CHURCH WITHOUT WALLS Seeking to share God s love in our community

Transcription

1 CHURCH WITHOUT WALLS Seeking to share God s love in our community

2 THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR There are many reading plans available from Footprints Bookstore in Dun Laoghaire and other sources. To help you do this, you can download an app to your ipad or iphone. Its called thebibleinoneyear and can be found on the Alpha International website. If you have android or other devices you can go to and download this one year bible reading from Holy Trinity Brompton. Vibrant in 1840, Vibrant in 2015 and into the Future During the 1820/30 s, two azing ladies with vision and determination, both widows with a strong faith, somewhat disenchanted by aspects of institutional religion of their day, bece caught up in a Christian revival movement that started in Powerscourt during the early 1820s. This movement was led by J N Darby who was curate in charge of Calary and who later went on to found the Plymouth Brethren. Despite being ladies of social standing, Hannah Magan and Margaret Clarke stepped outside the conventional box of their day, went against custom and ruffled feathers in the church' by setting out to build St Jes Church Crinken as a place for evangelical Christian ministry. One contributed the land, the other the money, but both had the vision and will to see a church free to serve Christ s mission in the Bray and Shankill area. The Bishop of Dublin was asked for his consent and licence. While coming within the frework of the Church of Ireland, control was vested in a board of trustees. (Currently the trustees are Basil Good, Robert Thompson, Ken Clarke, Lily Reid, Geoff Scargill and Sharon Bradshaw). This vested ownership of the property in the trustees ensured future ministers could be appointed by them rather than by the institutional church authorities. This made provision for appointment of evangelical Christian leaders into the future. CONTACT DETAILS Mrs Jes Clarke (nee Margaret Harkness) Mrs Hannah Georgina Magan Pastor Rev. Trevor Stevenson Youth Pastor Neil Douglas Children s Co-ordinator Hall &Church Bookings Wedding Bookings Olly Ads Matt Hickmott Robert Thompson For more detailed information on the clubs and groups that we offer, please visit our website on

3 Initially on a site of about an acre, the church was completed in 1840 at a cost of It is constructed of Wicklow granite and can accommodate approximately 250 people. It includes a crypt where members of the Magan fily are buried. The church interior is traditional in layout with a gallery that contains a compact two-manual pipe organ in good general condition which was installed in Prior to this worship was led by a harmonium. EARLY YEARS WEEKLY EVENTS Sundays Morning Praise Genesis 1st & 2nd years 11:00 11:15 Monday Bowls Tuesday On Route 2nd-4th Class pm Signposts 5th & 6th Class pm Thursday Meeting to pray for youth & children 9 10 Friday Crinken Youth 3rd-6th Years pm Saturday Crinken Youth 1st & 2nd Years pm Sunday Morning Service 11:00 Rev. John Winthrop Hackett, previously curate of St. Michael's, Cork, was appointed the first minister and continued in that role for 48 years, and was succeeded by his son for a further 20 years. The church opened on Sunday, 28th June Canon Daly was the preacher. Daly was rector of Powerscourt in Enniskerry and in 1842 bece Dean of St. Patrick's CathedralDublin, and was appointed Bishop of Cashel in the following year. Canon Daly's sermon was based on the text, 'Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,' from Matthew 28, and was an encouragement to both evangelism in Ireland and overseas. The following Sunday Mr. Hackett's preached his first sermon. His text was appropriately 2 Corinthians 2:15-16: For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? In a letter from Margaret Clarke to Hackett she writes: Fervently I do pray that you my dear Sir may be enabled to carry on the work (committed to your trust) with power and that you may be made the honoured instrument of leading many sinners to the knowledge of a Saviour.

4 INBETWEEN YEARS After the death of John Winthrop Hackett he was succeeded by his son Thomas Hackett who built the Hackett Hall (which is now the Shanganagh Stone and Marble works) in 1889 as a memorial to his father. The first church register still exists, but all subsequent registers up to the early 1920 s were destroyed when the vestry, with all its contents, was burned in the summer of 1921, during John Oliver s ( ) ministry. This first register suggests the church grew to over a 100 in the initial years. Following the ministries of John and Thomas Hackett, there were a number of very short ministries before the arrival of Rev. Bland whose term continued for 25 years. A significant improvement to the property during his tenure was the installation of electricity in 1932 at a cost of 100 which was funded by a # donation from a Miss Georgina Bookey. For the first 100 years, accommodation for the rector was by way of a large house with gate lodge on the opposite side of the main road, now known as Askefield House. Due to high ground rent it was decided to sell this property and invest the proceeds in a new rectory and lodge. Land for this project adjacent to the church was donated by Sir Stanley Cochrane from the Woodbrook estate. Hackett Hall was retained. A new Parsonage and lodge were built in During the 1960/70 s there was declining church membership to the extent that the future viability of the church was coming into question. facilities both inside the church building and the hall with the addition of a new foyer. These are not ends in themselves rather to facilitate growth in membership and spiritual life. MINISTERS AT CRINKEN John Winthrop Hackett Thomas Hackett Willi Weir A.J. Culwick D.H. Gillman Robert Miller John Oliver F.E.Bland Mahon Neil Charles Combe Frederick Young Cecil (affectionately known as CAB) Willis Kenneth Clarke Earl Storey Gordon Fyles Edward Vaughan Trevor Stevenson Current

