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MCC Newcastle
MCC Newcastle was born in November 1991, at a public meeting of 16 interested people in the Society of Friends' Meeting House, Jesmond. The Church quickly moved from mid-week meetings of five or six people for bible study in people's homes, to regular Sunday worship which began in March 1992. The Church moved to new premises in 1993. It thrived and welcomed many visitors as word spread, and a number of people stayed to form a dedicated core of membership.
By Spring 1994 the congregation had grown sufficiently in confidence to start looking for a new home. The move to our present location at St James' United Reformed Church in Northumberland Road, Newcastle upon Tyne took place in September 1994. The new meeting-place, in an upstairs room of a well-established Church just on the edge of the City's main shopping centre, seemed ideal and the members of MCC Newcastle quickly settled in.
The Church continued to grow steadily with new faces appearing almost every week, and began to hold monthy worship meetings in Middlesbrough. Unaccompanied hymn-singing gave way to piano accompaniment on the arrival of several talented musicians. The Church gained enough confidence to start experimenting with various layouts of worship space and forms of worship. It decided that MCC Newcastle should always aim to provide a warm and welcoming atmosphere and diverse worship in a style of its own that would, as far as possible, embrace the best of all Christian traditions. In this spirit, the Church's pastoral team began to establish links with other denominations and with the Newcastle City Centre Churches Together - an ecumenical gathering of denominations represented in the city centre. We encountered and overcame many hurdles along the way during this period.
Gradually, the Church began to mature. In Summer 1995 we achieved another landmark when the (then) European District conferred Commissioned Church status on MCC Newcastle in recognition of our stability and sound financial status. The congregation by this time often consisted of twenty people or more and, by the Spring of 1997, it was becoming clear that the upstairs room at St James' was too cramped. We decided to seek a move to St James' Main Hall, and the URC agreed in their usual helpful and thoughtful way. In some trepidation and after much prayer, MCC Newcastle took a great leap of faith in September 1997 to begin a new stage in its journey. We have continued to grow in numbers and maturity, and have been blessed with very many new members and friends. These have included some with very special gifts in important ministires such as preaching, pastoral care, music and administration.
The Church blossomed under some thoughtful leadership and, with the Fellowship's strong support, we have developed a clear vision of the future. We aim for excellence in everything we do, and strive to grow into a genuine and diverse community that reaches out and gives a warm welcome to all.
'To most of us the future seems unsure; but then it always has been; and we who have seen great changes must have great hopes.'
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