Lancaster Methodist Church 

The history of the former Greaves church

An account of the opening of the church

From the LANCASTER GUARDIAN, OCTOBER 16, 1909

WESLEYAN PROGRESS

NEW GREAVES CHURCH OPENED

VISIT OF THE PRESIDENT

    Another stage in the advance of Wesleyan Methodism at Lancaster was reached on Wednesday, when the handsome Gothic Church, which has been erected on the Greaves estate, costing £8,500, was formally opened.  The history of Methodism began in Lancaster in 1777, and 15 years later the Lancaster Circuit received its first minister, the Rev. Wm. Smith.  Commencing in a humble way in an upper room at the corner of Wood-street and Damside-street, the services were held there till 1805, when the first Sulyard-street Chapel was built.  This was the home of the denomination till 1874, when the present edifice, the most commodious of the Free Churches in the district, was opened.  To meet the needs of the dwellers in the suburbs, the Greaves Church has been built, and contemporaneously a Mission Church is being erected at Skerton, the latter being possible through the generosity of Mr. Ald. Helme, M.P., and his brother, who are thus providing a memorial to their father.  A description of the Greaves Church was published in our last issue.

OPENING CEREMONY

   Unfortunately heavy autumnal showers fell just at the time of the opening ceremony by Mrs. Pratt, of the Woodlands, Silverdale.  In consequence she was simply requested by the Rev. W. J. Chant to open the north-east door, and a big crowd followed the principals into the building.  The Rev. W. J. Chant (superintendent minister) presided over a little ceremony, and was supported by Mr. and Mrs. Pratt, the President of the Conference (Rev. W. Perkins), Ald. and Mrs. N. W. Helme,  Rev. E. Bell,  Rev. F. Noble (Carnforth), Rev. T. Little (Morecambe), Messrs. G. Millington and J. Forsyth (Society stewards), Messrs. W. Clough and J. W. Gorrill (chapel stewards), Messrs E. O. Smith and J. L. Kirton (Sunday School superintendents).  Others present included Mrs. and Miss Helme, Mrs. Chant, Councillor and Mrs. E. Cardwell, Mr. R. N. Helme, Mrs. W. C. Helme, Mr. S. Wright (the architect, Morecambe), Coun. and Mrs. J. E. Oglethorpe, Messrs. T. W. Helme, M. Standing (treasurers), Messrs. J. Dugdale and J. Gornall (Circuit stewards), Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Smith, Mrs. Standing, Mrs. Gornall, Miss Milner, Mr. and Mrs. Jas. Watson, Mr. S. B. Harris, Rev. J. M. Watson, Mr. W. Hamer, J.P., Messrs. J. G. E. Clark, T. Skirrow, J. Cliff, J. Duxbury, R. Sanderson (Bentham), C. Armitage, Jno. Watson, G. Treenon, J. D. Bell, T. Till, J. R. Bell, H. Phillipson, J. I. Smith, T. Benson, J. R. Warwick, J. Townley, J. Kuhlne, J. Cockerill, T. Shenton, H. Wright, &c.  After singing the hymn “Jesus shall reign,”

   The Rev. W. J. CHANT announced that the Church had been duly registered as a place of worship by the Registrar-General.  They were glad to have the President of the Conference there.  At the Methodist assembly last week he suggested that although they could not hope for Methodist union they were still members of the one great Methodist Church. While there would be sections such as the Wesleyan Methodist, Primitive Methodist, and United Methodist, they belonged to the Methodist family.  They were very glad to welcome that day Mrs. Pratt of Silverdale, who, though a member of another Methodist church while living at Silverdale, during the last four years had taken a great deal of interest in the work in that village, and had from time to time rendered generous help.  It was very kind of Mrs. Pratt to accept the invitation to come and unlock the door of that sanctuary.  He asked her to say what she was prevented from saying on the threshold by the weather.  (Applause.)

   Mrs. PRATT said it gave her the greatest pleasure to come there that day, and she felt it a great honour to be invited to open their magnificent church.  She prayed that God would prosper it, and she sincerely hoped that the people would appreciate it and use it for the honour and glory of God.  Perhaps some them might know she was brought up in a Wesleyan Church Sunday school. She could freely say that she always honoured the Wesleyan church, her first love.  (Applause.)

