St. NIcholas, Moreton

St.NIcholas, Moreton

I was very keen to visit this beautiful church. It was built in 1776 and is almost square in plan. This alone would make it worthy of note but the best thing here is the stunning glass by Sir Laurence Whistler which was installed in the 1950’s. The original glass was destroyed by a bomb in 1940. The glass is engraved and gives a wonderful luminosity to the interior. T. E Lawrence is also buried in the nearby cemetery . The church attracts a lot of visitors – there were quite a few there when I arrived and it was difficult to photograph things without getting people in the shot. It is interesting to sit and watch visitors to a church such as this. It has a definite wow factor on walking in. They then wander around a bit. Some don’t seem to know quite what they are looking at or what it is all for. Such is the challenge that faces churches in our current age.

The church is well signposted off the road and there is clear signage outside, including an information panel which gives some history of the area as well as the church. Guides are available about the church and the glass. Also cards, prayer cards and various Christian booklets. For children there are some cushions and various toys to play with – these were being used when I visited.

A nice touch was a simple, but effective display of the Saints and Martyrs the Church was remembering this month. In the clergy stall there was a weekly prayer to remember our visitors – which is a very nice thing to do and, again, an easy thing to do.

There is a visitors book which had too many names in it to count and a prayer request book which is very, very well used. This is an important aspect of ministering to visitors and something that churches do need to take seriously. Reading a few there are many to remember loved ones, a lot asking for prayer for someone who is ill or going through a difficult time. When people are given the opportunity to engage with God they do. All of them seemed to be heart felt and serious requests. We ignore such things to our peril!

The church website is at http://www.stnicholasmoreton.org.uk. It gives some good photos and information about group tours for 10 or more people but no other visitor information – this is a bit of shame.

I rate St. Nicholas as very good for this study. I will finish by putting up a few photos of the wonderful glass here.