On Sunday, the 15th of June we are celebrating our church anniversary. It marks 220 years of worship in our historic church. During these years there have been many changes. The idea of having a separate church came about in 1715 with 39 protestant dissenters worshipping in a cottage at the bottom of the marketplace. After   several years they decided to build a new church and with only £80 and some help from a sympathetic vicar in Scarborough they bought some land in Hungate and a Georgian style building was erected in 1788. It became known as the Pickering independent church.

          The number of worshippers steadily increased and in 1814 the building was extended to its present size but the original, corner stones may still be seen.

          In the early days the music was  provided by a manual organ shared with an  Anglican Church and also by members of the congregation playing violins, clarinets, and bass violas. Later a pipe organ from the former Methodist Chapel in Bridge Street, was installed in 1904.

          Early in the 20th century the Independent Church changes its name to become the    Congregational Church. In 1972 the Congregational Church joined with a  Presbyterian Church of England to form the United  Reformed Church later, other churches join this union. Nowadays we join with all the churches in the town to form ‘Pickering Churches Together’ on special occasions.

          A service is held every Sunday morning at 10.30am. Holy Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday in the month. Tea and coffee is served after the morning service. A monthly newsletter is produced to   provide information concerning meetings and services, also duty rotas’. An invitation is given to all to worship with us

Anne Redfearn.