
AMPTHILL METHODIST CHURCH
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Visitors and newcomers to Ampthill would be hard put to miss this imposing church in Dunstable Street. From its beginnings in a converted dwelling house on the corner of Brewery Lane, then known as Hog Hill, Ampthill Methodist Church has existed faithfully ever since to serve the town and its environs.
In 1813 a larger chapel was built at the top of the hill off Woburn Street but both the town and the Methodist community continued to grow. By 1880 it was time to consider another move and the present building was completed four years later. The development included the adjoining houses - one providing a huge but not very practicable Manse. Two World Wars - and the tide of church-going began to turn. Methodist Churches had to re-group with considerable economies of scale and on-going changes to Circuit structures.
Today Ampthill Methodist Church continues to serve those whose chosen form of worship sits somewhere between the Anglican and the Baptist persuasion. With the continued work of Churches Together close links have now been forged, through Churches Together, with all denominations local to Ampthill.
With the creation of the new North Bedfordshire Circuit there have been a number of changes to the grouping of local Methodist churches. Ampthill says a sad farewell to Rev Joanne Sherwood although she will continue to care for other churches in the area including Flitwick & Clophill. Ampthill welcomes the Rev. Caroline Weaver from Hemel Hempstead. We look forward to her ministry building on the work over which Joanne has presided in the last three years. We also look forward to a new grouping with Cranfield, Wootton. Lidlington, Marston Shelton & Bedford Rd.