Church goers celebrate 50th birthday

11:38am Thursday 8th May 2008

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TRINITY Church in Blackburn has been celebrating its 50th birthday.

It has its roots back in 1928, when it was founded as Brownhill Congregational Church.

A year later, a building which was meant to be temporary opened in Brownhill Road for Sunday Services and for use as a church hall.

But the congregation didn't get a new church until April, 1958 and even then it had belonged to somebody else!

For the current stone church was originally the non-conformist chapel in Whalley New Road cemetery.

When no longer needed It was offered free by Blackburn Council to any organisation willing to pay for it to be dismantled and erected elsewhere.

Brownhill had been planning to build a separate church since the 1930's but struggled to raise funds. They leapt at the offer of the chapel, even though well short of the £10,000 cost of the project.

The building was transferred stone by stone, the sods were cut in 1957 and the church finally opened the following year.

It is now known as Trinity United Reformed Church following the creation of the URC in 1972 among Congregationalists and Presbyterians and the amalgamation of Brownhill URC with Audley Range URC in 1988.