   The PRESIDENT expressed his pleasure in being associated with Mrs. Pratt in the opening of that beautiful sanctuary which had been dedicated to the worship of Almighty God.  He believed he spoke not only for that church but the whole Methodist Church when he expressed thanks to Mrs. Pratt for her visit and for the deep practical sympathy she had shown to those who had laboured to bring about that result.  He prayed also that the future history of that church might be glorious, and that it might become a power in the neighbourhood.  In proposing a vote of thanks to Mrs. Pratt he hoped she would long have a happy memory of that day, because of the knowledge that God’s work was being successfully carried on there.  They thanked her for the very graceful and cheerful services she had rendered their Church (Applause.) - The Rev. E. BELL seconded the motion, which was supported by

   The Rev. W. J. CHANT.  In the name of the Church he asked Mrs. Pratt to accept a gold brooch in the form of a key as a memento of that little ceremony.  (Applause.)

   Mrs. PRATT, in accepting the gift said she once had the honour of making such a presentation in a Sunday school, and now had the delight of receiving a key.  (Applause.)

   Mr. PRATT, answering a call, congratulated the Lancaster Wesleyans on having erected such a glorious temple to the glory of God.  He hoped the future generations of Methodists would cherish the noble inheritance they had received from their forefathers when they saw these noble buildings erected and dedicated to Christ’s service.  A church fitted every phase of life, childhood, manhood and womanhood and was a doxology for old age.  (Applause.)

   The Doxology concluded this portion of the ceremonial, and a service was subsequently conducted in the presence of a crowded congregation by the President of the Conference.  The Sulyard-street Choir led the singing of appropriate hymns, under the leadership of Mr. A. Douthwaite, Miss E. O. Brash presiding at the organ.

 THE SERMON

    The PRESIDENT preached an eloquent sermon from the text, St John’s Gospel, vi, 21st verse - “They were willing therefore to receive Him into the boat and straightway the boat was at the land whither they were going.”  A word picture of “Stilling the Tempest” was followed by the expression of a desire to catch the meaning of a message.  Christ was the goal of their being. Their destiny was secure at His side, and in His service.  In Christ they were brought into harmony with God’s great purpose respecting man.  Humanity found its true meaning in the man Christ Jesus.  God’s purpose in man was realised and fulfilled in Him.  Though sin dethroned and degraded man, through Christ man could regain his lost position.  The times might be troublesome and it might be dark, the storm might be high but it was well with them if Christ was there.  In Christ as they believed in Him the eternal world and the great future country they dreamt of, that was out of sight, became to them the greatest of certainties and realities.  They were living in a time when public men were saying the paradise of the future must be postponed till the garden city was set on earth.  It was difficult in such an atmosphere to realise the certainty of the eternal.  Their language was too earthly and material ;  their words were not great enough to convey the exact ideas of their mind.  A question had been raised as to Tennyson’s faith, but he thought the critics were unjust in view of his beautiful lines in the hymns “Strong Son of God” and “Crossing the Bar”.  A man could not write such lines who was not a Christian.  The preacher dwelt on realms of human experience, particularly sin, and while urging the living presence of Christ said that if He was to enter some people’s house they would make for the door because His presence would be inconvenient.  They had reached a goal in their lives by the opening of that sanctuary, the goal of much sacrifice and earnest toil, and their work would  be blessed in so far as they received Christ and witnessed for Him.

 THE PUBLIC MEETING

    Subsequently tea was provided in the School-room, about 500 attending, and in the evening a meeting was held in the church, which was crowded.  Mr. Middlebrook, M.P., for Leeds, who had been announced to preside was unable to attend owing to ill-health, and in his absence the Mayor (Coun. R. Wilson) presided, supported by Mr. Helme, M.P., the President of the Conference (Rev. W. Perkins), Councillors E. Cardwell, J. E. Oglethorpe, Revs. W. J. Chant, F. Noble (Carnforth), E. Bell, Thos. Little (Morecambe), etc.  After devotionals led by the Rev. T. Little,

