Founded in 1941, St Ninians URC (United Reformed Church) on Villa Road in Luton, recently held its final worship service. It is one of the five United Reformed Churches in Luton & Dunstable which are amalgamating into one church, Newland URC, with two buildings, one in Dunstable and one in Luton.
St. Ninian, after whom St Ninians URC is named in Luton, is first mentioned in the 8th century as being an early missionary among the northern Britons and the Pictish peoples of what is now Scotland. Hence, the foundations of St Ninians URC were laid in 1941, due to the large number of Scots who had arrived to work in Luton including many Doctors and Welfare Officers at the principal factories. By 1947, regular Church Services had started to take place at the present site, and soon it became a hive of social activities such as Tuesday Fellowship Group, Scouts, Cubs, Guides, Brownies, Bazaars, Women’s Guild, Drama Society, Play Groups etc.
The present Church building was designed by Mr Gordon Jackson, who emphasised simplicity in his building designs, getting away from Gothic designs. “But the Church is not just a building; it is the people who worship there”, said Rona Harvey, St Ninians URC member since 1948. She said, “When I came from Scotland, the people in Church were my family. It was a warm, welcoming place full of people who spoke in a familiar accent, wore a kilt on Sundays and made lovely scones. Over the years, many families have played their part in keeping the Church alive, by baptising, confirming and marrying their children here; this fellowship of people is the real Church to which we all belong. I look forward to continuing that fellowship with a new family at Newland Church.”
Ann Burgoyne, another longstanding Church member said, “St Ninians has seen many changes over its lifetime of 82 years. We give thanks for our ministers’ hard work, encouragement, and leadership. Today we are celebrating what has gone before and saying goodbye to our building but not goodbye to our Church. For the Church is not the building, the church is the people who come to worship and share fellowship. We will still be church together; we will just meet somewhere new, alongside all our friends old and new from all the other URC Churches in Luton and Dunstable.”
Reinforcing the above sentiments, Revd George Watt, Moderator of URC Thames North Synod said, “As we meet today we celebrate that this is a place where people have been able to find God, where faith has come alive and grown. We often speak of our churches as being God’s buildings, but God has a vision that his building will be people rather something made of bricks and stone. You are God’s building. And so as you look to the future, remember that God is not confined or defined by this building, as significant as it may have been to many. We are called to go and be God’s building as living stones, in our workplaces, in our schools, in our families and in our leisure activities. We are not called to be rooted in one place, but we are sometimes called to pull up our tent pegs and move on in our pilgrimage.”
Revd Heather Whyte, the URC Minister in Luton & Dunstable invited all to the Newland Church Inaugural Service to be held at Wigmore Community Church, Crawley Green Road, Luton LU2 9JB on Sunday 30th July 3pm. ALL ARE WELCOME.
Revd Heather said, “We are looking forward to exploring new ideas together and growing together, and following the way of Jesus as a model for our lives. We are an open fellowship and welcome anyone as we ASK questions of faith, and what it means to follow the teachings of Jesus in today's world. Together we wish to spread a message of peace, justice and compassion to all.”
