A Local Ecumenical Partnership
St Andrew's Dawson Street came into being in December 2005, following
a time of conversations and growing together between the two congregations of
St Andrew's United Reformed Church and Dawson
Street Methodist Church, situated at opposite sides of the main road through
Crook.
As an LEP, the united church is part of the two denominations, and
receives both Methodist and URC ministry. The congregation meets in the
Dawson Street premises,which have been refurbished thanks to the union, and
reopened in the spring of 2009.
Our Church Beginnings
John Wesley visited the dale on a number of occasions during the 18th
century and the valley became a Methodist stronghold. Eventually there were
three chapels in Crook representing different strands of Methodism: Hope
Street, now the site of North House Surgery, which
was of the Wesleyan tradition; Dawson Street, now our church, which was built
by the Primitive Methodists; and Market Place, now owned by R M Defty and F S
Rowland, which belonged to the New Connexion.
Subsequent to Methodist reunion in the 1930s, the three congregations
joined together during the 1960s and the Dawson Street premises were
modernised and re-opened in 1968.
Presbyterianism came to the dale in the mid 19th century, with the
influx of workers from Scotland. St Andrew's was formed in 1863, and the new church building was opened in
Whitfield Street in 1865. In 1972 the Presbyterian Church of England joined with
the Congregational Church in England and Wales to form the United Reformed
Church.
Forming a Local Ecumenical
Partnership
In 2004 conversations began at Dawson Street and St Andrew's about the
possibility of forming a Local Ecumenical Partnership. After much prayer and planning was decided to obtain structural surveys of the two
buildings and ask for these to be considered by the appropriate people from
the two denominations. The decision was made to retain the Dawson Street
building, and embark upon plans to refurbish what was now St Andrew's Dawson
Street.
The first three years of the life of the Partnership very much
concentrated on this project. We were very well served by local architects and
builders who understood our needs, and our desire to make the church
adaptable and suitable for the needs of a new century - as well as physically
accessible by all. We have been hugely supported financially by both
denominations and by Trust funds - and our
own church members and friends within the wider community have also been very
generous in their contributions.
April 2009 saw the completion of this project, and the beginning of
the new stage of our discovery of how to be obedient to God and become
sharers in his mission in our community of Crook.
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