Avenue St Andrew's URC Church Southampton

	Avenue St Andrew's Church Southampton

Avenue St Andrew's was formed over 15 years ago when the congregations of the Avenue URC and St Andrew's URC combined to worship in the Avenue church building.

Above Bar Congregational Church, the oldest church in the Congregational Union, was founded in 1662 and its first minister was the Rev Nathaniel Robinson. It was located to the south of the present Avenue St Andrew's site, in the centre of Southampton. On the night of 30th November 1940 Above Bar was destroyed by incendiary bombs dropped by German aircraft. The Secretary, Caretaker, and Minister were able to force the safe and rescue all the valuable records. These are now kept at Avenue St Andrew's. Above Bar was the church at which Isaac Watts (the famous hymn writer) was a member. The 250th anniversary of Isaac Watts' death was celebrated in 1998 with services broadcast from Avenue St Andrew's on BBC Radios 2 and 4 and ITV.

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church was founded in 1853, although the roots can be traced back to almost 100 years earlier, on a site about half way between Above Bar and the present Avenue St Andrew's site. When Above Bar was destroyed in 1940 most of the congregation moved to St Andrew's and the minister of Above Bar, the Rev Maxwell Jones, was recognized by the presbytery as the minister in charge of St Andrew's. On the 1st January 1948 the two congregations officially united and the church grew throughout the 40s and 50s. However, in the 60s and early 70s much of the surrounding housing was demolished and the congregation decreased. In 1972 the United Reformed Church in England and Wales was formed when the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches joined on a national basis. This resulted in two URC churches within ten minutes walk of each other. In the early 1980s a survey of St Andrew's buildings showed that £150,000 was needed to keep them safe. The congregation of St Andrew's decided to combine with the congregation of the Avenue and worship in the Avenue church building. Subsequently, the St Andrew's buildings were demolished.

Avenue Congregational Church was opened on Wednesday, 7th December 1898 to serve the increasing population of northern Southampton.

The above is a very brief history of Avenue St Andrew's. For a more detailed version please contact the Church Office.