St Aidan's Church, Parade Crescent, Speke, Liverpool 24. 1957 to 2017. Rest in Pieces. (2009 photo).
Architect: Bernard Miller.
Built 1957.
"St Aidan/The Place to Be, Speke.
When the church of St Aidan in Speke fell into serious disrepair, with water seeping through the roofs and a failing boiler, the congregation identified two options: repairing the building – and at the same time re-ordering it to make it more welcoming - or moving out.
The church building was large and the necessary works would have run into many thousands of pounds – a daunting prospect for a congregation numbering 15-20 people in a deprived area. Moreover, it was far from ideally situated. A once thriving shopping centre opposite had been boarded up, vandalised and eventually demolished, leaving the church building isolated with no-one having any reason to walk by.
Matters came to a head one Christmas when the heating failed completely and the congregation decided that a move was essential. During the course of much prayer and discussion on the subject of ‘what is church?’, the congregation agreed that ‘church’ was not the church building per se but that, nevertheless, St Aidan’s did need a building of some kind as a focus for the community. The gift of hospitality was a theme which also emerged very strongly. In Speke, many people did not think to go into a church and so a move to a different building offered an opportunity to reach out to the community in a new way.
After an interim move to a local school, the church found a vacant shop in Speke which met the congregation’s needs, including its vision to offer the gift of hospitality to the community. "
Source:
www.churchgrowthrd.org.uk/UserFiles/File/Resourcing_Missi...
Edit. March 2015.
Closed and boarded up.
Edit.
Demolished August 2017.
St Aidan's Church, Parade Crescent, Speke, Liverpool 24. 1957 to 2017. Rest in Pieces. (2009 photo).
Architect: Bernard Miller.
Built 1957.
"St Aidan/The Place to Be, Speke.
When the church of St Aidan in Speke fell into serious disrepair, with water seeping through the roofs and a failing boiler, the congregation identified two options: repairing the building – and at the same time re-ordering it to make it more welcoming - or moving out.
The church building was large and the necessary works would have run into many thousands of pounds – a daunting prospect for a congregation numbering 15-20 people in a deprived area. Moreover, it was far from ideally situated. A once thriving shopping centre opposite had been boarded up, vandalised and eventually demolished, leaving the church building isolated with no-one having any reason to walk by.
Matters came to a head one Christmas when the heating failed completely and the congregation decided that a move was essential. During the course of much prayer and discussion on the subject of ‘what is church?’, the congregation agreed that ‘church’ was not the church building per se but that, nevertheless, St Aidan’s did need a building of some kind as a focus for the community. The gift of hospitality was a theme which also emerged very strongly. In Speke, many people did not think to go into a church and so a move to a different building offered an opportunity to reach out to the community in a new way.
After an interim move to a local school, the church found a vacant shop in Speke which met the congregation’s needs, including its vision to offer the gift of hospitality to the community. "
Source:
www.churchgrowthrd.org.uk/UserFiles/File/Resourcing_Missi...
Edit. March 2015.
Closed and boarded up.
Edit.
Demolished August 2017.