The Foundation Stone of our church was laid on May 16th 1936 and the church was Consecrated on November 20th 1937.

These are the stories of  two important events in the life of our church.

                                  LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION STONE

 

        The Foundation Stone of the church of St. Faith and St. Laurence,  was laid on Saturday May 16th by Lady Anstruther-Gough- Calthorpe, who had given the site on which the building will stand.

         The procession to the site was impressive. The Rural Dean read David's song of thanksgiving as a lesson.

           The Vicar (the Rev. W. G. Sissions) invited the Bishop to " bless the work to which we have set our hands."  The Bishop enquired of the Archdeacon of Birmingham if he was “satisfied that the work here about to be taken in hand is altogether and in every way according to the honour due to our Blessed Lord and His Church.” The Archdeacon replied that he had enquired and was satisfied. After receiving a reply from the churchwardens that they trusted “the people of this place have a mind towards the solemn dignity of this rite, being ready themselves to be builded into a Spiritual Temple for the Lord.” The Bishop invoked blessing upon all “who in any way contribute to its completion; that God will protect from danger those who may be engaged in the building, and that He will send His blessing upon our undertaking.”

       The sermon was preached by Canon Lucas, who was Curate of St. Faith's 20 years ago. Canon J.C.Lucas said he was glad to see a dream of many years ago beginning to come true. Twenty years ago he was Priest-in-Charge of St. Faith’s, and he knew something of the desire of the people for a permanent church. The first plans for the building were produced in 1907 by Messrs. J.A.Chadwin and Son, the present architects, but the Great War hindered the fulfilment of the project. It was fitting that the bulk of the money for the first part of the building should have been provided by part of the war memorial fund raised by members of Harborne Parish Church.

    Then the stone was laid. One of the intriguing things about this, was the burial of documents in the wall. The foundation is of brick, and a small cavity was left where the stone would be laid and the documents laid in, sealed in two little lead cylinders rather like large flash lamp batteries. A slate was fitted over and carefully cemented all round. Then Lady Calthorpe took the trowel and laid cement on the slate and the great stone was slowly levered on to it and so into position.

          In the bottle laid by Mr. Collins as Secretary of the Church Council under the stone, there were coins of the Realm, a copy of the  Birmingham Post, copies of the Parish Magazine, and a copy of the day's ceremony. The collection amounted to £77 l4S. 6d., evidence that there were a large number of well wishers.

 

 

                  REPORT IN ‘HARBORNE NEWS’ – NOVEMBER 20th 1937

 

NEW HARBORNE CHURCH

 

TO BE DEDICATED BY BISHOP

 

TODAY’S  BIG OCCASION AFTER 40 YEARS

 

       Situated in a Harborne area which is growing rapidly, the new church of St. Faith and St. Laurence, at the junction of Croftdown Road and Balden Road is to be dedicated by the Bishop of Birmingham, Dr. E.W.Barnes, today.

        The hopes of forty years will be fulfilled; a need which has grown steadily greater as the years have passed will be met; the clergy and laity alike will see the concrete reward of their labours. Harborne will be the better and within the village, there will be a centre around which a new and virile district will grow.

            Almost forty years have passed since the question of a Church for the Queen’s Park district of Harborne was first raised, for it was at the end of the 19th century that Canon W. J. Price, the then vicar of Harborne, expressed his concern that there was no place of worship in that developing residential district.

 

                 REPORT IN ‘HARBORNE NEWS’ – NOVEMBER 27th 1937

 

Of the hundreds of people who arrived for the Consecration of the new  church of St. Faith and St. Laurence on Saturday, many had to be turned away. Throughout the service many stood in the small entrance hall to the church, and before he delivered his address, the Bishop of Birmingham  (Dr. E.W. Barnes) asked them to come forward and sit at the foot of the altar. “I am sure that no one will think it irreverent” he remarked.

              The simple lines of the new church are greatly enhanced by the plain manner of the furnishings. The dull brickwork finds its complement in the shining new wood of the pews and doors, the length its match in the height of the edifice.

Clergy present in addition to the Bishop of Birmingham were the Ven.C. E. Hopton, Archdeacon of Birming­ham, the Ven. J. H. Richards, Arch­deacon of Aston, the Rev. R. D. Richardson, Vicar of Harborne, and the Rev. W. C. Sissons, incumbent of the parish of St. Faith and St. Laurence.

           The Holy Table, the Font, the Lectern and the Pulpit having been consecrated  in  turn, the Bishop directed that the sentence of consecration should be read aloud by the Clerk of the Diocese. The Bishop then ordered that the documents should be enrolled and preserved in the Registry of the Diocese. The consecration, said the Bishop represented at least a third of a century of effort, for it was almost exactly thirty three and a third years ago that the Mission Hall of St.Faith was dedicated by the then Bishop of Lichfield. Harborne belonged to Staffordshire in origin and was formerly part the Diocese of Lichfield.