Downing Place United Reformed Church, Cambridge

Last updated
Downing Place
United Reformed Church
St Columba's Church, Downing Street, Cambridge - geograph.org.uk - 632925.jpg
Downing Place URC viewed from Downing Street, Cambridge
Cambridge centre map.png
Red pog.svg
Downing Place
United Reformed Church
Location in Downing Place, Cambridge
52°12′12″N0°07′22″E / 52.2032°N 0.1227°E / 52.2032; 0.1227
Location Central Cambridge
Country England
Denomination United Reformed Church
Website https://downingplaceurc.org/
History
Former name(s)Emmanuel URC, Emmanuel Congregational Church, Emmanuel Congregational Chapel, Hog Hill Independent Church; St Columba's URC, St Columba's Presbyterian Church
Administration
Synod URC Eastern Synod
Clergy
Minister(s) Revd Nigel Uden

Downing Place United Reformed Church, Cambridge is a church in Cambridge, England, that is part of the United Reformed Church. It was formed in 2018 in a merger between St Columba's Church, Cambridge, and Emmanuel Church, Cambridge. The church occupies the former St Columba's building in Downing Place, which is close to a site occupied by Emmanuel's congregation before 1874.

Contents

In the recent past prior to the merger of the two congregations, activities have included regular Sunday worship, a programme of music concerts, hosting an NHS group therapy centre and hosting a night-time drop-in centre hosted by Cambridge Street Pastors. The refurbishment has been designed to facilitate similar activities. [1] [2]

History

Emmanuel Church

Site of the former Hog Hill chapel, Downing Place, Cambridge Old Music School - geograph.org.uk - 831281.jpg
Site of the former Hog Hill chapel, Downing Place, Cambridge
The former Emmanuel Church building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge Emmanuel United Reformed Church, Cambridge color corrected.jpg
The former Emmanuel Church building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge
Stained-glass windows of 1905 by Morris & Co. in the former Emmanuel URC building, depicting Puritans with Cambridge connections. From left to right: Henry Barrow, John Greenwood, Oliver Cromwell, John Milton, Francis Holcroft and Joseph Hussey Emmanuel United Reformed Church interior, Cambridge.jpg
Stained-glass windows of 1905 by Morris & Co. in the former Emmanuel URC building, depicting Puritans with Cambridge connections. From left to right: Henry Barrow, John Greenwood, Oliver Cromwell, John Milton, Francis Holcroft and Joseph Hussey

Originally a congregational church, Emmanuel voted to join the new United Reformed Church in 1972. Emmanuel had been known by different names over the years, first as the 'Hog Hill Independent Church' and then the 'Emmanuel Congregational Chapel' or 'Emmanuel Congregational Church'.

The Emmanuel congregation was founded as the Cambridge 'Great Meeting' in 1687, at Hog Hill, the original building being there, on what is now the Old Music School in Downing Place. From 1691 the minister was Joseph Hussey; [3] he was commemorated in the stained glass in the apse of the Emmanuel church building alongside John Greenwood, Henry Barrow, Oliver Cromwell, John Milton and Francis Holcroft. Hussey's congregation split in 1696, with some going to the meeting in Green Street, Cambridge, and again after he had left for London, in 1721, with a group founding the precursor of St Andrew's Street Baptist Church, Cambridge. The church was rebuilt on the same site, opening as Emmanuel Congregational Chapel in 1790. [4] [5] The move to the new church on Trumpington Street, called the Emmanuel Congregational Church, came in 1874. [4] The old chapel was put to use from 1881 as the Balfour Biological Laboratory for Women, for female science students in the University of Cambridge. [6] Prior to September 2020, Emmanuel United Reformed Church occupied the Trumpington Street building. It was built to a design by the architect James Cubitt in 1875. The church was listed as Grade II in 1996. [7] The building was sold to Pembroke College to form part of the college's Mill Lane development project.

In the years leading up to the merger, Emmanuel organised regular Sunday worship and a programme of community activities in the recent past: a volunteer-staffed fairtrade cafe, a series of lunchtime music recitals and a share in Hope Cambridge's Churches Homeless Project. The Cambridge branch of the Open Table Network was founded here in July 2018. [8]

St Columba's Church

St Columba's from across Downing Place (before refurbishment) St Columba's Church - geograph.org.uk - 1333389.jpg
St Columba's from across Downing Place (before refurbishment)

St Columba's was originally a Presbyterian church. A Presbyterian congregation was first registered in Cambridge in 1689, at that time based in Green Street. The congregation of St Columba's was formally established in 1881, [9] initially worshipping in Cambridge Guildhall.

