Church, Celebrating a Century and a Half
We celebrated a milestone in the life of the building that has been its spiritual home for many years. Over the weekend of the 4th -6th October, we held special celebrations to mark 150 years since the building was erected in 1869. An Ordinance Survey Map of 1886 shows that there were four churches in Old Town at that time. The Brethren meeting room ( now the Assembly of God Church), Christ Church, the local Anglican Church, was built in 1851, a Primitive Methodist Hall in Prospect Place, now the Church of The Firstborn and a Congregational Church at the corner of Bath & Victoria Road, which was demolished to allow for the widening of the roads at a later date.
As part of the celebrations, the Mayor of Swindon, Counsellor Kevin Parry, together with his wife Barbara paid a visit on Saturday morning to meet all the volunteers and to catch the excitement of the Family Fun Day that was in progress. Craft tables were there for children to engage in rock painting, junk modelling, sand art bottles, aeroplanes and dragonfly making and other activities, together with face painting, table tennis and snooker for the older children. An afternoon barbeque was enjoyed by all as part of the Saturday’s activities.
The mayor said afterwards that he and his wife had a great time and really enjoyed the positivity of the event. Pastor Malcolm Macqueen said, “It was a great privilege for us to have the mayoral couple come and take such an interest in all that was taking place in our church and to connect with us all.”
A Friday evening Praise & Worship service was held in a packed hall with items of song being presented by some of the thirteen different nationality groups which attend the church.
A similar meeting took place on the Sunday morning where again there was a great outpouring of praise to the Lord for His great faithfulness in using the church building over the past 150 years to proclaim the Christian gospel to the community of Old Town and the surrounding areas.
Pastor Malcolm said that the weekend had been an outstanding success and there had been a wonderful spirit of unity and working together which was amazing to witness.
