Colchester Unitarians
Colchester Unitarians
We meet in the Trinity Centre, Trinity Street, Colchester (the name of the venue is nothing to do with our sense of humour) on alternate Tuesdays at 7.30 pm, next meeting at the time of writing in 2001 on 20th March. For further information about us please ring (01206) 510461. The rest of this web page reproduces (updated a little) an article published in 2000 by The Unitarian.
Our religion last flourished in Colchester at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when a meeting house was owned for about six years, in the Dutch Quarter. This no doubt followed upon commotions among more moderate Christian Dissenters. The initiative to reintroduce a presence in this substantial urban centre, which returns its own M.P., was taken by the Revd Cliff Reed, the minister at the Unitarian Meeting in neighbouring Ipswich, about 20 miles away.
Ipswich has its own Meeting House, built in 1700 and protected by English Heritage, and a continuous history of worship ever since. Ipswich rejoices in being in Suffolk rather than Essex, in these days when our county's mere name is liable to bring a smile to the lips - though Essex is not only a metropolitan county but also the most populous in the country (except for Yorkshire with the Ridings put together). About the same distance away from Colchester but in the opposite direction and that much closer to London is Chelmsford Fellowship, which was also featured recently in The Unitarian. Both Ipswich and Chelmsford congregations have done a great deal to help Colchester Unitarians along to their current stable status:- meeting once a fortnight in public premises.
The people invited by Cliff to our first meeting in Colchester at the house of Mrs Mary Lane were all in fact already members of the Ipswich Meeting. Not all of those attending that first meeting have settled into regular attendance and inevitably the others have formed a kind of core to Colchester Unitarians, among whom the inner nucleus is Mary herself, her daughter Jenny Spence, and Ralph Spence, Jenny's husband. Jenny was the first chairperson of the group, though Mary, who was first secretary, has now assumed that role. Ralph is treasurer, Kathleen Cannings has played an indispensable part in more ways than one and the writer and Tracey Sakals make up the remainder of the core, though not to forget Peggy Baker from Halstead, Barry and the two Pats. As well as our brothers and sisters from Ipswich, notably Cliff Reed himself, and from Chelmsford, numerous people have come along for a meeting or two, and we are very keen to see each and every one of them again.
For a good while we met in private houses, and shifting the venue to a hired room in the centre of Colchester was a very important step along the way. Along the way too, it is only fair to inform anyone contemplating a similar venture, there were disagreements, but the spirit of unity and tolerance has triumphed over these. Another important factor was a grant from the Unitarian Millennium Fund, which has spared us financial anxieties, and permitted us to publicise our meetings a bit. We agreed a constitution with surprisingly little difficulty, though we spent a long time trying to formulate explicitly the purpose of our fortnightly services. As well as these services, we have needed quite a few business meetings, sometimes held at the end of the religious meeting.
For the future, there remains the issue of whether or not we want and can afford paid help. So far, members of the core group have led services, except when one of our numerous guest speakers has taken on this role, and currently every other service is a collaborative one on a pre-specified theme - whether this is sustainable indefinitely is unclear. We reach out in welcome to all brother and sister Unitarians, and hope only that Colchester Unitarians are as long lasting as Ipswich ones.
Last modified 12/4/2001