The United Reformed Church came into being in 1972 with the union of the Congregational Church in England and Wales, and the Presbyterian Church of England. Erdington United Reformed Church in Holly Lane was formed in 1975 when two local United Reformed Churches united on the one site ~ one being a former Congregationalist church and the other a Presbyterian church.
The Congregationalist Church has a long history in Erdington going back as far as 1820 when they originally met in a small chapel and schoolroom in Bell Lane. A more permanent site was acquired at the corner of High Street and Sheep Street (now Station Road), and it was here that a new church, capable of seating up to 350, was built in 1839 in the 'Gothic Style'. It is now the home of the Greek Orthodox Community. The Presbyterian Church in Erdington was founded in July 1910 and held it's first services in the near by Drayton Rooms. It moved to its present location at the corner of Holly Lane and Orphanage Road in 1913 and the present building currently in use was built in 1934. Our church by its very nature embodies the two traditions and over a period of many years has continued to play and important part in the life and work of the local community. The United Reformed Church as a national denomination further expanded when the Churches of Christ joined the union in 1981 and the Scottish Congregationalist joined in 2000. One hundred thousand people make up 1600 congregations with nearly 800 ministers, paid and unpaid. |