Honiton Evangelical Congregational Church has been celebrating the founding of the church on the 11th November 1771 with a number of special meetings.
A group first met in New Street and this led to the building of what was then called the Independent Chapel a few years later.
The church building is typical of the time and has been a feature of the High Street ever since with its beautiful horse chestnut tree planted in 1834.
On Saturday 6th November an open day was held, giving the opportunity to see the building and an exhibition of the church history and artefacts, including a papier-mâché collection plate from 1774.
Visitors came from as far away as Camborne and Minehead. The following weekend the Rev Greg Strain from St Albans led a Bible teaching meeting on the Saturday and was the guest speaker at the Sunday services.
On Sunday 21st November there will be the traditional civic service with the mayor and councillors attending. (The church has provided a number of mayors since its beginning, the last being Alderman Peter Halse.)
The speaker will be the pastor, Rev Mike Plant. A fellowship lunch will follow the service and all are welcome.
An account of the church’s interesting history was compiled in 1971 and is now available on the church website www.honitonecc.org This is being added to to bring it up to date.
The church continues to hold services at 10.30am and 6pm on Sundays with a Bible Study on Tuesday at 7.30pm. More details can be found on the website or those interested to learn more can contact Mike Plant on 01404 548576.