Description

Visitors and newcomers to Ampthill would be hard put to miss this imposing church in Dunstable Street. From its beginnings in a converted dwelling house on the corner of Brewery Lane, then known as Hog Hill, Ampthill Methodist Church has existed faithfully to serve the town and its environs.

In 1813 a larger chapel was built at the top of the hill off Woburn Street but both the town and the Methodist community continued to grow. By 1880 it was time to consider another move and the present building was completed four years later.

The development included the adjoining houses - one providing a huge but not very practicable Manse. Two World Wars - and the tide of church-going began to turn. Methodist Churches had to re-group with considerable economies of scale and on-going changes to Circuit structures.

Fewer and fewer members are able to recall when Harvest Festivals and Sunday School Anniversaries regularly filled every seat and extra chairs had to be brought in. Not that this an entirely unusual event today, the building lending itself to Town Festival events, Circuit or charity fundraising, local school assemblies and concerts.

Worship may be conducted by either a Minister, Local Preacher or a recognised Worship Leader. However, Holy Communion is conducted only by an ordained minister. The preacher for each Sunday is listed in pew notices and displayed on the outside notice board.

Today Ampthill Methodist Church continues to serve those whose chosen form of worship sits somewhere between the Anglican and the Baptist persuasion. With the creation of Churches Together there are already close links with the other Churches, particularly Ampthill Baptist. With moves, nationally, towards integration of Anglicans and Methodists, the ties in Ampthill could move closer. This has proved problematical locally mainly because Circuit and Diocesan boundaries do not coincide.

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