St Peter, Prince of the Apostles
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BACKGROUND: The Building of the Church at Twydall
The building of the church at Twydall had been dogged by disaster from the start. The architect had died; the ‘Internationale Bouworde’ had damaged the main sewerage system when digging the foundation; and the builders, Nye and Son, had taken an inordinate length of time over the construction. It was not really surprising, therefore, that the ‘Evening Post’ of Friday, August 22nd 1969 carried the banner headline “New church must go”. The article reported that a huge crack had appeared on one side of the church splitting it from top to bottom; and that the glass walls and the roof of pressed straw and felt had both always leaked. Fr. Gleeson, the article went on to say, was adamant that the church was unsafe and that a new church was necessary. Parishioners who were interviewed thought differently. Some complained that to build a new church would be a tremendous waste of money; while others were resentful about the prospect of having to pay out for a new church while the school their children attended (St. Thomas of Canterbury Primary School), was hopelessly overcrowded.
A further newspaper article that appeared at the time of the church’s demolition reported that even further defects were found when the roof was taken off: that the workmanship was very bad and the structure was unsatisfactory throughout. The article concluded, somewhat poignantly, “The church has never been consecrated, and has no name.”The last Mass celebrated at this nameless and unconsecrated church was held on January 25th 1970; and until the new church was built the Twydall congregation worshipped at the St. Thomas of Canterbury Primary School. The contract for building the new church was given to the Rainham firm of Flaherty Bros., and as with J.H. Durrant of Strood who built St Thomas’ Church, it was their first venture into church building too. Rather disappointingly we have no plans or correspondence concerning this church; but Mr. Joseph Flaherty named the architects as the London firm of Broadbent, Hastings, Reid and Todd; and casting his mind back over 30 years, thought the cost of building the church had been in the region of £30,000. The congregation was offered a choice of two dedications for their new church: St. Alphege; or St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles. Not surprisingly the latter was favoured and the church was opened by Archbishop Cyril Cowderoy on Saturday, December 5th 1970. The church was not designed ‘in the round’, but with seating facing the altar on three sides of the church’s rectangular shape, the congregation, to a greater extent than ever before, faced each other, and this was found to be easier for worship and conducive to the building of community. More controversial was the ‘crying room’.
The ‘Stations of the Cross’ and the large crucifix above the altar are the only features saved from the old church.
Developments (1989 1997)
Fr. John’s years in Rainham were a time of positive achievement, but for the people of St. Peter’s, at least, the greatest achievement was the Dedication of their church which Fr. Curtin had always opposed, but with which Fr. John had no argument.
The decision taken Bishop Jukes was invited to perform the ceremony, and with the date set for June 29th 1990 the St. Peter’s Committee decided to follow custom and to have a new altar consecrated in place of the one then in use which had come from St. Thomas’.
The people of St, Peter’s set about the challenge to raise the necessary funds for the new altar with great enthusiasm. There were regular collections; and there was great dismay when a gallon bottle placed in the porch for small change was stolen when almost full. Individual parishioners organised fund-raisers and past clergy and parishioners made donations, so that as the day of Dedication drew near £1,600 had been raised towards the total.
In the first instance a London firm quoted the figure of £2,730 for a simple altar in Portland stone, but parishioner Joe Kulka designed a more interesting altar and an Altar of Reservation which were executed in marble by a Newcastle-under-Lyme firm at a total cost of £2,725.50. To match these two altars the diocese advised a matching lectern and font at a further cost of £1,200. Besides designing the two altars, Joe Kulka installed the four Dedication Crosses and resited the Stations of the Cross.
The Dedication of St. Peter’s Church was a much simpler ceremony than the equivalent at St. Thomas’ only eighteen years earlier, but was none the less quite spectacular. Relics of St. Justus and St. Philip Howard were sealed within the altar by one of the Flaherty brothers who had built the church; and the anointing of the altar itself was undertaken with obvious satisfaction by Bishop Jukes as he spread copious amounts of Chrism across the altar’s entire surface with the palms of his hands. Flames from the fire into which incense was placed prior to the censing of the altar and the people reached almost to the ceiling.
