Jesmond Parish Church
Encyclopedia
Jesmond Parish Church is a parish church
in the Church of England
situated in the Jesmond
suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne
, England
.
, and a local evangelical light. In his place the church authorities wished to appoint a successor who didn't share Clayton's concern to teach the Bible. A large number of the congregation of St Thomas's were deeply unhappy. A committee was formed with the intention of planting a new church nearby, which "will form a central point for the maintenance and promulgation of sound scriptural and evangelical truth in a large and populous town." At the time, much of the land around the site was open fields; the building was designed by the architect John Dobson
and consecrated in 1861.
Anglican church of approximately 1,100 people. Currently the leadership team of the church includes David Holloway (the vicar since 1973), Jonathan Pryke, Jonathan Redfearn, Ian Garrett and Alan Munden. The church is noted for its preaching, which aims to be expository and evangelistic.
Sermons are published on the website http://www.church.org.uk (www.church.org.uk) and are offered as MP3 downloads as well as being available in video format on the church's new broadcast website (see below). Also available are the quaintly named Coloured Supplements, a monthly piece giving Christian comment on social and political issues, normally written by the vicar.
Liturgically the church is conservative, adopting the north side position at services of Holy Communion. ASB Rite A (Prayer Book Pattern) is used. Services of Morning and Evening Prayer are based on the Series 3 forms. Hymns and songs are sourced from a range of books, including 'Hymns for Today's Church'.
The church has a close relationship with the Christian Institute
whose national headquarters are also in Newcastle. David Holloway is a prominent member of the CI and has written many of its annual Christmas messages. Both organisations take a strong stance against homosexual practice, most recently in relation to the legislation on civil partnerships, which has led to the church's services being picketed on a number of occasions by gay rights activists. In October 1999 the church was vandalised with graffiti opposing the church's stance on human sexuality http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,200474,00.html.
JPC is a member of Reform
, a network of evangelical churches within the Church of England
, that includes some of the largest Anglican churches in UK. Other churches with similar theology include:
In the coming years, Clayton Media intends to take advantage of the growth of Internet TV technologies to enable broadcasting to television sets via the Internet and set-top boxes, as opposed to being merely PC-based for the time being.
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
situated in the Jesmond
Jesmond
Jesmond is a residential suburb and is split into two electoral wards just north of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The population is about 12,000. It is adjacent to, and to the east of, the Town Moor, providing pedestrian and cycle paths to Spital Tongues and the city's two Universities...
suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History
The church had a slightly unusual beginning. 1856 saw the untimely death of Rev Richard Clayton, Master of St Thomas' Church, HaymarketChurch of St Thomas the Martyr
The Church of St Thomas the Martyr, Newcastle upon Tyne, is one of the most prominent city centre landmarks, located close to both universities, the city hall and main shopping district in the Haymarket...
, and a local evangelical light. In his place the church authorities wished to appoint a successor who didn't share Clayton's concern to teach the Bible. A large number of the congregation of St Thomas's were deeply unhappy. A committee was formed with the intention of planting a new church nearby, which "will form a central point for the maintenance and promulgation of sound scriptural and evangelical truth in a large and populous town." At the time, much of the land around the site was open fields; the building was designed by the architect John Dobson
John Dobson (architect)
John Dobson was a 19th-century English architect in the neoclassical tradition. He became the most noted architect in the North of England. Churches and houses by him dot the North East - Nunnykirk Hall, Meldon Park, Mitford Hall, Lilburn Tower, St John the Baptist Church in Otterburn,...
and consecrated in 1861.
List of Vicars
- 1861-1882 Rev Canon Berkeley Addison
- 1882-1888 Rev Canon Somerset Pennefather
- 1889-1894 Rev Theodore Charles Chapman
- 1894-1897 Rev Edwin Savage
- 1898-1907 Rev Canon Thomas Brocas Waters
- 1907-1916 Rev Canon James Inskip
- 1916-1927 Rev Canon George Oakley
- 1927-1947 Rev Canon George Goddard
- 1947-1959 Rev Harry Bates
- 1960-1972 Rev Roger Frith
- 1973-present Rev David Holloway
The organ
The church houses a fine pipe organ by the renowned builder James Jepson Binns of Leeds dating from 1913. It contains pipework from an organ by T. C. Lewis of 1895. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.List of organists
- Charles Chambers 1882 - 1890
- John Murray 1890 - ????