The St Columba’s church building, on the corner of Downing Place and Downing Street, was built in 1891 in the Early English style to the designs of Scottish architect John Macvicar Anderson. [4] As well as being a congregation of the Presbyterian Church of England and, from 1972, of the United Reformed Church, St Columba's was also the Chaplaincy for the Church of Scotland to the University of Cambridge; the minister's appointment as chaplain being with the concurrence of the Kirk's Presbytery of England. [10]

In the years leading up to the merger, St Columba's, the church's programme included regular Sunday worship, hosting a group therapy centre, and a night-time drop-in centre hosted by Cambridge Street Pastors. [1]

Merger to form Downing Place United Reformed Church

On 9 June (St Columba's Day) 2018, St Columba's Church and Emmanuel Church united to form Downing Place United Reformed Church. The combined congregation occupies the former St Columba's building in Downing Place. [1] The St Columba’s site has been extensively renovated as part of a £3.3 million project led by Archangel Architects.

The Emmanuel building was sold to Pembroke College, Cambridge across the road in Trumpington Street, who intended to retain it as a lecture and performance area as part of their Mill Lane redevelopment. The final service in the Emmanuel building took place on 26 July 2020 and all church activities at Trumpington Street have ceased. [2]

While the St Columba's Church building was closed for major building works, regular worship took place in Westminster College, Cambridge. [1] [2] [11] The newly restored building was rededicated in November 2021.

People

Ministers of Emmanuel Church have included:

Ministers of St Columba's Church:

Among the other people who have been associated with the two churches over the years, Michael Ramsey, who later became Archbishop of York, worshipped at what was then Emmanuel Congregational church as a child, where his father was a deacon. [29] [ unreliable source? ] Among those listed on the Roll of Honour of Missionaries valedicted from St Columba's Church [30] are two notable ecumenists, William Paton to India in 1919 (first general secretary of what is now the National Council of Churches in India), and Lesslie Newbigin to India in 1936 (becoming one of the first bishops of the new Church of South India in 1947). Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson, biblical scholars sometimes known as the "Westminster sisters" attended St Columba's [31] and are commemorated by a plaque.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presbyterianism</span> Branch of Protestant Christianity in which the church is governed by presbyters (elders)

Presbyterianism is a Reformed (Calvinist) Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders. Though there are other Reformed churches that are structurally similar, the word Presbyterian is applied to churches that trace their roots to the Church of Scotland or to English Dissenter groups that formed during the English Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knox Presbyterian Church (Toronto)</span> Church in Toronto, Ontario

Knox Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian church in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

St. James-Bond United Church, at 1066 Avenue Road in Toronto, Ontario, was a United Church of Canada congregation from 1928 to 2005, when it merged with Fairlawn Heights United Church in the Yonge Street and Lawrence Avenue area. The "St. James-Bond" name derived from the merger of St. James Square Presbyterian Church with Bond Street Congregational Church in 1928. Prior to the merger, they were separate congregations downtown, of the Presbyterian and Congregational traditions respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbeygreen Church</span> Church in Scotland

Abbeygreen Church is a congregation of the Free Church of Scotland in the small town of Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire. As a Christian congregation, it is presbyterian and reformed; holding the Word of God, the Holy Bible, as the supreme rule of life and doctrine and the Westminster Confession of Faith as a sub-ordinate standard, which helps explain the doctrines of the Christian faith. Being Presbyterian, it serves as part of the Free Church of Scotland Presbytery of Glasgow and seeks to faithfully serve God in Lesmahagow and the surrounding area. Having a missional outlook it is involved with a number of missionary organizations including, but not only, UFM Worldwide and Rose of Sharon Ministries, and helps with the organization and support of the Scottish Reformed Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarke Street Meeting House</span> Historic church in Rhode Island

The Clarke Street Meeting House is a historic meeting house and Reformed Christian church building at 13–17 Clarke Street in Newport, Rhode Island, built in 1735. The structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christ the King Presbyterian Church</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

Christ The King Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) church, founded in 1995. It occupies the historic building of the former Prospect Congregational Church, located at 99 Prospect Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts near Central Square.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trumpington Street</span> Street in central Cambridge, England

