The Reverend Tom. T. Williams in the newly opened Tabernacle Church"

Tabernacle Methodist Church, Padeswood Road, Buckley

26 September 1974

The following article is from the Deeside and District Advertiser, 26th September 1974.

New Methodist Church is Ready

A new chapter will be written in the long and varied history of Buckley's Tabernacle Methodist Church next month. For on October 5 Clwyd County Council chairman Mrs Marian Lyons will officially open the town's newest church on Tabernacle Road. This week the church's minister, the Rev. Tom T. Williams, paid special tribute to the generosity and hard work of all those who helped to make the Methodist dream come true. He said many people had given money anonymously to the four-year-old appeal fund and extended a warm welcome to each and every one of them to attend the special opening service.

The single storey building, its furnishings and new electronic organ are likely to cost around £31,000 according to the latest church estimates. Major donations so far received include £9, 000 from the Joseph Rank Benevolent Trust, £2,500 from the Division of Property of the Methodist Church, and a further £2,500 from the local Circuit Advance Fund. Matched almost penny for penny with the total is the £13, 500 donated over the past few years by the generous folk of Buckley and its surrounding communities. Original plans drawn up for the new church would have cost around £18,000, but rising costs pushed this modest figure to well over £40,000 within a matter of a few years.

Church authorities pointed out that the revised estimate was far beyond the means of the church, and architect Mr. Gordon Ball, of Cheshire, cut his cloth accordingly. The call for stringency echoed around church circles and Mr. Williams became a part-time carpenter himself to produce a handsome set of pulpit furnishings at only a fraction of the normal manufacturer's price. But now, with less than a fortnight to go before the official opening date, the church owes only £3,500 on its new premises - a particularly encouraging state of affairs since local fund-raisers have up to four years to clear the debt.

But the establishment of the Methodist Church in Buckley has not always run so smoothly.

EVANGELISTS

The church was originally brought to Buckley by a group of evangelists from Chester and the first ever Methodist service in the town was held in the open air at Mill Lane, way back in 1838. As the church became established, services were held in the parlour of the old Duke of York Inn on Brunswick Road, but by 1841 a new chapel was opened in Mill Lane.

By 1876 the church had another change of address when a new building was opened on the site of the new 1974 Methodist Church. Sixteen years later technology caught up with the Buckley worshippers when gas lighting was installed in the church, and in 1894 harmony was brought to local services with the installation of a new church organ. But then, as now, the church was beset with cash problems and it was not until 1919 that local Methodists succeeded in paying off bills for their new place of worship.

The next milestone in the church's history came almost 20 years later in 1937 when a new Sunday school building was built opposite Tabernacle Road on Padeswood Road to cater for an ever increasing young membership. The construction of this building was to prove a blessing in disguise for future generations for after years of problems it was decided that the main church building was no longer worth preserving.

The Tabernacle Church was reduced to rubble by demolition experts in 1971 and the former Sunday school became the chief centre for worship while the appeal fund was being launched. But now after almost 100 years, a new Tabernacle Church again stands on its imposing corner site, and the Sunday School building will revert back to its original role.

Author: Deeside and District Advertiser

The Reverend Tom. T. Williams in the newly opened Tabernacle Church"

Tabernacle Methodist Church, Padeswood Road, Buckley

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