The History of the Dorcan Church starts in 1965 when St. Paul's Church in
Edgware Road, off Regent Street in the centre of Swindon, was demolished.
The old St. Paul's was built in 1881 to a design by Edmund Ferrey and extended
in 1883 by John Bevan and served the centre of Swindon for over eighty years.
The site was sold to Woolworths for £65,000 with a corner of the former
church being retained and a small chapel, St. Aldhelm's, was constructed for
occasional weekday services.
The processional cross displayed in the Church was presented by the congregation
to the old St. Paul's in 1893.
From the proceeds of the sale a new church was to be built in Covingham and
join the Anglican churches of St. John's and St. Andrew's in a new enlarged
parish. The Dorcan Church serving the estates of Covingham, Nythe, Liden and
Eldene.
Bishop Oliver Tomkins of Bristol believed that ecumenism was the future of
the Christian Church. He discussed the idea of the new church at Covingham
becoming the first official ecumenical church in the country with Dr. Leslie
Wollen, Chairman of the Bristol Methodist District.
After much discussion and many meetings, it was agreed to commission the Rev.
Michael Cripps (Anglican) and Rev Raymond Stevenson (Methodist) as the first
ministers to jointly run the new ecumenical church. The commissioning took
place on Friday 16th. September 1966 in Nythe School. The new parish was to
be known as Dorcan.
The first services took place in Nythe School. Although the new area
of Nythe and Covingham had over nine hundred homes, attendance at these services
was poor. Some eighty people of all denominations, both clergy and lay people,
were gathered together and given the task of visiting every home with the
news of the Dorcan Church. Each person was allocated up to fifteen homes and,
within a short space of time, everyone on the Nythe and Covingham estates
were aware of the new church.
On the 10th. July 1971 St. Paul's Church was opened built to a design by the
Brand, Potter, Hare Partnership. The Church Centre was to be a flexible multipurpose
building for the whole community.
The Eldene congregation met for worship at the Eldene Community Centre when
it opened in 1973. It was intended for a church to be built in Eldene, but
the idea was abandoned in favour of using the local authority centre. Previous
worship was held in other local venues. Eldene had now become part of the
new Dorcan Parish.
In Liden, a small group first met for Holy Communion at the temporary community
centre on 6th. October 1974. The church increased in number with the growth
of the locality, meeting first of all in people's houses and then in the local
primary school. A new church building, octagonal in shape, opened in 1977
and was joined to the new Liden Community centre. Liden was also part of the
Dorcan Parish.
When Bishop Oliver Tomkins explained the new Dorcan concept to General Synod,
he was saddened when some of his fellow bishops said, "It won't work".
Forty years later, and many Anglican and Methodist clergy (both men and women)
have proved the Bishop right in his bold and imaginative concept, and continued
the excellent ministry begun by Rev. Michael Cripps and Rev. Raymond Stevenson,
From the 40th. Anniversary magazine October
2006 by Nigel Sharp
A fuller history is being prepared which you can view in draft
form here.
The compiler and editor would be grateful for any additions and corrections
you may have. Please send them to 'The
editors of the Dorcan History'
|
Ministers of the Dorcan Church
|
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| Name | Dates | Vicarage/Manse |
Notes
|
|
| Anglican | Michael Cripps | 1966 - ?? | ||
| Methodist | Raymond Stevenson | 1966 - ?? | ||
| Anglican | Graham Potter | 1971 - 1974 | ||
| Anglican | Gerald Bostock | 1971 - ?? | ||
| Methodist | Peter Muff | 1972 - 1976 | Larksfield | |
| Anglican | Paul Wheatley | 1973 - 1979 | St. Paul's | |
| Anglican | David Sutch | 1975 - 1979 | Kershaw Road | |
| Anglican | Geoffrey Fison | 1979 - | Kershaw Road | |
| Methodist | Keith Roberts | 1980 - 1985 | Larksfield | |
| Anglican | Ron Murphy | 1984 - ?? | Non Stipendiary | |
| Anglican | Brian Pearce | 1980 - 1991 | St. Paul's | |
| Methodist | Allen Ashley | 1982 - 1985 | ||
| Methodist | Hilary Cooke | 1985 - 1993 | Kershaw Road | |
| Methodist | Kathleen Share | 198? - 198? | ||
| Anglican | Robin Hungerford | 1988 - 1992 | ||
| Anglican | Ian Gooding | 1992 - 1994 | Larksfield | |
| Anglican | Brian Duckett | 1992 - 2000 | St. Paul's | |
| Methodist | Diane Daymond | 1993 - 1998 | Kershaw Road | |
| Methodist | David Hawkes | 1994 - 2000 | Merlin Way | Circuit Superintendent |
| Anglican | David Parsons | 1995 | Own House | Non Stipendiary |
| Anglican | Paul Selley | 1996 - 2000 | ||
| Anglican | Beth Gardner | 2001 - 2004 | Nyland Road | |
| Anglican | Tony Knapp | 2001 - | Sedgebrook | |
| Methodist | Derek Collins | 2002 - 2010 | Merlin Way | Circuit Superintendent |
| Anglican | Beth Brown | 2009 - | Coleview | |
| Methodist | Andrew Wigley | 2011 - | Merlin Way | |
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