[St. Andrew's Today] [Our History]
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St Andrew's is one of the Churches that serves the Montagu and Kenton areas of Newcastle upon Tyne. The congregation is a very friendly and caring group of people with a range of backgrounds, experiences and ages - from a few months to late-90s - and you can be sure of a warm welcome at any of our activities. We worship together in the Church every Sunday at 10.45 am and on other special occasions: anyone is welcome to attend and crèche facilities are available to look after the very young during the service. There is a small but active Junior Church and a number of youth activities centred on the Church. We have a number of links with the local community and are trying to increase our interactions with those living on the surrounding estate. To find out what activities associated with St. Andrew's are happening this month refer to the diary.
Our History |
The Montagu housing estate was mostly built between 1948 and 1966 and as early as 1952 the Presbyterian Church investigated the possibility of providing a church building to serve the new community and the present site was obtained in April 1955. The first service for the new congregation was held on 3 July 1955 and regular services were held on Sunday evenings at the Montagu Estate Residents' Association (MERA) Hall while plans for the new church buildings were developed and implemented. Building began in March 1956 with the foundation stone being laid by the Interim Moderator, Revd Basil Barkham on 27 April 1957. The church, foyer, vestry, classrooms and kitchen cost £16,450 to build and the new St. Andrew's Church was dedicated on 2 November 1957 by Revd. A.C. Neil, Moderator of the General Assembly. The first Sunday service was held on 3 November 1957 and the regular congregation numbered about 80 people, several of the founder members having come from Gosforth Presbyterian Church on the High Street. Building did not stop there: first a manse, at a cost of £5190, was built adjoining the church with the first minister and his family moving in in June 1958 and soon after it was realised that a hall was a necessity, not just for congregational activities and events but also for community organisations and functions. The hall extension was built at a cost of £5120 and was opened on St. Andrew's Day, 30 November, 1965.
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St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church became St. Andrew's United Reformed Church following the merger of the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches in October 1972. Since then the Churches of Christ (1981) and the Scottish Congregational Church (2000) have also joined the denomination. St. Andrew's is in the Newcastle District of the Northern Synod of the United Reformed Church.
St. Andrew's is a joint pastorate with St. John the Evangelist Local Ecumenical Partnership [LEP: Anglican/ Baptist/ Methodist/ URC] at Kingston Park and has strong links with the other North Newcastle Cluster of churches (St. John's URC, Wideopen; Trinity Gosforth LEP [URC/Methodist]; and St. John's LEP, Kingston Park). We are also a constituent congregation of the active "Christians Together in Gosforth" (CTiG) LEP and carry out activities including the annual joint Advent service with the other two churches serving Kenton - St. Cuthbert's (Roman Catholic) and the Church of the Ascension (Anglican).
The St. Andrew's congregation has had the privilege of being guided by a number of ministers since its conception in 1955: Basil Barkham (interim moderator, 1955-1958), Gordon Harris (1958-1962), Nelson Bainbridge (1963-1971), Francis Cattermole (1972-1977), Robert Hamilton (1977-1980), Brian Acty (1981-1990), Dale Rominger (1991-1996), Peter Moth (1996-2000) and our current minister Siân Collins, who shares her ministry with St. John's Kingston Park. We look forward to this next stage in our history.
