St Faith's Church, Maidstone , Kent

St Faith's Church, Maidstone Church

Image Source: Rob Baker

St. Faith's Centre is a brand-new church and community centre on Maidstone's Ringlestone estate which was opened in July 2023. The urban parish of St. Faith was previously served by a Victorian-era church of 1872 located in the town centre. In the mid-19th century the population of the parish was situated much closer to the church, but in the 20th and 21st centuries changes to the town's dynamics and demographics meant that St. Faith's church was in the wrong location and unable to fulfil its mission to its parish. Much of the housing around the church had given way to a swathe of post-war buildings used as offices and shops. In the 1920s the Ringlestone council estate was built a mile to the north. It was placed in St. Faith's parish and in 1935 a red-bricked Mission Hall was built to cater for this new community. The land was donated by the Goodsell building company specifically for church and community use. Known as St. Faith's Church Hall, it existed for 86 years, carrying out a wide range of community activities in addition to holding services almost every Sunday. These were usually administered by the curate with the vicar taking the services at the church in the town centre. In recent decades the size of the congregation at the Church Hall was frequently larger than that of the main church. The hall was at the centre of the parish while the church was not. In 2021 the Church Hall was demolished and the new Church Centre built on the site. It was completed in July 2023 and dedicated by the Bishop of Dover. The new two-storey construction, designed by Hawkes Architecture under the supervision of Trevor Barnes, consists of a main worship area and a number of other rooms intended for community use. These currently include a nursery and a cafe. The exterior doesn't resemble a traditional church building. Rows of external blank arches in the outer walls hint at Moorish architecture. One could be forgiven for thinking this is a place of worship built for another faith. Meanwhile, the interior is light and simplistic with few adornments. On the wall behind the Communion Table is a large seven-piece canvas designed by artist Juliette Hemingway depicting various scenes of Maidstone interspersed with biblical motifs including sheep, grapes and sheafs of wheat. The local scenes include the Archbishop's Palace, the former St. Faith's Church and County Hall. Somewhat less successfully the artwork also features a large modern skyscraper, the focal part of the 21st century regeneration of the area which is largely considered something of an eyesore. The town centre church is still in ecclesiastical use. In 2022 it was sold to the independent Lighthouse Church who had been sharing the building.The last Anglican service at St. Faith's was in April 2022 before the keys were handed to the Lighthouse, a Pentecostal church with a large Afro-Caribbean congregation. Text by Rob Baker.

1851 Census Details

Seating Capacity: Not built

Morning Attendance: Not built

Afternoon Attendance: Not built

Evening Attendance: Not built

Architecture Details

Original Build Date/Architect: E W Stephens 1873

Restoration:

Second Restoration:

Notes

Website

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