Reverend Blair Kirkby — 01279 443400
Hall Lettings: Revd John Buxton — 01279 422661
We are a welcoming, friendly church family, worshipping God and sharing the good news of his love for all. We worship, pray and learn together about following Jesus Christ. We also meet for fellowship, fun and helping the local community.
St Andrew's Methodist Church is situated at The Stow and is opposite the Nuffield House Health Centre. The church is on the corner at the junction with Howard Way. For parking, there are lay-bys outside the Church, plus the two car parks marked (free at weekends.)
In addition to the Services held weekly, our Church and Hall are used for a full range of church and community activities:
~ Bible Study Group meets on most Tuesday evenings, at 7.30pm in the Chapel.
~ Coffee Mornings: Our Saturday Coffee Mornings are held in the foyer and the new hall at St. Andrew's from 10am — Midday.
~ The Women's Friendship Group meet once a month, during the day, in members' houses, plus occasional lunch outings.
~ Guides: The 3rd Harlow (Methodist) Guide Unit meets on Tuesday evenings, during term time only, at 6pm — 7.30pm in St Andrew's Church Hall. We welcome girls aged 10 to 16 and aim to provide a variety of activities.
~ St. Andrew's Rugrats — STARS Mother and Toddler Group meets every Tuesday, between 10.00am and noon.
~ St. Andrew's Women's Fellowship which consists of mainly older retired ladies, meets twice monthly on Tuesday at 2.30 pm for afternoons of fun, fellowship and friendship.
The Methodist congregation that now calls itself 'St Andrew's' started in 1952 with the arrival of its first minister, Rev Eryl Hughes. The church hadn't been built, so the services took place in the Moot House at The Stow. Harlow New Town had a growing population and soon the congregation had grown to over thirty full members. It was then that the construction of the present buildings was started. The Foundation Stone was laid on 27 June 1953 and the Grand Opening was on 30 October 1954. As a building, St Andrew's hasn't changed much in its 60-year history. The buildings you see above were Phase I of the project. Phase II was never implemented and a block of flats (St Andrew's House) now stands on the land on which Phase II might have stood. Finding our facilities too small to meet the demands of the twenty-first century, we were able to begin building work in 2008, starting with the demolishing of the original hall, and had the improvements finished in 2009. We now have a hall nearly double the former size, and the enlarged kitchen is much more functional.
The Methodist Church is one of the largest Christian churches serving Great Britain, with nearly 230,000 members and regular contact with over 512,000 people. It has 5,023 churches in Great Britain, and also maintains links with other Methodist churches with a worldwide total membership of over 80 million. Its activities, both alone and with ecumenical and secular partners, are based on four aims known as Our Calling: