St Andrew the Great

St Andrew the Great
Country United Kingdom
Denomination Church of England
Churchmanship Low Church / Conservative Evangelical
Website stag.org
Administration
Diocese Diocese of Ely
Clergy
Bishop(s) The Rt Revd Rod Thomas (AEO)
Vicar(s) Alasdair Paine

St Andrew the Great is a Church of England parish church in central Cambridge. Rebuilt in late Gothic style in 1843, it is a Grade II listed building. The church has a conservative evangelical tradition and participates in the Anglican Reform movement.[1] The congregation includes Cambridge residents, overseas visitors and students.

History

The church from St Andrew's Street, Cambridge

A church on the site of St Andrew the Great is first mentioned by name in 1200AD. Little is known of the first building, which was probably a wooden structure, and was replaced with a more substantial stone building in the early 13th century. During the 16th century the church was a centre of Reformation preaching, with the Puritan William Perkins the "lecturer" from 1585-1602,[2] followed by Paul Baynes.

A third building was built on the site after 1650, largely at the expense of Christopher Rose (twice mayor of Cambridge, in 1637 and 1654). Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1694, was curate of St Andrew's from 1662;[3] he set an example by his devoted attention to sufferers of the plague. Temple Chevallier was curate and then vicar from 1822.[4]

To accommodate a growing congregation, the church was entirely rebuilt in 1842-3, in a 15th-century East Anglian style by Ambrose Poynter.[5] It was built with a nave of five bays with side aisles and a west tower of four stages; the south porch and vestries were added later in the 19th-century. It has slight remains of the earlier structure including early 12th-century double capitals in the heating chamber and some wall memorials.[6]

Cook Memorial

Memorial to Captain James Cook and family

The church building contains a number of memorial tablets, most notably one of the explorer Captain James Cook and family. The memorial records Captain Cook, his wife Elizabeth, and their six children. Elizabeth died in 1835, aged 93, and was buried in the church with two of her sons. She left a bequest to pay the minister, support five poor aged women and to maintain the monument.[7]

Recent history

St Andrew's was declared redundant in 1984[8] as the parish population had dwindled. However, the congregation of the Holy Sepulchre (the Round Church), was looking for a new home as growth of the congregation had led them to run out of space. They raised the money to renovate St Andrew's, installing a new gallery, baptistry and rooms, and moved there in 1994. The parish associated with the church is now called Holy Sepulchre with All Saints. The Round Church is still used occasionally and is leased to Christian Heritage for exhibition and training courses.

The church has been involved in three church 'grafting' schemes, to All Saints', Little Shelford (1997), Christ Church Cambridge (2004) and St Matthew's, Cambridge (2008). In each case a minister on the staff moved with a substantial number in the congregation to join the existing congregation in those places.[9]

Present day

The church is open for public services every Sunday: 10am, 11.30am (during University term time) and 5pm. Services are roughly an hour in length, with a strong emphasis on relevant Bible teaching. There are six age-banded Sunday school groups for children and also evening meetings for undergraduates (Tuesdays), 20s-30s (Wednesdays), internationals (Thursdays) and teenagers (Fridays and Sundays).[10]

The church is within the conservative evangelical tradition of the Church of England.[11] The parish has passed resolutions to reject the ordination and/or leadership of women. It receives alternative episcopal oversight from the Bishop of Maidstone (currently Rod Thomas).[12]

Notable clergy

List of Vicars

The following have served as vicar:[13]

  • 1955-1987: Mark Ruston
  • 1987-2010: Mark Ashton[14]
  • 2011–present: Alasdair Paine

Other clergy

References

  1. ↑ Local churches linked to Reform
  2. ↑ Ferguson, Sinclair (1996), "Foreword", The Art of Prophesying, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh. ISBN 0851516890.
  3. ↑ Persons: Tenison, Thomas (1660 - 1695) (–) in "CCEd, the Clergy of the Church of England database" (Accessed online, 13 January 2018)
  4. ↑ Persons: Chevallier, Temple (1819 - 1835) (–) in "CCEd, the Clergy of the Church of England database" (Accessed online, 13 January 2018)
  5. ↑ Bradley, Simon. "Poynter, Ambrose". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press.
  6. ↑ Historic England. "Church of St Andrew the Great (1331889)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  7. ↑ "St Andrew the Great Church, Cambridge". Captain Cook Society. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  8. ↑ History of St Andrew the Great
  9. ↑ Ash, Christopher, Davis, Mary and White, Bob (2012). "Persistently Preaching Christ", p. 123. Christian Focus Publications, Fearn. ISBN 9781845509828.
  10. ↑ St Andrew the Great website
  11. ↑ "Christmas 2016 Newsletter" (pdf). bishopofmaidstone.org. December 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Christmas 2017 Newsletter" (pdf). Bishop of Maidstone. January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  13. ↑ "The Benefice of Cambridge (Holy Sepulchre) (St Andrew the Great)". www.crockford.org.uk. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  14. ↑ Mark Ashton obituary

Coordinates: 52°12′18″N 0°07′18″E / 52.205°N 0.1217°E / 52.205; 0.1217

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