Welcome to St. Stephen’s Church, Norwich
A Welcoming Tradition
Revd. Madeline Light writes…..
St. Stephen’s has a long history of being welcoming and forward-thinking. In the 1400′s a vicar based here embraced the Reformation and new ways of thinking, such as the movement to make scriptures accessible to people in the pews.
Today, the way the congregation has embraced the new Chapelfield shopping centre development next door continues this tradition. Historically there’s always been a path through the churchyard (previously it went to the St. Peter Mancroft vicarage), but the congregation took a lot of stick from the public when the path was reopened to what is now Chapelfield. The upshot has been the opening up and re-landscaping of the churchyard, and around 50,000 people now walk past the church each week. The congregation doubled in 2008-09, which I attribute to the church’s location and the fact that it’s serving the community and engaging with real people. The church has always mirrored what’s happening in society in general, and we’re keen to appealing to people in the local community.
In 2009 we noticed a crack in the east end wall and notified an engineer, who said it was moving significantly. The damage was caused by a burst water main underneath the church, so we’ve had to close the building while extensive structural repairs are carried out. We’ve had to take out the stained glass window while the east wall is underpinned. Specialist glaziers have told us the window needs to be restored, so we’re now fundraising.
Church Structural Repairs and what they mean for us….
Since Autumn (’09) St. Stephen’s Church has been undergoing extensive structural repairs to the East end wall. As a result of this St. Stephen’s has been closed – to congregation and visitors for several months. From October ’09 our Sunday services have been held elsewhere whilst the work is in progress and we are grateful to St. Peter Mancroft for the use of their Chantry Hall in Chantry Road (just next to the Assembly Rooms).
The structural repair work will also mean the temporary closure of Coffee Centre.
The church office has now moved to the vicarage – please ‘phone: 07887 472 678 or email: ststephensnorwich@googlemail.com to make contact with us. The website will also be kept updated.
Bank details for donations: Barclay Bank, Norwich
See also Eastern Evening News article.
Header photo “Nativity window detail” - acknowledgement: Leo Reynolds
