St Peter’s Church, Beech

St Peter's Church BeechWelcome!

Community Spirit and Communication
in the Parish of the Resurrection, Alton

I hope you will soon see our new notice board outside the Church.

St Peter’s Church and all in Beech are very much part of the Parish of the Resurrection. You are invited to participate in the many services and events run throughout the year and within the whole Parish.

A reminder that at St Peter’s we have a weekly service at 9.15 every Sunday with a Family service on the first Sunday of the month accompanied by The Beech Boys and Babes band.

There is a lot happening in the Parish, exciting, entertaining and informative events are taking place all the time. Please keep an eye on notice Boards, Sunrise (the Parish magazine) and the Parish website.

DIARY DATES Spring & Summer 2013

T4U

You are invited to join all for, tea, coffee and delicious homemade cakes on the last Thursday of the month at St Lawrence church, 2.30 – 4.30. March 21st, April 25th, and May 24th

Travelling meal

This is a wonderful opportunity to meet up at all four churches on the last Saturday every month from April through to August.

  • Breakfast – Saturday 27th April from 9.30 am – 11.30 am At St. Lawrence Church
  • Coffee – Saturday 25th May from 10 am till 12 noon. At Alton Methodist Church
  • Lunch – Saturday 29th June from 12 noon till 2pm. At All Saints Church
  • Afternoon Tea – Saturday 27th July from 3pm till 5pm. At St. Peters, Beech: Everyone welcome! Please come and join us for Cream tea and homemade cakes…. Tel: Sarah Neish (565696) to give an idea of numbers.
  • Supper – Saturday 31st August from 7pm till 9pm. At Holy Rood Church, Holybourne

StP font2

Peter Doores, the vicar, retired in January and the post is being advertised.

In the meantime our services are being taken by: Rev David Hinks 83458, Rev Adam Watson and Rev Ian Toombs.

Finally a very big thank you to all who have contributed to regular giving to the Church, like any organisation, the upkeep and general maintenance costs continue to rise with expenditure outstripping income.

With Best Wishes to you all we look forward to welcoming you to any of the services or events in the whole Parish very soon.

Updated May 2013

Please note for all other Parish Services and Parish information please see The Parish Of the Resurrection website.

St Peter’s today

St Peter’s Church (the “Tin Tabernacle”) is part of The Parish of The Resurrection which reaches out to the local community of Alton …

  • Vicar: Vacancy
  • Associate Vicar: Rev. David Hinks. All Saints Vicarage, Alton. Tel: 83458
  • Curates: Rev. Ian Toombs (88130) and Rev. Adam Watson (362054)
  • Church Warden: Peter Sperring (83687)
  • Contact in Beech: Sarah Neish (565696)

Regular services

A service of Parish Communion is held at 9.15am each Sunday. On the 1st Sunday of each month this takes the form of an All Age Family Service which includes lively music from “The Beech Boys and Babes”, a Band formed by a group of children from Beech.

St Peter’s is an active and busy community whose members regularly worship and assist with cleaning, arranging flowers, reading lessons and prayers on a weekly basis. We are always looking for volunteers, so do please consider this and contact Peter Sperring if you would like to find out more.We hold District Church Council meetings twice a year (in March and September) to which you are all invited (See the Church Notice Board for more details.) We look forward to welcoming you as we continually look at refreshing the way we worship and work together as a community.

for more information contact: Sarah Neish (Tel: 565696)

A Brief History

At the beginning of the 20th Century there was a flurry of Christian Activity in Beech. The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel and The Anglican Order of St Paul established an Abbey having moved from Wales.

The Abbey, whilst Church of England was not focused on the local community of Beech. It was concerned with its own prayer life, its overseas work and a social ministry to “men of the road” and “distressed seamen”.In 1902 with the growth of Christianity it was thought that Beech might be able to support a mission church and so Commander Anstis gave a plot of land for church use opposite his house on Wellhouse Road. The Mission was built in the wooden style of many of the “settlement” cottages and clad with painted corrugated iron, a design essentially the same to-day. The bell, which was cast in 1871, came from one of Commander Anstis’ early ships – the Tagus. 

The rising number of worshippers meant the building had to be extended by a third in 1904. It was then that the deeds of the land and building were formallypassed to the Winchester Diocese. Then in 1904 the Bishop of Winchester licenced the building for the celebration of Holy Communion, Baptisms and Funerals. In 1926 the official name changed from “Beech Mission” to “St Peter’s Beech”, however, it took until 1974 before the church became licenced for weddings.

 

Photos: Peter Dilloway

St Peter’s Church, Wellhouse Road, Beech