|
|
Worshipping together,
thinking for ourselves.
Services
Each Sunday at 10.30 am.
Worship at Shrewsbury takes many forms, in the belief that variety exists at the centre of a
rich spiritual life. We experience prayer, meditation, poetry, discussion, music and sometimes
silence at our meetings. We come together to foster a greater understanding of ourselves and
others and are unified by the belief that worship is a journey, not a private process.
We have a monthly Newsletter. If you wish to receive this, please let me know.
Activities
"An eye for the Future"
A great deal of the congregation's energy outside of services is currently being channelled
into organising the restoration of this beautiful church. We have been lucky enough to obtain
a grant from the Town Centre Restoration Fund with English Heritage and the work has begun.
Through this work we shall ensure that a meeting place will exist for Unitarians in Shrewsbury
for generations to come.
We open the church for Heritage Weekends, and anticipate taking part in the Coleridge
bicentenary celebrations, as well as various fundraising events to pay for the restoration.
Activities for Children and the younger ones
The following is by one of our younger members, Jonathan Kewley.
'Why I choose to worship at Shrewsbury.
For me, the Unitarian Church at Shrewsbury is a very special place. It allows me to freely
explore my spiritual identity without feeling pressure to conform to preconceived concepts of
Christianity.
It is a warm, welcoming community where intellectual rigour is combined with a genuine desire
for spiritual growth.'
Our history
As a result of the Great Ejection of 1662 two of Shrewsbury's Anglican clergy,
Francis Tallents and John Bryan, came together to found a dissenting church.
Because of the persecution at that time meetings were held in private homes,
until a small building was made available for them in the garden of a timber
merchant's house in the High Street, then known as Bakers Row. This was later
enlarged as the house was removed, but in 1715 the Jacobite risings were at
their height and the building was razed. Dissenters were not welcomed!
However, the building was speedily replaced, at a cost of £429.16 and a half
pence paid for by the government, and handed over to the congregation.
It was substantially renovated in 1839/40 and repairs were again necessary in 1884/5. The old
front was considered too dark and sombre and replaced by "a light and handsome front entirely
built of local stone". The old pews were replaced in 1904 and later the royal charter granted
by George I was hung above the pulpit, and the organ re-placed and re-sited.
In 2002 further repairs were needed, the entire roof was replaced, windows repaired and the
electrical system renewed, and the whole building redecorated. On completion we held a celebratory
service of thanksgiving and renewal, both for the church building and our spiritual lives,
and we know that we have a weatherproof and beautiful church to hand on to future worshippers.
Charles Darwin worshipped at this church with his mother and sisters, and attended the
minister's school until he went on to Shrewsbury School; and because Dissenters were not given
places at Universities he attended St Chads. While in Cambridge, and on The Beagle, his
religious leanings slipped away, and although he married Emma Wedgwood, from a devout Unitarian
family, he lost all his belief in a Deity.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge applied for a living at this church and was commissioned to give three
services. He stayed at the home of the Hazlitts in Wem, where Mr Hazlitt senior was Unitarian
minister. Mr Hazlitt junior walked with Coleridge from Wem to Shrewsbury, listened to the
service, which he said was the best he'd heard, and they walked back together. However during
the next week Thomas and Josiah Wedgwood wrote offering him £150 p.a. to devote his time to
writing and philosophy. Coleridge immediately accepted and failed to complete his contract
with our church. Instead he and Wordsworth took a holiday in France!
Ministry
We have no minister but are very well served by visiting ministers and lay
leaders, interspersed with regular "Circle Meetings" where we adopt a theme and
celebrate it either with poetry, readings and music, or use it as a basis for
discussion.
Contact us
Church Charity No. 234242
Email:
Unitarian Links
|
|
