St. Andrew's Church,

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

is part of both the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

and the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

through an arrangement known as a

local ecumenical partnership In England and Wales, a local ecumenical partnership (or project) is a partnership between churches of different denominations. First piloted in 1964, over 850 now exist to promote unity between different Christian denominations. The missiolog ...

. Members of both traditions worship together and play a part in the life of both the Church of England and the Methodist Church throughout West Bromwich. The church is situated at the junction of Dudley Street and Carter's Green. The postcode is B70 9LR.

History

In 1869 a day school was opened in Old Meeting Street, West Bromwich, and the buildings were soon used for Sunday worship. The Parish of St. Andrew, West Bromwich was created in 1879 as part of Lichfield Diocese, with worship continuing on the premises in Old Meeting Street until the 1920s. In 1915, work started on a new church building at Carter's Green. The

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

prevented much work being done and the official foundation stone was not laid until 1922. The first part of the building was completed in 1924 and consecrated for worship the following year. Just before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, two bays and a baptistry were completed and consecrated on 21 January 1940. In 1982, work was completed to create a social area, kitchen and other facilities, and in 1998 a coffee lounge was created alongside the kitchen. Among recent developments has been the addition, in 2015, of 74 photovoltaic panels (solar panels) on the roof, undertaken in partnership with Power for Good Co-operative Ltd.

The Parish

The title of the parish is formally "The Parish of St. Andrew's-with-Christ Church, West Bromwich". Christ Church was an imposing building on High Street, now demolished. In 1988 the parish of Christ Church was divided between the Anglican parishes of The Good Shepherd with St. John, St. Philip's and St. Andrew's. The site where Christ Church stood is within St. Andrew's parish boundary and hence this parish's expanded full name.

The Ecumenical Partnership

Swan Village Methodist Church and St. Andrew's had shared in joint services for many years. When the Methodist church building became difficult to maintain, the congregation decided to join together with the Anglican congregation in the St. Andrew's building. The arrangement was further established in 1988 with a formal Sharing Agreement. Funds from both churches were used to build the extension, including an upstairs room for meetings - the Cygnet Room. In 2002, the joint congregation signed a Declaration of Intent for Ecumenical Partnership, and there is now fully a Partnership Congregation. St. Andrew's is also host to Forward in Faith Ministries, a church of

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

an origin and tradition (with no connection with the Anglican organisation of the same name).

Staff

The ordained clergy at St. Andrew's is currently the Revd. Graham Wigley (Vicar).

References

External links

* https://www.facebook.com/StAndrewsWestBromwich/
The Black Country Circuit website

Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury District website

Diocese of Lichfield website

Power for Good Co-operative
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West Bromwich