Wheler Street Moravian Church facts for kids

The Wheler Street Moravian Church was a church in Manchester, England. It started in 1899 because of help from the Fairfield Moravian Settlement nearby. The church was located on Wheler Street in Higher Openshaw.

How the Church Started

In July 1899, a special agreement was signed. This agreement allowed the church to buy a piece of land on Wheler Street. The land cost £900 and was about 2,000 square yards big. This happened after members of the Moravian Settlement in Fairfield had been helping people in the area for many years. In fact, people had been preaching in this area, at a place called Edge Lane, as far back as the 1850s.

Building the First Church

An iron building was put up on the land. It cost £400 to build and furnish it. This building was about 44 feet long and 24 feet wide. It could hold almost 220 people. At the front, there was a porch with two doors on the sides. At the back, there was a small room called a vestry. The church had four windows on each side. It also had a small round window at the porch end. Inside, at the back, there was a raised area. This is where the communion table and a desk were placed.

Opening Day and Early Years

The new church building opened for worship on November 16, 1899. Public services were held on November 26 and December 3. The minister from Fairfield at that time was Br Samuel Kershaw. He was in charge of starting this new church.

In the first month, about eighty people came to church on average. Within five years, around two hundred children attended Sunday School. An extra building was added in 1912. Wheler Street was the first Moravian church in the United Kingdom to have a Scout Troop.

Support and Growth

In 1920, a kind man named Sir John Purser Griffith gave more than £2,000. This money helped to pay off the building loans for Wheler Street and three other Moravian churches. At one time, over twenty different groups met regularly each week at the church. By 1929, a new church made of bricks was built. The old iron building was finally taken down in 1964. A new addition to the church followed in 1967.

Ministers and Legacy

During its 110 years, the church had thirty different ministers. Three of these ministers later became bishops, which is a very important role. Two men from Wheler Street decided to become Moravian ministers themselves. Their names were Brn D Dickinson and D Howarth.

Closing the Church

In its last years, the church had about thirty members on average. The number of members kept getting smaller. Also, the area was changing, and it cost a lot to keep the church going. Because of these reasons, it was decided to close the church in 2009.