HISTORY OF HORLEY METHODIST CHURCH

Originally there were two types of Methodists worshipping in Horley. The Primitive Methodists had a chapel in the High Street. In 1909 a grant was given to a Wesleyan Methodist group who met in a room above what is now Lloyds Bank, also in the High Street. The first service was held on 3 October 1909 and was conducted by a lay preacher, Mr C.E. Gentle. At a meeting of the trustees held in the room on 20 July 1910 it was decided to build a new church. By 11 March two years later their hopes were realised and the “Wesley Hall” was opened on that date. The Sunday School first started on 30 October 1912. On 29 March 1939 a new Primary Hall was opened and the chairs in the church were replaced by oak pews. A pipe organ and pulpit were also put in. By this time the Primitive Methodists had left their chapel and joined with the Wesleyans to become the Methodist Church. Electric lights and hearing aids were also installed in the church about 1939-40. By 1956/57 the congregation had grown so much that it was decided to build a new church. The old church became the church hall. Rev. Bertram Woods and his congregation raised £16,000 out of £22,000 needed to build the new church. (The late and dearly remembered Wyn Maynard was fond of saying that it was built partly on the foundations of her home made marmalade!). The pulpit, organ and pews (with more added) were installed in the new church from the old.

The present building was opened on 11 June 1960 by Mrs F. Bartlett Lang, and the preacher on that day was Rev. Edward Rogers who was to become President of the Methodist Conference. The church is spacious and is somewhat unusual (though not unique) for a Methodist church because it is in the shape of a cross and has stained glass windows.

The suite of rooms at the side which includes the Fellowship Room was added in the 1970s, during the ministry of the late Rev. Leslie Holdsworth.

Stained glass windows.

The two large windows in the transepts are in memory of different people. The small windows in the side aisles were given by Ron Harwood, a former church treasurer. His first wife died in 1948 and his second wife died in 1972. She was still alive when his first wife (Hilda) was commemorated in the first window, which was dedicated about 1961. The window in memory of Mabel (Mabs), his second wife, was installed and dedicated about 1974. At her funeral, hymn 685 in Hymns and Psalms was sung. This is “O love that wilt not let me go”, and the windows depict the last two verses. As you enter the church the window in the right hand aisle for Hilda depicts the verse “O cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from thee: I lay in dust life’s glory dead, And from the ground there blossoms red Life that shall endless be”. In the left hand aisle in memory of Mabs the third verse says “I trace the rainbow through the rain, And feel the promise is not vain, That morn shall tearless be”.

The organ.

In 1939 Messrs. Hill, Norman and Beard quoted £80 to build an organ. Our organist at that time knew the organist of Westminster Abbey, Dr Bullock, and consulted him. Dr Bullock drew up a specification for a small organ which Hill, Norman and Beard agreed to build for £478.15s.0d. (£478.75), provided that Dr Bullock signed a statement to say that it was his specification and that he would play it at the opening ceremony. At that time Hill, Norman and Beard were re-building Norwich Cathedral organ which had been damaged by fire, and some of the undamaged pipes were put in our organ. In 1960 it was moved into the new church from the old church at a cost of £420. In 1981 for £8000 it was cleaned and refurbished as follows:

• 579 pipes taken out, cleaned and re-tuned
  

• 591 little leather bellows replaced

• Dust of decades removed!

Compiled (from various sources) by Mary Stemp.

Ministers from the late 1950s to date

Revs:

• Frederick Latham (prior to 1945)
• Franklin T Park (about 1945)
• John W Davis (early 1950s)
• Dr. T Francis Glasson (1953)
• Bertram Woods (1956)
• Clifford Hind (1964)
• Leslie Holdsworth (Superintendent) (1970)
• Denis Creamer (Superintendent) (1977)
• Harold Slater (Superintendent) (1982)
• Peter Hills (1988) (left early to become an Army chaplain)
• Billy Slatter (1991)
• Tony Cavanagh (1996)
• Christine Keyte (2003)