History
The church opened on 16th December 1931 as West End
Congregational Church. It was planned and built to serve the
residents of the new housing development in the area of Two Ball
Lonnen, in Fenham, and followed the closure of two Congregational
churches in the inner city, Beech Grove Congregational Church on
Westmorland Road and St. Paul's Congregational Church on
Westgate Road.
Some of the members of these two churches joined the new church.
The first minister was Rev E. Reeve Butter. The church soon grew
into a thriving congregation with a large Sunday School. Central to
its mission was a desire to meet the needs of the community and out
of this developed social activities and a mid-week devotional meeting
for women which played an important role in the life of the church.
The church joined the United Reformed Church on its formation in
1972 and became West End United Reformed Church. Over the years
there have been changes but the spirit of friendship and fellowship and
a sense of belonging to a family have remained.
The West End Church building is in use throughout the week, serving a
multi-cultural local community.
The Rutherford Memorial window
In 1939 West End church welcomed further new members when the Bath Lane
Congregational Church closed. This church was founded in 1860 by the renowned
preacher, doctor and educationalist Dr John Hunter Rutherford. After his death in
1892 a window in his memory was unveiled in Bath Lane church and when the
church closed it was kept for a while at West End Church before being installed in the
Rutherford Hall of Newcastle Polytechnic, now Northumbria University.
