Christ Church, Warminster

Christ Church is an Anglican church building serving a parish on the southern side of Warminster, Wiltshire, England.

History

The church was built in 1830 to serve what was then Warminster Common. Originally part of the Parish of St Denys (The Minster) Christ Church was opened in 1831. In 1871 the church was expanded with the addition of the chancel and vestry. In 1881 the ceiling of the worship area, which was becoming unstable, was replaced with the wooden beams and pillars that are still present in the building.

Christ Church before the 1871 addition of chancel and the 1881 development when the current pillars and pitched ceiling were added and balcony removed.

During the late 1960s an attempt was made to modernise the worship in the church, and a nave altar was built. This was a very controversial move and led, eventually, to a consistory court. The vicar, acting with the best intentions wanted to symbolically bring the worship of the church to a more central place in the church. However this move divided the church and a number of the congregation and those outside the congregation complained that there had been no consultation. Eventually a parishioner appealed to an ecclesiastical consistory court. The case was lost by the vicar and church wardens as the court found that insufficient consultation about the change had occurred. Although the altar was not removed, the affair caused a rift in the church and a number of people felt strongly enough to move to worship elsewhere.

In 2004 a major redevelopment of Christ Church began with the complete reordering of the worship space, the addition of a raised dais, the removal of the nave altar and pews, and a new lobby. The second phase of the development project includes the utilisation of the mezzanine floor area above the lobby of the church. Creating meeting rooms and more functional space, this work was due to begin in 2011.

List of vicars