Trumpington Street is a major historic street in central Cambridge, England. At the north end it continues as King's Parade where King's College is located. To the south it continues as Trumpington Road, an arterial route out of Cambridge, at the junction with Lensfield Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen's Hall, Edinburgh</span> Historic site

The Queen's Hall is a performance venue in the Southside, Edinburgh, Scotland. The building opened in 1824 as Hope Park Chapel and reopened as the Queen's Hall in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Luke's United Reformed Church, Silverhill, Hastings</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

St Luke's Church is a United Reformed church in the Silverhill suburb of Hastings, a town and borough in East Sussex, England. The congregation was originally independent before taking up Presbyterianism, and worshipped in a private house from its founding in 1853 until a permanent church was provided in 1857; this was one of the oldest Presbyterian places of worship in southeast England. The growth of the community has resulted in several extensions since then, and severe damage caused by the Great Storm of 1987 was quickly repaired—except for the loss of the building's distinctive spire. The church, along with most other Presbyterian congregations, joined the United Reformed Church when that denomination was formed in 1972. It is one of four United Reformed Churches in the borough of Hastings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knox-Metropolitan United Church (Regina, Saskatchewan)</span> Church in Regina, Saskatchewan

Knox-Metropolitan United Church stands on Lorne Street at Victoria Avenue across from Victoria Park in downtown Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the current manifestation of Presbyterian and Methodist congregations that date back to "worship services in both traditions…in 1882."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Godalming Congregational Church</span> Church in Surrey , United Kingdom

The building formerly known as Godalming Congregational Church was the Congregational chapel serving the ancient town of Godalming, in the English county of Surrey, between 1868 and 1977. It superseded an earlier chapel, which became Godalming's Salvation Army hall, and served a congregation which could trace its origins to the early 18th century. The "imposing suite of buildings", on a major corner site next to the Town Bridge over the River Wey, included a schoolroom and a manse, and the chapel had a landmark spire until just before its closure in 1977. At that time the congregation transferred to the nearby Methodist chapel, which became a joint Methodist and United Reformed church with the name Godalming United Church. The former chapel then became an auction gallery before being converted into a restaurant; then in 2018 the premises were let to the Cotswold Company to be converted into a furniture and home accessories showroom. In 1991 the former chapel was listed at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Columba's United Reformed Church, Oxford</span>

St Columba's United Reformed Church is a congregation of the United Reformed Church (URC) in the centre of the city of Oxford. It is located on Alfred Street, off the High Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robertson Street United Reformed Church</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

Robertson Street Congregational Church is a former United Reformed church in the centre of Hastings, a seaside town and borough in East Sussex, England. Built in 1885 on the site of an earlier church which had been constructed in 1857, it was designed by Henry Ward (1854–1927), who was responsible for many of the key buildings in the town of Hastings, not least the Town Hall. The building, a "large urban ... church with richly detailed exteriors and interiors", is situated between Robertson Street and Cambridge Road and has a split-level arrangement with part of the gallery occupying a flying freehold over the alleyway adjacent to the entrance on Robertson Street. The church is listed at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Headingley Hill Congregational Church</span> Church building in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

Headingley Hill Congregational Church is a redundant Congregational church at the corner of Headingley Lane and Cumberland Road, in the Headingley area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The church, which is a Grade II listed building, was designed in the Gothic Revival style by Cuthbert Brodrick and completed in 1866. It was the only church to have been designed by Brodrick, who is noted for Leeds Town Hall and the Corn Exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weybridge United Reformed Church</span> Church in Surrey , United Kingdom

The Weybridge United Reformed Church situate at Queen's Road, Weybridge, near to its junction with York Road, is a Victorian Grade II Listed church building that is now no longer used as a place of worship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Street Free Church, Eastbourne</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

South Street Free Church is a church in the centre of Eastbourne, a town and seaside resort in the English county of East Sussex. Originally Congregational, it is now aligned to the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion—a small group of Evangelical churches founded by Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon during the 18th-century Evangelical Revival. The church was founded in 1897 as an offshoot from an earlier Congregational chapel, and initially met in hired premises. Local architect Henry Ward designed the present church in 1903; the "characterful" and "quirky" Arts and Crafts-style building has been listed at Grade II by Historic England for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highland Church</span> Church in Scotland

