About the Church

The People | Mission Statement | Plan of Christian Action | North Cambridge Council of Churches | The Building | Castle End Mission

The People

Castle Street Methodist Church has approximately 100 members and friends and is located within easy walking distance from the centre of Cambridge.

Castle Street Methodist Church is one of the Methodist churches forming the Cambridge Circuit, which in turn forms part of the East Anglia District of the Methodist Church in the UK.

Mission Statement

Our purpose is to glorify God and share the message of Jesus Christ, at home and abroad, through worship, caring and fellowship, with everyone who wishes to be involved.

We wish to develop our activities with people of all ages and also to use music in all its forms. The Church wishes to extend its links with the community in association with other local churches and consider practical ways of fulfilling its Christian Mission.

Plan of Christian Action

We in the Cambridge Methodist Circuit, in association with the North Cambridge Council of Churches are constantly reviewing our Church life and its work, worship, and relationships with the community and other local churches. We try to set realistic objectives for the Church's work, and are concerned with mission, forms and styles of worship. We are committed to making the best use of the gifts, financial and intellectual, of the members of our congregation.

This plan has been expanded upon by our Renewing Our Vision initiative.

North Cambridge Council of Churches

The Council is long established and was formed from the ecumenical association of churches situated within a 1-2km radius of Castle Street. The participating churches are:

• St Andrew's C of E, Chesterton
• The Parish of Ascension, C of E
• Arbury Road Baptist
• Castle End Mission
• Castle Street Methodist
• Chesterton Methodist
• St George's C of E, Chesterton
• The Church of the Good Shepherd C of E
• St Laurence's Roman Catholic Church
• St Luke's C of E / URC Shared Church
• Arbury Community Church

The council meets quarterly and coordinates special services. Joint activities include Week of Prayer services in January, Holy Week Services and a Pentecost service. At each major festival, a joint diary is produced which is distributed in the neighbourhood.

The Building

History | The Current Building | Booking the Premises

History

Recent excavations in the car park confirm that the church is situated on a site developed during the Roman occupation.

Joseph Reynolds first held open-air Methodist services at Castle End in 1820. A cottage on the St Peter's Street end of the present site was later acquired by the Primitive Methodists. This was adapted as a chapel and the building enlarged by cutting through the floor, creating a gallery.

The first chapel was built in 1823. The church building appears to have been rebuilt in about 1841 and again in 1863.

The Current Building

The current building, which has Grade II Listed status was built in 1914 because it was felt that a larger chapel was needed.

The church building has two sections, joined by the vestry. The worship area can seat about 200 people and houses the Binns pipe organ. The organ was built by JJ Binns of Leeds. It was installed in 1929 and was one of the last organs built by James Jepson Binns before his death that year.

The other section, incorporating the church hall, kitchen and two class rooms, is used for social activities by the whole church, by the Junior Church and also for meetings, games and activities. Both sections of the building may be accessed from both Castle Street and St Peter's Street and provision is available for access by wheelchair.

A major activity of the church is our Development Project, which will refurbish our existing premises in 2010. Many former members of the church who have moved away have wished to be associated with this project.

Booking the Premises

Due to the imminent refurbishment of our premises, we regret that we are currently unable to take bookings for our rooms. We hope to offer improved facilities from autumn 2010. Please bear us in mind when you need meeting or event rooms in central Cambridge.

Castle End Mission

Castle Street enjoys strong connections with the nearby congregation of Castle End Mission, with whom we share our evening services.

During the refurbishment of Castle Street Methodist Church in 2010, all Castle Street Methodist services will be held in the Castle End Mission chapel.

Castle End Mission is a small independent congregation linked to Emmanuel United Reformed Church in Trumpington Street. The link dates back to 1910 when an Associate Minister of Emmanuel Congregational Church was appointed with special responsibility for Castle End Mission.

The Mission began as a centre for the education of working men, many of whom could not read or write, in the impoverished Castle area of Cambridge.

The first meeting took place in 1879 and the driving force in its early development was the redoubtable Mrs Whibley. It was initially called the Castle End Men's Morning School.

The present building was opened in 1884 as the Castle End Mission and Working Men's Institute. It has always been a centre of community activity in this area of Cambridge and continues to provide facilities for a large number of community groups.