Snapshots of the Past
COMPILED FOR THE APRIL 2010 ANNIVERSARY SERVICE LED BY REV LINDA HART AT RICHMOND & PUTNEY UNITARIAN CHURCH
Snapshot 1: We Begin
Linda: And so it begins. It was, I would suspect, a small gathering in the beginning, but not, as it turned out, inconsequential. A group of freethinkers, perhaps dissenters, began to gather 126 years ago. Not however, on a date in April, at least not as far as we can tell:
The Richmond congregation started in 1884 when the “Richmond Sunday Afternoon Society” was founded. The body met weekly in the headmaster's house of Russell School in Richmond Park, to discuss religious and kindred subjects. (Page 139 of Minutes 4 January 1894 to 16 May 1897 and page 1 of The Unitarian Congregation in Richmond.)
Linda: Only four years later, that small group had grown enough and had enough presence in the world to find a place to hold ongoing worship services:
Channing Hall, Friars’ Lane, Richmond was opened for public worship on 4 October 1888. It was specially built for the purposes of a Unitarian Christian Church. The building was held on lease for seven years.
Linda: Channing Hall, named after, as they would have said, an American Unitarian divine. The Reverend William Ellery Channing was the first American to call the liberal movement in American Congregationalism Unitarian and was known for his strong articulation of the importance of the freedom of the search for truth and meaning. This was to be the home for the congregation for the full seven years of the lease.
Before the end of that lease, the name of the church come under consideration.
On 1 May 1890, it was decided by seven votes to three that the name of “Unitarian Christian Church” should be altered to “Free Church”
Linda: Believing that even the identification of the church with the Unitarians would be too restrictive to the free play of ideas and belief, the Committee thus changed the name so that in a short 6 years, this announcement could be made.
The Richmond Free Church was built to accommodate the congregation of Channing Hall, when the seven year lease terminated. The Free Church was opened 16 April 1896 and cost 5,517 pounds (Site, Church and Organ). The opening sermon was preached by the Rev W.E Addis of Nottingham.
Linda: The minutes of a congregation can tell us a good deal about who they are and what they care about. It’s not unlike the notion that we can tell what is important to an individual by looking at their chequebook, or in these modern times, their standing orders. But there is also a good bit that is left out. A single sentence from the Trust Deed describes what this beautiful building was meant for:
From the Trust Deed
The Trustees shall permit and suffer the said Church to be from time to time, and at all times hereafter (but subject and without prejudice to any sale, lease or mortgage which may be made of the same or any part thereof under the powers in that behalf hereinafter contained), peaceably and quietly used and enjoyed as and for a place of worship of God by the Congregation as hereinafter defined, under such regulations as are hereinafter provided in that behalf, Provided always that no trust for any particular religious doctrines or opinions or modes of regulating worship is, or is intended to be, attached to the said Church and premises, but the same shall always be held to be a Church in which no particular religious doctrine or opinion is required or forbidden to be taught or expressed, and in which no particular mode of worship is prescribed or forbidden, and Provided Further that no regulation shall at any time be made whereby the acceptance of any creed article or confession of faith shall be established as a condition of Church membership, and no such regulation if made shall have any force or effect; but so that this proviso nevertheless shall not prevent the Congregation from making use of such formularies and means of divine worship and generally worshipping in such manner as they shall from time to time think fit. (232 words!)
Snapshot 2: Church Life
Linda: Meandering through these dusty minute books tells us something of the nature of the ongoing life of the church. There were morning services and afternoon services on Sundays, and Wednesday services. There was the Women’s Meeting, and various evening lectures and poetry readings. The church got even more use during the war years:
A letter dated Feb 19th, 1915 was read from Col Foss (commanding the Richmond Transport Force stationed at the “Star and Garter”) expressing his appreciation of the opening of the Free Church as a recreation room for soldiers on weekday evenings. (Page 10 minutes November 27, 1914 to April 10, 1921)
Linda: Though the use of the church during this time made the caretaker unhappy – she had much more cleaning to do – it was surely a good use for the building. The troops needed a time and space for socialising before they were deployed to fight. But perhaps not all sorts of socialising would work:
The question having arisen as to whether dancing should be permitted amongst the evening entertainments to the soldiers in the church, Mr. Prior proposed and Mrs Tempany seconded that no dancing be allowed. Passed five voting for, one against and one abstention. (Page 14 minutes November 27, 1914 to April 10, 1921)
And other uses for the church raised a controversy:
The secretary reported that a verbal application had been made by the Independent Labour Party to be allowed to hire the church for meetings on Tuesday evenings once a fortnight from 8 pm onwards. The secretary proposed and the Mr Cheshire seconded that the application should be considered and that terms should be quoted. Sir R. K. Wilson moved as an amendment that at the present critical stage of the great European war no encouragement should be offered to any society whose aims are inconsistent with its vigorous prosecution, and that therefore the application of the Independent Labour Party should not be entertained. This was seconded by Mr. Andrew and carried by three votes to two. (Page 28 minutes November 27, 1914 to April 10, 1921)
Linda: Innovative programmes were begun:
On Saturday afternoon 24 January 1903 the Richmond Free Church Boys Guild was formally opened. The object of the Guild is to provide boys attending the Free Church with facilities for spending their leisure happily and intelligently. After an address by Mrs Farrington in the library of the Free Church, 18 boys proceeded to the premises in Princes Street. The guild is composed of two sections, craft and literary. The craft section is for instruction in joinery, modelling, ironworking etc and will be open on Wednesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoon. (Richmond and Twickenham times 24 January 1903)
Linda: It was not to last, though. The Guild was dissolved on 31 December 1903.
