St Andrews URC, Cardiff "The Scottish Church"

St Andrew's URC, Cardiff HISTORY  1893-present In the beginning... The tale of St Andrew's Church begins in the last decade of the 19th Century.  Cardiff was a town growing around the docks built by the Marquises of Bute.  The population was growing rapidly, and by 1893, the Presbyterian church in Windsor Place (now City URC, right) was full.  The only way for Presbyterianism to grow in Cardiff was felt to be by starting a new congregation.  The idea for Roath Park Presbyterian Church, later to become St Andrew's URC was hatched. In 1895, a site was found on the outskirts of the city which would be large enough for the church and its associated buildings.  In 1896, plans were drawn up and the memorial stone for the new church laid on 24th March 1897.  The church was completed in early September 1897, the first services held on the 5th September, and the church became a full member of the Presbyterian Church on the 8th September.  Both services on the 5th filled the church.   The church continues to grow From its modest start, as an offshoot from an existing church in Cardiff, Roath Park church grew quickly, and on 12th April 1899, the Memorial stones were laid for a much larger church building adjacent to the existing church.  With over half of the £8,000 required to build the church already raised, optimism was high, and a church capable of accommodating 800-900 people was not considered excessive. The church was opened on 20th June 1900, with a packed church, and many people turned away at the door. The congregation continued to grow rapidly.  60 in 1898 became 150 in 1900, 276 in 1905 and 367 by 1913.  No attendance records exist for the Sunday School, but they are thought to follow a similar trend. Before the start of the Great War, scouting and guiding had also begun at Roath Park Church.   World War I to World War II The First World War saw Roath Park Church and its Scout Group lose many members.  Their names are still remembered every year at the annual Remembrance Day Parade. Following the war, numbers declined from their 1913 peak to around 200, which was maintained until the second World War. Roath Park Church was very fortunate during the second World War - the buildings escaped damage and few lives were lost.  Services continued, with only the evening service being disrupted by a black out during one winter.  In conjunction with Roath Park Methodist Church, a canteen was run during the war and Christmas parcels sent out to service personnel associated with the church.   Post World War II The post war period saw much change in the life of the Church.  Service patterns changed - there is no longer a choir and the weekly evening service has been lost.   The church changed name. In the 1970s, the Congregational Church largely merged with the Presbyterian Church to form the United Reformed Church.  Roath Park Presbyterian Church became St Andrew's United Reformed Church .  Numbers declined, but recent years have seen some new growth. Ministers Rev J. Douglas Watters - 1897 to January 1898 Rev W.E. Shaw - January 27 1898  to December 1907 Rev J. Reynolds McLean - April 1908  to 1915 (National Service) resigned 1917 Rev J. Macara Gardner, M.A., 1918  to 1922 Rev John R. Coates, M.A., 1923  to 1928 Rev E.L. Allen, M.A., Ph.D., D.D., 1928  to 1931 Rev Sydney J. Haggis, 1932  to 1950s   Mr Allen Powell Interim Moderator - 1980's  to present Organists W.Augustus Richards - 1900  to Norman Kendrick - 1911 to 1936 Frederick W Webb Horace Field Eddie High Vernon Jenkins Brian Hicks Vernon Jenkins Peter Roberts - 1977 to 1991 Ed Cole - 1991 to present

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