Crowborough Community Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Crowborough Community Church |
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| The Oasis | |
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The church from the southwest
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 Crowborough Community Church
Location in East Sussex
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| 51°03′38″N 0°09′38″E / 51.060576°N 0.160439°E | |
| Location | Beacon Road, Crowborough, East Sussex TN6 1AS |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Evangelical |
| Previous denomination | Free Church of England |
| Tradition | Newfrontiers |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | Christ Church |
| Status | Church |
| Founded | 1879 |
| Founder(s) | Elizabeth de Lannoy |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
Crowborough Community Church, also known as Community Church, Crowborough, is a Christian church in Crowborough, East Sussex, England. For many years, it was called Christ Church and belonged to the Free Church of England. This church group was started in the 1800s.
The church building is made of red brick and has a beautiful stained glass window. It has been an important part of the town since 1879. A kind person named Elizabeth de Lannoy paid for it to be built. The church also has rooms that were used as schoolrooms and a lecture hall. Part of the lecture hall was even Crowborough's public library for a long time! Today, the church is part of the Newfrontiers movement, which is a type of Evangelical Christian group.
Contents
History of the Church
How Crowborough Grew
Before the late 1800s, Crowborough was just a few small groups of homes. But then, new railway lines were built, and land became available for building houses. This caused Crowborough to grow very quickly. By 1910, many of the town's buildings, including most of its churches, were finished. The number of people living in Crowborough tripled in just ten years around 1900.
Building Christ Church
In 1879, Elizabeth de Lannoy, a generous local person, paid for a new church to be built on Beacon Road. She named it Christ Church and gave it to the Free Church of England. Five years later, she also gave money to support the church's minister.
The first minister of the church was Bishop Samuel James Dicksee. He served the church from 1879 until he passed away in 1900. He also became the leader of the Free Church of England in 1889. Elizabeth de Lannoy also paid for a house for Bishop Dicksee to live in. After he passed away, his wife paid for a new house for future ministers. This house is now privately owned.
Elizabeth de Lannoy also made sure there were other useful buildings. She paid for a schoolroom and a separate lecture hall to be built behind the church. The lecture hall was used as Crowborough's public library until the town built a new library in the late 1950s.
Changes Over Time
Christ Church continued to be used by the Free Church of England throughout the 1900s. However, by 2008, the church building was no longer used for regular worship.
Around the same time, a new Christian group called Crowborough Community Church was growing. This group started in 1997 when some people from a church in nearby Uckfield began meeting in Crowborough. Members from the old Christ Church also joined this new Community Church.
By 2015, Crowborough Community Church had bought the former Christ Church building. They used it for church offices and some activities, but Sunday services were held at a community center. After some renovations, church services started again in the old Christ Church building in 2018. The building is now also known as The Oasis.
Church Building and Design
Christ Church is a simple but special building. It has a very large, wide window facing the street. The church is built in a style called Gothic Revival, using red brick with stone details. The sides of the church have small windows that stick out from the roof, called dormer windows.
Inside the church, there are special items that remember people. There is a plaque that honors Elizabeth de Lannoy, who paid for the church. There is also a beautiful marble font, which is a basin used for baptisms. This font was given by the wife of David Murray Somerville, who was a minister at the church from 1906 to 1917.
How the Church is Run
Crowborough Community Church is officially registered for worship. This means it follows the rules for places of worship in England. It is also a member of the Evangelical Alliance and the Newfrontiers movement.
See also