The Highland Church was a Gaelic-speaking congregation of the Church of Scotland, based in Tollcross, Edinburgh. Formed by the union of St Oran's Church and St Columba's Gaelic Church in 1948, the congregation continued united with Tolbooth St John's in 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Oran's Church</span> Church in Edinburgh, Scotland

St Oran's Church was a Gaelic-speaking congregation of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh. Originating in the early 18th-century, the congregation continued until 1948, latterly meeting at Broughton Street.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Curtis, Adrian (27 November 2019). "£3.3m vision is transforming iconic Cambridge church". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Emmanuel United Reformed Church. "Home". Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020. The last service to take place in the Emmanuel building was broadcast on Sunday 26 July .... Please visit our new website, Downing Place URC to follow us as we prepare to move to Downing Place as our permanent home ....{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. Atkinson, Thomas Dinham (1897). Cambridge Described and Illustrated. Macmillan. p. 173 via Internet Archive.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Roach, J. P. C., ed. (1959). "The city of Cambridge: Protestant Nonconformity". A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 3, the City and University of Cambridge. Victoria County History. pp. 135–183. Retrieved 2 August 2020 via British History Online.
  5. City of Cambridge, vol.2 p.302 (1959), Royal Commission of Ancient Monuments
  6. Packman, Len (2011). "The Hopkins Building Jubilee Celebrations". Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. Historic England. "Emmanuel United Reformed Church (Grade II) (1268350)". National Heritage List for England .
  8. Downing Place URC. "Home". Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  9. Knox, R Buick (1979). St Columba's Church Cambridge 1879-1979. Cambridge. pp. 1–8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. Year Book 2007/2008. Edinburgh: Church of Scotland. 2007. p. 296.
  11. Downing Place URC. "Home". Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020. ... public worship will resume in September; and will take place at Westminster College while we await the completion of our refurbishment project on the Downing Place site.
  12. Briggs, J. H. Y. "Conder, John (1714–1781)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/6058.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  13. 1 2 Binfield, Clyde (1968). "Chapels in Crisis". In Taylor, John H. (ed.). Transactions of the Congregational History Society. Vol. XX. pp. 237–254 via Internet Archive. (The most relevant text is on pp. 246-247.)
  14. "Bubier, George Burder (c.1823-c.1869)". Dissenting Academics Online. Queen Mary Centre for Religion and Literature in English, Queen Mary University of London. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  15. "Thomas Campbell Findlayson". The University of Glasgow Story. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  16. Sorely, W. R.; Romano, Terrie M. "Ward, James (1843–1925)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36732.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  17. Huxtable, John. "Forsyth, Peter Taylor (1848–1921)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37424.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  18. Jackson, Samuel Macaulay, ed. (1953). "Selbie, William Boothby". The New Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia. Vol. X. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House. p. 338. Retrieved 2 August 2020 via Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
  19. Knox, R. Buick (1979). St Columba's Church Cambridge 1879-1979. Cambridge. p. 24.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  20. Knox, R. Buick (1979). St Columba's Church Cambridge 1879-1979. Cambridge. pp. 25–27.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  21. Knox, R. Buick (1979). St Columba's Church Cambridge 1879-1979. Cambridge. pp. 27–28.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  22. Knox, R. Buick (1979). St Columba's Church Cambridge 1879-1979. Cambridge. p. 28.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  23. Knox, R. Buick (1979). St Columba's Church Cambridge 1879-1979. Cambridge. pp. 28–29.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  24. Knox, R. Buick (1979). St Columba's Church Cambridge 1879-1979. Cambridge. p. 29.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  25. The Official Handbook 1950-51. London: Presbyterian Church of England. 1950. p. 73.
  26. Year Book 2004. London: United Reformed Church. 2004. p. 278.
  27. Year Book 2004. London: United Reformed Church. 2004. p. 247.
  28. Year Book 2004. London: United Reformed Church. 2004. p. 267.
  29. Commerford, Patrick (4 September 2015). "Where part of Salvation is for sale at £2 and Oliver Cromwell is among the saints". Patrick Commerford: an online journal on Anglicanism, theology, spirituality, history, architecture, travel, poetry, beach walks ... and more (blog).
  30. Knox, R. Buick (1979). St Columba's Church Cambridge 1879-1979. Cambridge. pp. 56–57.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  31. Soskice, Janet (2009), Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Found the Hidden Gospels. London. ISBN   978-1-4000-3474-1, p.282

Further reading