|
 |
Disabled Parking |
|
 |
Disabled Toilet Facility |
|
 |
Parking |
|
 |
Toilet Facilities |
|
 |
Full Disabled Access |
|
"Quite
the most amazing church building I have ever come across. The
outside of the church looks fairly traditional, and you make your
way towards the door expecting the usual sort of thing inside --
pews, a stained glass window or two, perhaps a bit of heating if
you’re fortunate.
Instead what greets you simply takes your
breath away. The church has been refurbished to an astonishing
standard: the floor has been completely replaced (and there is now
under-floor heating); the pews have gone to be replaced by chairs; a
tower has been transformed to provide some interesting smaller rooms
spread over several levels; and the craft on display is incredibly
beautiful. The stained glass in general and the water feature in the
baptistry area in particular are worthy of special mention, but
there’s clearly been a lot of thought gone into every detail of the
refurbishment.
The space and facilities they have at their
disposal are an absolutely amazing example of what can be done with
a church building nowadays. "
12/1/2009
Visitor from Manchester
|
Origins
- St John’s and St
Peter’s is the Parish Church of Ladywood.
- St. John’s was built
1852-1854 originating from a Mission to the area from St Martin’s in the
Bullring. The Governors of the
King Edward VI Schools had also agreed to allow a site on their
property.
Frederick Gough, 4th Baron Calthorpe laid the foundation stone on 28
September 1852, and the church was consecrated by
Henry Pepys the
Bishop of Worcester on 15 March 1854
- The site for the new
church was Ladywood Green, a 17th century Great Plague burial ground.
‘Ladywood’ itself is of unknown origin except that the nearby Perrot’s Folly
dating from the mid-18th century was a viewpoint of hunting grounds and
possibly the “ladies’ wood”!
- St Peter’s, Spring
Hill, built in 1901 was closed as an Anglican church in 2001 when it was
combined with St John’s to make one new, larger parish.
The church’s
construction
- The church was
designed in the Victorian Gothic style by the well-known Victorian architect
Samuel Sanders Teulon.
- It is simple and more
gracious than many of the period apart from the idiosyncratic stone turrets
and the nearly 100 stone heads that adorn the church inside and out. None of
these has been recognised!
- The most significant
alteration was the addition of transepts in 1881 by the architect,
Julius
Alfred Chatwyn, commemorated on the pulpit of the same year.
- There was originally
a large gallery at the back of the church accessed by two stone staircases
and entrances. One of these now leads to the office.
Restoration and
redevelopment
- In
the late ‘50s and then again in the late ‘90s Ladywood was redeveloped with
new flats and housing. Many people were moved out - some returned. Ladywood
continued to be labelled for its poverty.
- The
church meantime was suffering badly from the ravages of time and pollution.
- It
was clear that the church’s attractive space and good acoustic were an
enormous potential for ongoing worship and artistic/community use
-
Redevelopment began in 1994 and was finally completed in 2005.
The new building
- The
old, elegant but dark, cold and dysfunctional building has been with great
respect and care replaced with the now fine, light, welcoming, flexible and
spacious church.
-
There is new lighting, under-floor heating, new chairs instead of old pews,
toilets, servery, office, young people’s tower rooms, P A system, stage, new
works of art, and restored windows and decoration.
- The
architects were Rod Robinson Associates of Hereford. The Heritage Lottery
Fund contributed almost half the total cost of almost £1million.
- The
largely inner-city congregation contributed generously. Diocese and the
City Council were the largest contributors amongst many other donating
charities.
Membership and
worship
-
Membership is open to everyone.
-
Congregation membership is just over 100 adults and over 30 children with an
average Sunday attendance of adults 66 and children 20 (2007). Such a size is
viable particularly with the great potential and additional support of
Ladywood ARC.
-
Many come to church less regularly. Since the church’s transformation, an
increased number of couples have chosen St John’s and St Peter’s for their
weddings.
- The
participatory and varied style of worship and music with a small robed choir
combines informality and tradition, relevance and respect
Our hope for the
future
- Our
purpose is to seek to know and love God and our neighbour as ourselves,
following the example of Jesus Christ. God with us always is our hope, trust
and faith.
- The
Church has a renewed significance in our age, offering eternal values,
community and roots for our lives.
- St
John’s and St Peter’s with Ladywood ARC aims to be an inclusive place of
worship, prayer, creativity, openness- inspiration and friendship for
family, neighbour and stranger.
-
We are entrusted with a
beautiful sacred space to offer to God for everyone’s benefit.
-
Ladywood ARC is the scheme through which the church’s ‘open-minded space’
is made available to the whole community.
-
Since its initiation in 2003 it has been growing as a local, city-wide,
and even national venue for concerts, professional plays, exhibitions,
dance, meetings and conferences.
- A
crucial feature is that it is integrated into the life of the ongoing
church, whose members are committed to its mission.
- It
has already shown a way forward in inter-faith and inter-arts activities
- Under the umbrella of
Ladywood ARC, the LIEP is an innovative educational scheme that demonstrates
the spiritual gifts of the four local great faiths of the world, Islam ,
Judaism, Buddhism and Christianity.
- Its programme is
based on the National Curriculum and is taught by a team of professional
volunteers.
- It enables children
from local Primary schools to explore and appreciate the different great
faiths of within the context of the places of worship themselves, St John’s
and St Peter’s, the local Pagoda, Mosque and Progressive Synagogue
BDI Industry & Genius Award winner
|
|