- Claud H. Hill
- J.E.Hutchinson 1903 - 1947
- George Henry Sutcliffe 1947 - 1978 - ????
- Chris Edwards 1996 - 2011
List of Assistant organists
- Clifford Harker 1928 - 1930
- Graham Steed 1934 - 1941
- Miles Cragg 2006 - 2011
The church today
Today JPC is a conservative evangelicalConservative Evangelicalism
Conservative Evangelicalism is a term used in Britain to describe a theological movement found within Evangelical Protestant Christianity, and is sometimes simply synonymous with Evangelical within the United Kingdom...
Anglican church of approximately 1,100 people. Currently the leadership team of the church includes David Holloway (the vicar since 1973), Jonathan Pryke, Jonathan Redfearn, Ian Garrett and Alan Munden. The church is noted for its preaching, which aims to be expository and evangelistic.
Sermons are published on the website http://www.church.org.uk (www.church.org.uk) and are offered as MP3 downloads as well as being available in video format on the church's new broadcast website (see below). Also available are the quaintly named Coloured Supplements, a monthly piece giving Christian comment on social and political issues, normally written by the vicar.
Liturgically the church is conservative, adopting the north side position at services of Holy Communion. ASB Rite A (Prayer Book Pattern) is used. Services of Morning and Evening Prayer are based on the Series 3 forms. Hymns and songs are sourced from a range of books, including 'Hymns for Today's Church'.
The church has a close relationship with the Christian Institute
Christian Institute
The Christian Institute is a British evangelical Christian pressure group. The CI promotes a Conservative Christian viewpoint, founded on the belief that the Bible is inerrant and should be the authority on all of life...
whose national headquarters are also in Newcastle. David Holloway is a prominent member of the CI and has written many of its annual Christmas messages. Both organisations take a strong stance against homosexual practice, most recently in relation to the legislation on civil partnerships, which has led to the church's services being picketed on a number of occasions by gay rights activists. In October 1999 the church was vandalised with graffiti opposing the church's stance on human sexuality http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,200474,00.html.
JPC is a member of Reform
Reform (Anglican)
Reform is an Evangelical organisation within Anglicanism, active in the Church of England and the Church of Ireland. Reform in England describes itself as a "network of churches and individuals within the Church of England, committed to the reform of ourselves, our congregation and our world by the...
, a network of evangelical churches within the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, that includes some of the largest Anglican churches in UK. Other churches with similar theology include:
- St Andrew The Great, Cambridge
- St Ebbe's, OxfordSt Ebbe's, OxfordSt Ebbe's is a Church of England parish church in central Oxford which is in the conservative evangelical tradition. It has members from many nations, many of whom are students at Oxford University...
- St Helen's BishopsgateSt Helen's BishopsgateSt Helen's Bishopsgate is a large conservative evangelical Anglican church, in Lime Street ward, in the City of London, close to the Lloyd's building and the 'Gherkin'.-History:...
Clayton Media
In 2007, the Jesmond Trust (set up to manage the property and finances of the church) started a new media production unit known as Clayton Media. The aim was to fill a perceived gap in the UK media by producing evangelical, Bible-based content to broadcast quality. In 2008 this aim was initially realized through the introduction of the Clayton.TV website. Evening services from the church are now filmed to broadcast quality, and later edited and put on the website which acts as an Internet TV channel. Other content includes Christian talk shows and teaching from Sydney, Australia.In the coming years, Clayton Media intends to take advantage of the growth of Internet TV technologies to enable broadcasting to television sets via the Internet and set-top boxes, as opposed to being merely PC-based for the time being.