   Mr HELME, M.P., explained the absence of Mr. Middlebrook, who was ill in bed, but who had expressed his sympathy with the movement and promised a contribution of £10.  Mr. Pratt, of Silverdale, had also handed him a cheque for £25, so that they had friends who were helping them to the best of their ability.  (Applause.)   He approached that meeting in a spirit of gladness, and felt distinctly thankful for where they were and the situation in which they were placed.  They had a beautiful structure, exquisitely planned, fully equipped for the work of the Church, and with an additional minister, Mr. Bell, they faced the future with determination and hope and devout thankfulness.  Those who had to deal with the finances of the Church had one duty, and it was to try and get out of debt.  They were not out of the wood, and they ought to try and secure that every penny of the debt should be paid as soon as possible.  They were appealing to a new constituency.  There were those present who had done what they could, and now they were asking for the generous help of those who were not attached to any place of worship. Their first object was to be of service to those outside the Churches, and he asked them to consider the relationship of the Church to the individual and to the community.  Society was made up of individuals, and it mattered not what might be the condition of others if the individual was not right.  Religion appealed to the individual, and they desired to urge its claims to the fullest extent.  They would endeavour to influence the young in the Sunday school, and the older people in the Church.  In the neighbourhood, there would be appeals, made from time to time, but there was a wider influence in respect to the community.  A well-organised family centred at home, and they as a people would have their centre in the Church, but their duty was not confined to the home circle, and if they were to be faithful to duty they must recognise the claims outside that could not well be ignored.  They must try to touch the hearts of the people, and to endeavour to bring up men and women, whose lives would be of the highest service to the town and an advantage to the State.  Many of them had occupied official positions in the grand old mother Church at Sulyard-street, of which they were so proud ;  and that new church provided an opportunity for the younger men.  They asked them to enter into that work with the feeling of responsibility and privilege, so that their highest hopes might be fulfilled.  (Applause.)

   The MAYOR congratulated the Wesleyans of Lancaster upon the completion of that beautiful Church.  It was admirably planned, and he hoped it would soon be filled with regular worshippers.  That was a new district, and he had no doubt that there, as in every other district in the town, there were a great many people who never went to a place of worship.  He hoped they would get hold of many of these people, who were indifferent to the claims of religion and wanted stirring up a little.  He believed the new Church would be a centre of blessing to that particular neighbourhood, and that was why he had attended in his capacity of Mayor.  He had no doubt many homes would be brightened as the result of the formation of that Church ; and that was one of the things in which as a municipal administrator, he was deeply interested.  All men who understood and appreciated the duties of municipal administrators must have a great regard for the well-being of the people in the community to which they belonged, and the churches wielded a great influence in the making of useful and noble lives.  There was no other means  that he knew of so potent as religion by which men and women could be made good and enabled to become useful citizens.  That Church was not only beautiful, but seemed admirably adapted to the work it had to do.  A great many people had come to live in the neighbourhood, and he hoped they would succeed in attracting many of them to the Church and schools, and that they would be increasingly useful.  At Sulyard-street, he knew they had a splendid organisation for the training of young people.  He had no doubt what they had done in Sulyard-street would be copied on the Greaves, and that the whole town would benefit.  (Applause.)

