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Christ the King, Princes Park, Chatham

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Lutonman:
A short history of this church which was 30 years old this January.


Christ the King, Princes ParkPrinces Ave was originally a track which ran from Wheatsheaf pub in Capstone road up what is now known as Hopewell drive, through to Kingfisher drive, Redwing Road and out through Dove close, under the front of this church to Princes Avenue as far as Walderslade road. Typically the only habitants were traveller’s wagons and the local farmer.
It was to remain that way till plans were drawn up for the new estate to be built at Princes Park. On these plans a site was already identified for a church.
The area was part of the Parish of Christ Church Luton, records show that as far back 1976 visiting teams from the Christ Church were meeting on Princes Park.
The Rev David Seymour arrived and the area was made a Conventional District and he was there for a number of years taking services in his home in Lordswood lane and Baptisms in people’s houses. When he left the area reverted back to Christ Church Luton. 
By then a small number of folk who lived on Princes Park were attending at Christ Church.
In 1982 the people at Christ Church had to focus on their own church for a while as the old Victorian building had to be pulled down and another church built on the site. At a cost £546,000  the people there had to raise most of the money it would have been very easy for them to look inwards at what they needed. Into the new building by August 1984 instead prompted by Arthur Smith they looked outwards, organising play schemes each summer on Princes Park.
Princes Park at that time had nothing to offer its inhabitants not even a phone box. By June 1986 the site identified for the church previously was purchased by the Rochester Diocese. The first major step had been made to a commitment of the new church.
As a local church we needed to do something to reach and serve the new people at Princes Park, so in the summer of 1987 an Open air service was held and by October two locations for regular church services had been identified, either at Kingfisher School or above the Shop at Safeway’s (now Morrison’s).
On 3rd January 1988 the very first services were held in the community hall above Safeway’s, three teams of two, Terry & Linda Platt, Alan Head with one other and Janet Mortley and myself along with some of the Christ Church regulars who lived on the estate led the way by holding short services in a tiny room above the shop.
We started with just a few people but slowly but surely numbers grew and grew. Generally it was a simple service, with a short talk and no music but we still sung heartily. Each Sunday on arrival we had to unpack the service books and the cups and saucers for the teas afterwards. We never quite knew what the hall would look like (nor smell like for that matter) as sometimes parties would have been held the night before and the hall was not cleaned in between.
By the middle of 1988 the deposit was made for the Parsonage at Thrush close and in November 1988 a meeting was held with the 1st Architect. The plans presented in the early part of 1989 were not what we wanted and the contract with the Architect was cancelled.   Disappointingly we had to start again what a set back and at a financial cost.
Meanwhile the small group was growing so well that the Brownie had a parade service once a month, the Sunday school grew so much that it expanded in the pub next door and you can be sure that this made the local papers, a Sunday school in the bar of a pub, well! Whatever next?
What was next was a church meeting in the Maudene School.  By July 1989 the church had got so big by now under the Revd’s Roger and Anne Dyer that new premises had to be found. The school was the best interim solution. The congregation had also chosen the name of the new church to be “Christ the King”.
With Roger & Anne Dyer at the helm the groups from Christ Church took a step back from the Sunday morning trips.
A firm called Stocks was identified as being a possible choice for a design and build solution. It took some time to get designs sorted but on 19th March 1990 the contract was signed with them to build this church.
Financing of the new building was to be made from Gift days at both Christ Church and at Christ the King congregations and from the Diocese. Christ the King was to receive the last ever grant made by the Church Commissioners new development fund before it closed.
Work started in June 1990 and the Church building was handed over to Roger and Anne Dyer and on the 23rd February 1991 the dedication by the Bishop of Rochester was made. At that time the church was officially a daughter church of Christ Church.
The baby church had grown into a teenager and wanted its own way on a few things, now at 30 years of age Christ the King stands on its own for the people of Princes Park as a Parish in its own right.
Paul Pearson

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