Highbury
Congregational Church
Congregational Church
A place to
share Christian friendship,
explore Christian faith and
enter into Christian mission
share Christian friendship,
explore Christian faith and
enter into Christian mission
We stand in a long line of Christian people who have tried to build their Christian life together in the Church on the experience of the very first churches in the days of the New Testament. The faith we share is simple: we believe in God and in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. To find out more about that faith click here.
The emphasis then and now is on the importance of fellowship - getting to know each other, building up friendships and supporting each other through our pastoral visiting network.
Then and now the emphasis is on teaching the Christian faith, the values that are so important in family and society, the good news of a fresh meaning and purpose to life so needed in our troubled world.
Then and now the emphasis is on prayer - how helpful in times of trouble, how important in groups together and in our personal lives.
Then and now we treasure the opportunity to share in the Lord’s Supper as one of the highlights of our worship.
It is a simple way of being the church where those who meet together and share their faith together and pray together can make their own decisions in the monthly Church meeting and act on them ... with God’s help.
What’s in a name?
Yes, we do have a connection with Arsenal and their Highbury Ground! Students from what was then the Highbury College in Islington, London, were instrumental in establishing the first Congregational Church in Cheltenham back in 1827. We are now in our third set of purpose built premises - with ideal access for people with disabilities. Highbury College is no more ... Arsenal’s stadium is on the site of the playing fields!
Congregational
As the name suggests a Congregational Church is based very much on the local ‘congregation’, the local gathering of Christian people.
We have no external human authority to tell us what to do: all decisions regarding the life and work, the worship and ministry of the church are the responsibility of those who belong, meeting together in the presence of Christ in their monthly Church Meeting.
At the same time we are in fellowship with other Congregational Churches in the Congregational Federation and work very closely with all Christian Churches through the Churches Together Movement and the Council for World Mission.
Click here to find out more about the Congregational way of being the church.
Church
The church is not a building ... It is the people who belong who make the church. Congregational Churches are very much part of the mainstream church life in this country.
We trace our roots back through the Seventeenth Century quest for democracy, through the Sixteenth Century re-discovery of the simplicity of Christian beginnings, through the mediaeval tradition of religious community centred on the Scriptures, through the Celtic church in Britain with its independence from state-control in Rome, to the beginnings of the Church described in the New Testament.
Room for all
We seek to be a Church where there is room for all ... Where young and old can learn to value each other and together share the love of God in such a way that others may know that love of God for themselves. Our Church life is focused on our Worship, our Mission and the service we can give to the Community around. Whether it is the fun and games of our lively youth and children’s work or the support of a pastoral visiting network or lively worship with a focus on God’s Word for today, we seek to be part of the blessing of God’s Kingdom.
No Walls within
In 1968, Eric Burton, then Minister of Highbury had a vision for the church. It is still a vision we share. He described his vision in a book called No Walls Within. His book was about ‘walls’ - the barriers that divide in and about our churches. Its cover showed that man-made barrier of barbed wire and brick - the Berlin Wall, dividing the suffering city of Berlin. At one point the wall crosses the precincts of a church. The red brick tower houses the entrance to the church, standing as it does in the eastern sector of the city. On a central ledge in the tower, just above the entrance to the church, there is a statue in white stone, well above the height of the wall. The statue is of Jesus Christ. Something about his stance suggests that he is saying again: ‘Come unto me ...’ (Matthew 11.28). But you cannot, it would seem in that place! The wall dominates and the wall precludes entrance into that church from the western sector. The wall dominates, instead of Christ who looks down upon the wall, and East German guards pass by.’
‘We think that terrible? Eric asks. Before we answer, or make comment, or pass judgment, let us examine ourselves. Is ours his church without walls? A church where none pass by, where children, young people, adults, including the aged all come readily?
Eric prompts us towards an answer, quoting the visionary words of H.R.L. Sheppard who wrote of St Martin-in-the-Fields:
‘I stood on the steps, and saw what this church would be to the life of the people. There passed me, into its warm interior, all sorts of people, going up to the Temple of the Lord, with all their difficulties, trials and sorrows. And I said to them, as they swept in, ‘Where are you going?’ And they said only one thing: ‘This is our home. This is where we are going to learn the love of Jesus Christ. This is the altar of our Lord where all peace lies ....’They spoke only two words to me. One was the word home, and the other was love.’
What a wonderful vision Eric shared with us in 1968. What a wonderful vision for us to take into the 21st Century.
There is a wonderful postscript to Eric’s story. In 1985 Honneker, then President of East Germany decreed that the church on the cover of the book should be demolished. The people of the church danced on the wall in defiance as they saw their church building come down.
In 1989 the wall came down. And in 2000 a new church was opened on that very site. It is known as the Church of Reconciliation. Outside is a sculpture. It is of two people embracing each other in reconciling love. There is a replica in Coventry, another in Belfast, another in Hiroshima and this one in Berlin. You can read the full story by clicking here
Josefina de Vasconcellos’ sculpture is a remarkable piece of work by a remarkable sculptress. A Christian, passionately committed to peace, Josefina de Vasconcellos heard the story of a woman who had walked across Europe to find her husband in the months after the end of the Second World War. Her sculpture captures the moment of their reunion, and initially bore the title ‘Reunion’.
In 1977 she was commissioned by Bradford University to do another version of the same sculpture for the Peace Studies Department as it opened. Her sculpture was re-named ‘Reconciliation’.