   Rev. W. J. CHANT thanked the Mayor for undertaking at the last moment to preside, and so helping them in an emergency, and said that during the two years hey had received from the Mayor many expressions of his sympathy in their work and were glad of the opportunity to acknowledge it.  He commented upon the representative character of the meeting, which included a large contingent of Wesleyans from Morecambe, and said messages of apology for absence had been received from the Revs. B. Fell, F. W. Bryan, H. Gamble, and E. W. Hopkins, and also from the Rev. J. C. Harrison.  (Applause.)  In a brief financial statement, Mr. chant said the site cost in round figures, £1,000, the tenders and extras amounted to  £6,700, architect and clerk of works £430, furnishing £150, and estimated interest £150, making a total of £8,430.  Towards that they had received £1,000 cost of site, subscriptions £3,320, promises £760, and connexional fund £750, a total of £5,830, which left £2,600 still to be raised.  There would be some further connexional help towards that, but the more they could raise now the better.  They had received several gifts, and in the name of the trustees he desired to thank the donors.  Mrs. Siddle and Mrs. Clough, in the memory of the late Mr. Siddle - a devoted Methodist - had given the Bible and hymn-book for the pulpit ;  Mrs. S.  Wright, of Morecambe, the font ;  Mr. H Phillipson, the pulpit clock ;  Mr. J. E. Douthwaite, collection boxes ;  a lady had worked the pulpit cloth ;  one of the trustees had given various articles for the minister’s vestry ;  Mr. Jos. Gorrill’s class, assisted by some ladies in the neighbourhood, had given 150 cups and saucers and spoons, and Mr. Sutton had give a number of teapots.  (Applause.)  They had put up that church in no hostility to any other churches.  Why should they ?  Wesleyan Methodism occupied a peculiar position.  If they traced its history they would go back to the Church of England on the one hand and to Dissenting Churches on the other.  They were the friends of all, the enemies of none, and they desired to be on good terms with everybody.  He was thankful for the unity existing between the free Churches of the town, and especially thankful for the brotherly spirit which the new Vicar of Lancaster had shown.  (Applause.)  it was worthy of all praise, and he would like to say in the name of the Methodists how gladly they responded to his overtures and would work with him to the best of their ability for the extension of Christ’s kingdom in the town.  They were not asking members of other churches to join them.  If there was any class of men he disliked it was “sheep-stealers” - men who endeavoured to take men away from other churches to their own.  (Hear, hear.)  They did ask people who were not identified with other religious organisations to join them, but members of other churches they did not want.  That was a growing suburb in which there were a large number of Wesleyan Methodist whom they did not want to become “oncers” owing to the distance from church ; and there were also people who had drifted away from Methodism and they wanted to win them back again. They desired to care for the young, to teach them temperance, thrift, purity and sobriety.  The strength of a nation lies in the character of its citizens.  What England needs is godly citizens and as Methodists they desired to take their full share of responsibility in building up a true national life.  In the operations of that Church there would be work for everybody and there would also be opportunities for generosity.  In closing, Mr. Chant announced contributions of £5 5s. from Mrs. Herbert Park, of Chorley, through Mrs. Helme ;  £5 from Miss Lancaster, Burnley, through Mr. Standing ;  £25, Mr. and Mrs. Pratt ;  £5, Mr. John Davis ;  £1 1s., Mr. Jno. Gibson (a former local preacher) ;  £1 1s., Mrs. Preston ;  £10, Mr. Middlebrook, M.P. ;  and the collection in the afternoon £15 3s.  (Applause.)

   The PRESIDENT OF THE CONFERENCE said that they appreciated the presence of the Mayor as showing the sympathy of himself and the municipality with every movement in the town that made for the good of the people and the betterment of their homes and lives.  He congratulated Lancaster Methodists upon the splendid results achieved in the building of that beautiful sanctuary, with premises complete and convenient for every kind of Christian work.  Methodism was an ecclesiastical order, a system of truth, but it was more than that - it was a spirit of love, fervour, devotion, passion and enthusiasm.  He liked to think that it had grown out of two great feelings - first one of infinite pity for the lost and ignorant, and growing out of that pity an infinite passion for their recovery and salvation.  An incident narrated in a book he had recently read brought out John Wesley’s infinite tenderness towards the lowest and worst.  Methodism accomplished a glorious work for England in the eighteenth century.  They did excellently in the nineteenth century, spreading far and wide and sending their missionaries all over the world, but this was the twentieth century, and there was a challenge from the people around them as to how far they were going to contribute to the good of mankind.  The late Rev. Hugh Price Hughes had insisted upon the importance of three great words - liberty, education, regeneration.  They wanted liberty - freedom of every kind - but they wanted education that liberty might be enlightened and guided to right issues  ; and they wanted regeneration, the application of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the Spirit of God to the hearts and lives of the people.  It was their duty as in days gone by to preach the necessity for a great change.  The “new birth” was not a dream ; they had not outgrown sin and because of that there was still the necessity for regeneration, the salvation which was in Jesus Christ, which would change the hearts of men, reform their lives, take away their passions, give them a new disposition and enable them to break away from their old habits of sin and indulgence.  He was jealous that they should have a warm welcome for the poor weary souls that wanted pointing to the way of salvation.  They were looking for a great revival, but what they wanted was a deeper stronger conscientiousness, a more real sense of duty in the service of God.  There was nothing God honoured so much as obedience, and when people became conscientious to the spirit of duty, God would look upon them with favour and blessing.  (Hear, hear.)

   Mr. Coun. CARDWELL, J.P., proposed a comprehensive vote of thanks to all who had assisted in the success of the service ; and which was seconded by Mr. Coun. OGLETHORPE, supported by the Rev. E. BELL, and carried by acclamation.  The proceeds for the day, including the tea and donations, amounted to nearly £100.

Back 

    Last modified: 30 December, 2008

Please send comments on the website to website administrator