| St. Lawrence Church, Morden | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Website | www.stlawrencechurch.co.uk |
| History | |
| Founder(s) | Richard Garth |
| Architecture | |
| Style | Evangelical Anglican |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Morden |
| Diocese | Southwark |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | Rt Rev. Richard Cheetham |
| Rector | Rev. Ray Skinner |
St Lawrence Church is the Church of England parish church for Morden in London Borough of Merton. The building is located on London Road, at the highest point of Morden, overlooking Morden Park.
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There are several services each Sunday, including book of common prayer, a choir led service, followed by family contemporary worship. The evening services differ from week to week with holy communion and prayer and praise.
The first church building here was possibly wooden as churches dedicated to St Lawrence were usually Saxon in origin.
The nearby Merton Abbey was closed down by Henry VIII as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the estate sold. Edward Whitchurch and Lionel Dutchet bought it, but had to flee to Europe when Queen Mary took over, and the estate went to the Garth family.[1]
In the 1630s, the Garths were Puritans, and St Lawrence church was rebuilt in Protestant style — i.e. no places for images of saints, or reservation of bread and wine.
The Pulpit has a sounding-board over it for amplification and there is a monument opposite to Elizabeth Gardiner commemorates a benefactor to the first Morden school — the Old School House (now part of the Parish Hall Community) over the road is still used for educational purposes. There are coats of arms along the ceiling are called hatchments and a large Queen Anne coat of Arms preserved on the south wall with the motto over it Fear God and Honour the Queen!, this is possibly in relation to the Anne's establishment of the Church Commissioners, which paid Church of England clergy until recently.
The gallery at the back used to have a pipe organ in it, but was originally built for a Sunday School. In the tower are three bells, which can only be tolled, i.e. not swung right over due to restrictions placed by English Heritage on renewing the frame.
Morden Parish Hall Community has been set up on the site of the Parish Hall in Central Road, Morden. The site has been used in the past as a School House and as clergy accommodation. It consists of three accommodation units: the Old School House, an eighteenth century cottage, and Hall Cottage, both attached to the Hall, and New Row, a purpose built building consisting of four bed/sitting rooms and two shower/ toilets, built behind the hall giving room for eight people to live on site.
catalyst is the over-arching name for the youth work organised in the Morden Parish.