To mark the 50th Anniversary of the end of the war two more casts were commissioned by Richard Branson and placed in Coventry Cathedral and in the Peace Park, Hiroshima.
When Mo Mowlem became Secretary of State in Northern Ireland, she felt it important to have sculpture in the grounds of Stormont Castle that stood for reconciliation. Another version of ‘Reconciliation’ was placed on an island in a pond in the gardens of Stormont Castle, Belfast.
And in 1999 another cast was made to be placed here in Berlin at the Church of Reconciliation. If you look carefully you can see between the two figures a Bible. It is an exact cast of an open Bible found in the ruins of the demolished church in 1985.
A Sculptor, Josefina de Vasconcellos was also a remarkable poet, and did a great amount of work for abused and troubled children. She died in 2005 at the age of 100.
To find out more about Josefina de Vasconcellos click here.
The emphasis then and now is on the importance of fellowship -
Then and now the emphasis is on teaching the Christian faith, the values that are so important in family and society, the good news of a fresh meaning and purpose to life so needed in our troubled world.
Then and now the emphasis is on prayer -
Then and now we treasure the opportunity to share in the Lord’s Supper as one of the highlights of our worship.
It is a simple way of being the church where those who meet together and share their faith together and pray together can make their own decisions in the monthly Church meeting and act on them ... with God’s help.
What’s in a name?
Yes, we do have a connection with Arsenal and their Highbury Ground! Students from what was then the Highbury College in Islington, London, were instrumental in establishing the first Congregational Church in Cheltenham back in 1827. We are now in our third set of purpose built premises -
Congregational
As the name suggests a Congregational Church is based very much on the local ‘congregation’, the local gathering of Christian people.
We have no external human authority to tell us what to do: all decisions regarding the life and work, the worship and ministry of the church are the responsibility of those who belong, meeting together in the presence of Christ in their monthly Church Meeting.
At the same time we are in fellowship with other Congregational Churches in the Congregational Federation and work very closely with all Christian Churches through the Churches Together Movement and the Council for World Mission.
Click here to find out more about the Congregational way of being the church.
Church
The church is not a building ... It is the people who belong who make the church. Congregational Churches are very much part of the mainstream church life in this country.
We trace our roots back through the Seventeenth Century quest for democracy, through the Sixteenth Century re-
Room for all
We seek to be a Church where there is room for all ... Where young and old can learn to value each other and together share the love of God in such a way that others may know that love of God for themselves. Our Church life is focused on our Worship, our Mission and the service we can give to the Community around. Whether it is the fun and games of our lively youth and children’s work or the support of a pastoral visiting network or lively worship with a focus on God’s Word for today, we seek to be part of the blessing of God’s Kingdom.
No Walls within
In 1968, Eric Burton, then Minister of Highbury had a vision for the church. It is still a vision we share. He described his vision in a book called No Walls Within. His book was about ‘walls’ -
‘We think that terrible? Eric asks. Before we answer, or make comment, or pass judgment, let us examine ourselves. Is ours his church without walls? A church where none pass by, where children, young people, adults, including the aged all come readily?
Eric prompts us towards an answer, quoting the visionary words of H.R.L. Sheppard who wrote of St Martin-
‘I stood on the steps, and saw what this church would be to the life of the people. There passed me, into its warm interior, all sorts of people, going up to the Temple of the Lord, with all their difficulties, trials and sorrows. And I said to them, as they swept in, ‘Where are you going?’ And they said only one thing: ‘This is our home. This is where we are going to learn the love of Jesus Christ. This is the altar of our Lord where all peace lies ....’They spoke only two words to me. One was the word home, and the other was love.’
What a wonderful vision Eric shared with us in 1968. What a wonderful vision for us to take into the 21st Century.
There is a wonderful postscript to Eric’s story. In 1985 Honneker, then President of East Germany decreed that the church on the cover of the book should be demolished. The people of the church danced on the wall in defiance as they saw their church building come down.
In 1989 the wall came down. And in 2000 a new church was opened on that very site. It is known as the Church of Reconciliation. Outside is a sculpture. It is of two people embracing each other in reconciling love. There is a replica in Coventry, another in Belfast, another in Hiroshima and this one in Berlin. You can read the full story by clicking here
Josefina de Vasconcellos’ sculpture is a remarkable piece of work by a remarkable sculptress. A Christian, passionately committed to peace, Josefina de Vasconcellos heard the story of a woman who had walked across Europe to find her husband in the months after the end of the Second World War. Her sculpture captures the moment of their reunion, and initially bore the title ‘Reunion’.
In 1977 she was commissioned by Bradford University to do another version of the same sculpture for the Peace Studies Department as it opened. Her sculpture was re-
To mark the 50th Anniversary of the end of the war two more casts were commissioned by Richard Branson and placed in Coventry Cathedral and in the Peace Park, Hiroshima.
When Mo Mowlem became Secretary of State in Northern Ireland, she felt it important to have sculpture in the grounds of Stormont Castle that stood for reconciliation. Another version of ‘Reconciliation’ was placed on an island in a pond in the gardens of Stormont Castle, Belfast.
And in 1999 another cast was made to be placed here in Berlin at the Church of Reconciliation. If you look carefully you can see between the two figures a Bible. It is an exact cast of an open Bible found in the ruins of the demolished church in 1985.
A Sculptor, Josefina de Vasconcellos was also a remarkable poet, and did a great amount of work for abused and troubled children. She died in 2005 at the age of 100.
To find out more about Josefina de Vasconcellos click here.