5 In recent years Crinken was gifted a pub in Bray which has been turned into a Cafe bar, a fresh expression of church. Known as The Bridge, this offers support and a venue to various groups in the Bray area, including a ministry to international students and to mothers and babies. FUTURE YEARS Thank you Lord for your faithfulness over the last 175 years and the legacy which we have inherited. We look forward with excitement to the future and all that God has planned for us and we pray that we will leave a lasting legacy for succeeding generations. Much has changed in our world, our country and our lives since Any church hoping to connect with society into the future must grapple with rapidly changing social attitudes and values, lifestyles, and economic pressures. In parallel with such change, Crinken has had its own metorphosis. But we must continue to learn how to present Christ in an ever changing world and minister to emerging needs in society. We believe our current ministries are relevant for today but we need God s wisdom and motivation to ensure we continue to do so and perhaps be led into new areas. With that in mind we dedicated the first week of 2015 to continuous prayer not just for this special anniversary year but to the way ahead beyond that. On the one hand we seek to be a church without walls and by that we mean serving daily in the community and having open hearts to people of all persuasions with the love of Jesus. On the other hand we need to ensure that active ties on our premises, particularly Sunday services, are events where people can feel relaxed in a manner Where they can truly worship the Lord. This will mean evolving forms of service as well as improvements in the physical surroundings. In this latter context we have prepared plans to upgrade our premises and The then minister, Rev. Cecil Willis ( ) agreed to postpone retirement for 2 years in order to enable the church to bring the financial situation to a viable position. A number of factors then followed which brought improvement in church membership. These included a visit of some of the leadership to St. Michael Le Belfry in York to look at some of the principles behind the growth in church life being experienced by that congregation, a decision by the Trustees to build a new Hall adjacent to the main building and a move to less formality in worship. In 1984 during the ministry of Ken Clarke ( ) the Hackett hall was sold for a sum of IR 65,000 which funded building of the new Hall. This facilitated growth and an expanding children s and youth work. It was during the ministry of Rev. Gordon Fyles ( ) that the church s first youth worker was appointed. Thus followed the work of Ricky MacDonald, Karen Reid, Michael Hargraves and currently Neil Douglas. Meanwhile, the growing number of children which had long been a feature of life at Crinken was becoming greater than what could be coordinated by a te of dedicated volunteers and so during the ministry of Rev. Ed Vaughan ( ) the first children s coordinator was appointed to the staff. Since the initial appointment of Therese Hargraves, Kirsten Elliott, Chloe Douglas, Jonathan Douglas and currently, Olly Ads, have filled this role.

6 Music and song as an important part of worship at Crinken has undergone some transition from the formal to the inclusion of a significant element of contemporary music and songs. This is now led by the organist, Egerton Ashmore, who has filled this role for over 40 years and a number of talented musicians playing a variety of instruments. Use of service and song books has also given way to on screen visual presentation. followers from many Christian faith backgrounds and walks of life. We thank God for the varied ministries which have developed and for the staff and dedicated volunteers who make this possible. Many from the congregation have served in ministry full time both at home and abroad over the years. Those that we can remember are Wallace Benn, John Neill, John Hay, Lorretta Carroll, Linda Holmes, Trevor and Ruth Stevenson, Karen Reid, Christian Snell, Simon Donohue, Chloe Douglas and Jonathan Douglas. Most significant are Fields of Life whose roots are from within Crinken under the directorship of Trevor and Ruth Stevenson and that of Lorretta Carroll who served with World Evangelization for Christ for over 20 years in Chad. Since she retired from that ministry in 2012 she has fulfilled the role of caretaker at Crinken, living in the Lodge on the church grounds. She also serves in a ministry of first impressions to ensure our premises are clean, and attractive. An important work happening ongst our older folk Individual ministries to Parents and toddlers, crèche, children and youth Local link groups including everyone to enjoy Christian fellowship together and For a small congregation, there have been a number of appointments to the role of bishop within the Churches of Ireland and England. These have been Willi Conyngh Fourth Baron Plunket, Wallace Benn, John Neil, Kenneth Clarke and more recently the first woman bishop Pat Storey, wife of former rector Earl Storey. Over the past hundred and seventy five years Crinken church has been blessed with a succession of 17 evangelical Christian leaders and a church membership which has a strong focus on the teaching and application of the scriptures. They ve also been inspired and led by are written in and empowered the teachings of Jesus, as they are written in the Bible and empowered by the Holy Spirit. They have sought to share God s love in the communities around. TODAY AT CRINKEN Today Crinken Church is blessed with a vibrant and growing church community with The following are exples of where we serve - ensure practical needs are met Prayer ministry for anyone who wishes We are privileged to have been asked to assist with Alpha for transition year students at the local secondary school, St Brendan s An emerging progr of helping with provision for the needs of those in the community who have fallen on material hard times