About us

We are a small, friendly church situated in a mixed residential area in the North East of Leicester. As far as our worship is concerned it can best be described as traditional Methodist! Our congregation varies in number from 12 to 18 and we have 36 friends on our Community Roll. We have a modern electronic organ and two sets of hymn books - Hymns & Psalms and Methodist Hymns Old and New. You will see from the photographs (see below - click on 'Read more') that we have an attractive but simple church interior. The photographs show the church decorated for Easter and our Harvest Festival.

Our main weekday activity is our Thursday morning Coffee Shop. Open from 10.00 a.m. until 12 noon you will receive a warm welcome as well as hot drinks and home made cakes!

We share our premises on an informal basis with the Church of the Assemblies of the First Born.

The Area

The area immediately surrounding the church, known as the Cromwell Estate because most of the roads and streets are named after battles or people associated with the English Civil War, was originally smallholdings and market gardens. As a result there has been piecemeal redevelopment with a variety of dwellings ranging from palisaded Victorian Villas to modern starter homes. The people who live on the Cromwell Estate have a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds.

Church History

The Church has an interesting history. During 1896/97 a brick-built mission hall was speculatively erected on the site. The first to take advantage of the new premises were evangelising Anglicans. After three years they moved to a new site on the main Gipsy Lane and eventually, after the Second World War, to the present church on Kerrysdale Avenue. The mission hall was then offered to the Primitive Methodists. For the first five years the £10 yearly rental would be returnable with the proviso that, with the expiry of that period, they would properly rent, purchase - or vacate - the premises. This unusual arrangement seems a clear indication of the highly uncertain nature of their venture. It is now very difficult to determine precisely when Methodist worship commenced at Edgehill Road. We are not on certain ground until it appears for the first time in the Circuit Quarterly Preaching Plan on Sunday, 7th January 1900. The new venture prospered to the extent that by early 1902, the Trustees felt confident enough to purchase the 200 seat hall with a view to establishing regular permanent worship in it. To do so, the guide to the 1918 Primitive Methodist Conference informs us, they had to fend off the rival bid put In by a Working-Men’s Club!

Eventually sufficient funds were raised to construct a purpose built church, the foundation stone being formally laid on Saturday, May 14th, 1955 by Mr Samuel Rogers, whose connections with the circuit went back to the early years of the century. The new church was opened a little under a year later on Saturday, 21 April, 1956.

Churches Together in Belgrave & Rushey Mead (CTBRM)

We are active members of CTBRM. You can find more about CTBRM by clicking on the links to CTBRM on our 'Welcome' page.

Shalom

We have a tradition of singing ‘Shalom to you’ from Methodist Hymns Old and New after the benediction:

“Shalom to you now, shalom my friends.
May God's full mercies bless you, my friends.
In all your living and through your loving,
Christ be your shalom, Christ be your shalom.”

We pray that God’s full mercies will bless you and that Christ will be your shalom!

Services every Sunday at 10.15. a.m. followed by refreshments. See our Calendar for details of who will be leading our worship etc.

Contact:

Edgehill Road Methodist  Church
Edgehill Road
Leicester
LE4 9EA

Minister with responsibility.
Revd. Rachel Parkinson Tel: 0116 267 1804  

Email.  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Rachel

Easter

Harvest Festival