us

Peter Stapleton - November, 2010.