The Committee, however, throughout all of this time, did what Committees do best. It met.
In 1888 there were a total of 34 committee meetings.
Linda: And sometimes, it was a hot item:
In 1904 no fewer than 51 persons stood for election to the Committee.
Linda: And as it is today, sometimes they just couldn’t manage to get it all done and dusted:
A letter was read on 30th July 1915, from the secretary of the National Conference of the Free Churches asking for the names of two delegates to represent the Richmond Free Church at their meetings in London in October 1915. The secretary was instructed to write and express regret that there was no time to appoint delegates to the October meeting.
Linda: Then again, sometimes they did get it right:
After discussion it was resolved: that Mr Outten be asked to remove the barbed wire from the front gates, and in future to consult the Committee before making any alterations affecting the Church property.
Linda: Worried about trespassers, Mr Outten, the gardener, had not only erected gates (to which only he had the key), but also garlanded them with barbed wire to keep trespassers out. Weeks later he asked if he could erect spikes on the gates to replace the barbed wire. The Committee declined.
Linda: We often say that the more things change, the more they stay the same. In 1906 the minutes also reflect this announcement which was made to the congregation:
The Committee are glad to be able to announce the subscriptions and donations paid or promised are now sufficient to secure the minister’s stipend for the remainder of the current year. For meeting the other church expenses, averaging about £8.10/a month, they look partly to the weekly offertory and partly to the usual December sale of work, for which the Women’s meeting has already begun to prepare.
Linda: As it was then, so it is now that we are sustained by what we bring to the church.
Snapshot 3: The World Interferes
Linda: Throughout all of these minute books, the world around appears:
A letter was read from Mr. McDougall (organist) announcing that as he had been called to serve in the army he would be unable to discharge his usual duty at the organ for the present. Minutes November 27, 1914
Linda: It was acknowledged with gratitude that another organist was ready to step in, and one can imagine that the Committee members wished Godspeed to Mr McDougall. It wasn’t much later that the minutes recorded this:
A letter was read from Dr Foat saying he had accepted a post as Sub Director of Education to the Forces under the YMCA Educational Scheme, and would be proceeding to Salonika in September. Therefore he would be unable to resume his ministry at Ormond Road. Proposed by Mr Prior, seconded by Mr Day that Dr Foat’s resignation be received with the deepest regret and the Committee tender to him their warmest thanks for his long devotion, generous and able services to the church and they wish him abundant success in his new sphere of activity.
Linda: The worries of the wars, the difficult times – one of these minutes books was lost in the rubble of a house here in Richmond, but eventually retrieved – all of it led to the building – this building becoming tattered and grim. Rain coming in. Fierce cold. No money to pay the stipend for a minister, no money to fix the organ, no money to fix the heaters or tend to the broken windows.
At that same meeting in which Dr Foat was offered the good wishes of the Committee, there is this record:
Future of the Church.
After considerable deliberation the committee decided that the services could not be continued upon the present independent basis.
It was variously suggested that the London Unitarian Assoc, the New Thought Soc & the Theosophical soc be approached as to their willingness to take over the Church. Finally it was agreed on the proposal of Mr Prior & seconded by Mr Day that the London District Unitarian Assoc had a prior claim & the Secretary should interview the Rev J. Arthur Pearson & place the whole matter before him.
It was agreed that the Church should remain closed until further notice.
They were grim times. But there was something that made it worth the effort to help the church survive. The following meeting the secretary reported that after consultation with the London District, a Reverend J. Arthur Pearson would assist at the church, and for the next 25 years, he did just that: taking services and chairing the committee, and seeing the church through until 1940 when the Reverend Ethel Kay came to be the minister of the Richmond and Acton churches. He actually carried on serving on the Committee until 1943, when he retired from service.
There was something, thought that small group that gathered 126 years ago, worth our time and energy to create. Something about coming together to speak of religion and kindred subjects. Something about the gathering and what was spoken about to make a more permanent home for it. Something about what was happening that inspired people to give of their resources and their time – 34 Committee meetings! – and their resources to keep it going.
There was something about this enterprise of making a church that was worth it all to them back then. And though it very nearly – very nearly – fell to pieces and this was almost the Christian Scientist Church, or perhaps another church building converted into offices or left derelict, something about this enterprise of exploring religious and kindred topics in an atmosphere of discovery and openness and freedom was worth saving. And they did it for us, though they didn’t know it.
We are the inheritors of a great gift of possibility and promise. This building, with it’s accumulations of odd bits and bobs, its cracks and scuffed floors, even the cobwebs that linger in corners too high to is a legacy not only of real property, but a legacy of hope. Hope that the spirit of religious inquiry would continue and perhaps expand. Hope that it might touch a life for the good and that the circles of influence – small and subtle perhaps – would carry that good more widely into the world.
It is this legacy that is given into our hands. And the question is what shall we do with it? May it be that we accept this great legacy, and through living its promise, sustain and further it in expectation of those who will come, those people unknown to us, in the future whose lives will be made better by what we are able to create now. And may we remember that we do this for joy. Peter Morales, the President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, our sister organisation in the US has said:
If this movement we love is going to thrive, we absolutely must help all our people find their ministries. This is not about doing something out of a grim sense of duty. This is about helping each other get in touch with what we truly love, what truly moves us.
On this Anniversary Sunday, may we take up this legacy, give to us. May we take it up with joy, and with love, and carry it boldly, proudly and enthusiastically into the future.
Amen.