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Life Church, Richmond

Life Church, Richmond
Map
LocationThe Vineyard, Richmond TW10 6AQ
CountryEngland
DenominationEvangelical/Charismatic
Websitewww.lifechurchrichmond.uk
Architecture
Architect(s)John Davies[1]
StyleNorman
Specifications
Materialsgrey brick[1]

Life Church, Richmond, a member of the Evangelical Alliance, the New Ground Group of churches and the Congregational Federation, was formed in 2013 as the result of a merger between Richmond Borough Church and The Vineyard Church, Richmond. It meets in a 19th-century church building located in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The Vineyard Community Centre, which is an associate charity to the church, run a community centre, a food bank (with smaller satellites across the borough) and a charity shop in the basement.

The land  for the church was bought by Thomas Wilson, a Christian businessman and a philanthropist. He was the Treasurer of the London Missionary Society for many years, a member of the Religious Tract Society and he also helped found the British and Foreign Bible Society. He was also one of the originators of London University (now University College) and was elected to its first Council in 1825. But he became best known for his extensive work across the country in building new chapels for dissenters as well as restoring dilapidated ones that he came across in his travels.

Thomas Wilson also paid for the construction of the Vineyard Chapel as it was then called, and it opened in 1831, to seat a congregation of 500 to 600.[2] It was rebuilt in 1851 after The Great Fire of Richmond. The church is built in Norman style, in grey brick, with a distinctive porch.The Vineyard Chapel had a gallery, and was designed by John Davies (1796–1865); Davies had a number of commissions for Congregational Chapels and was the architect for Highbury College for Dissenters in Islington.

The goal of the first members of the church, numbering nine, was, in their words, a missionary effort by carrying the preaching of the Gospel into the midst of a forgetful and slumbering people'.

It was later attended by Harold Wilson, with his wife Mary, during the World War Two, before he served as British Prime Minister; and Lady Stansgate, mother of the late Labour MP Tony Benn, was a member of the church during the 1940s.[3]

Between 1971 and 1972, future British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his friend Al Collenette held weekly discos at the church.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Cherry, Bridget and Pevsner, Nikolaus (1983). The Buildings of England – London 2: South. London: Penguin Books. p. 519. ISBN 0-14-0710-47-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Orr, Stephen. "The Vineyard, Richmond: An Online History for residents, their families and friends". Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  3. ^ a b Jones, Helen (8 May 2001). "Church archives reveal a Vineyard of history". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 22 November 2015.

51°27′27″N 0°18′13″W / 51.45750°N 0.30361°W / 51.45750; -0.30361

Quelle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Church,_Richmond