The marble lectern and font, advised by the Diocese, were installed as planned and were dedicated on June 28th 1992. The cost was £1,251 of which £1,000 was anonymously donated by two people.The generosity of St. Peter’s people was again evident in a report from the St. Peter’s Committee the summer of 1996 which stated that the cost of new front doors for St. Peter’s Church was to be met by an anonymous donation of £600 given in appreciation for the kindness shown by the people of St. Peter’s to a lady who had died. The report went on to state that a commission for a statue of St. Peter had been placed with Sister Concordia, and that the cost of this statue would be met by two anonymous donors. This statue, depicting St. Peter standing and very simply dressed as a fisherman with his fisherman’s net at his left side and holding a golden key aloft in his right hand, was completed, and installed in time for the planned blessing on the Feast of SS Peter, and Paul in 1997.
Further developmetns (1977 onwards)
The refurbishment of St. Peter’s took place during the year 2000. Here the ceiling tiles were painted white and the predominating blue of the wall behind the altar and the doors vanished under magnolia and white. The sanctuary was reduced in depth and the marble altar, lectern and font aligned; showing them to greater advantage than before. The sanctuary floor was carpeted in a softly toned mottled brown, while a self-coloured deeper brown carpeting was laid throughout the church, coffee room and entrance. The pews were once again resited, allowing for easy movement about the church. Spare pews were placed in the coffee room so that mothers with crying or difficult children might find a place of refuge.
‘A Book of Remembrance’ giving the names of all parishioners who have died since 1958, together with dates of death, has been placed in each church.
Excitement about the approaching Millennium was gathering pace when Fr. Doug arrived in Rainham in the autumn of 1997: but amid all the preparations in the parish for the Millennium and the celebration of the Millennium year itself, the groups and activities in the parish continued much as usual, although there were some changes.
‘The Mass with the Sacrament of he Anointing of the Sick’ has been replaced with a specially devised liturgy called “A Service of Healing”. While those who are sick receive the Sacrament, others present are invited to be anointed with the Oil of Gladness, so that everyone present is given the opportunity to take part in the ceremony and to feel included.
The R.C.I.A. Group “Sharing Our Faith” which had been started by Fr. John when he was new to the parish suddenly foundered after running successfully for twelve years or so: but in the autumn of 2000 another R.C.I.A. Group entitled “On The Way” was started and is led by Fr. Doug.
Also in the autumn of 2000, Rainham had the honour to be chosen to pilot a scheme the aim of which is to include people with extra needs in active roles in the life and Mission of the Church. The reason for this honour probably lay in the fact that the activities of the Rainham ‘Faith and Light’ Group came to the notice of others in the Diocese; or, perhaps, it was that so many people with extra needs may be seen taking part in the liturgy and social life of our parish. Christina Gangemi the Project Worker, and a cousin of Fr. Gerard Bradley, spoke about the scheme at all Masses on October 15th; and on December 3rd the whole parish was invited to take part in the Advent Activity Day, “Follow the Star” which was held in the Parish Centre.
Consecration of the new tabernacle at St Peter Prince of the Apostles
The parish is very grateful to Joe Kulka for presenting a new tabernacle which he had constructed for St Peter, Prince of the Apostles. The parish is equally delighted to have such a remarkable craftsman, who has dedicated his time and skills, to complete the project. Thank you, Joe, for the beautiful tabernacle. Parishioners who missed the consecration ceremony at St Peter's can view the consecration by following the above link.
In Joe Kulka's own words: "This was my last project to make the design complete and in keeping with the rest of the Altars. It took many years from the time I was asked by Fr. John to design the Altars, the Font and the Lectern and later the Pascal Candle stand. Now I can say: it is done".
