It was in August 1662 that the Revd. William Sparrow, Vicar of St. Andrew’s Halstead, was ejected from the Anglican Church for his refusal to comply with the requirements of the Act of Uniformity or give full assent to all that was in the Prayer Book which was being forced upon the Anglican Church. He, and a group who shared his convictions, formed the first Congregational Church in Halstead which met in a barn in the yard of the White Hart Inn in the High Street.
The congregation so increased that in 1679 the first Independent Meeting House was built in Parsonage Street. This was replaced in 1718 by a red brick building (The Old Meeting House) which stood for nearly one hundred and fifty years where the later church building now stands.
In 1832 there was a disagreement about the appointment of a new minister. A section of the Church broke away and founded a new Church in the High Street in 1833. For 113 years, until 1946, there were two Congregational Churches in the town.
In 1865 the Old Meeting House had to be closed as it was in a bad state of repair. The congregation met in the Town Hall for a year until a new building was completed in 1866. Called the ‘New Congregational Church.’ it still stands today in Parsonage Street although without its spire and now converted into flats. For twenty years efforts were made to bring the Parsonage Street and High Street Churches together but it was not until 1946 that, after 113 years of separation, the two congregations again became one.
In 1948 the Reverend Gordon Breeze started a friendship with the Church in Mülheim-Saarn in Germany by befriending Pastor Eward Luhr, the chaplain of a prisoner of war camp on the outskirts of Halstead. This friendship has outlasted many other such friendships in English Churches and the latest visit to Germany took place in 2018.
In 1972 the Congregational Church became part of the United Reformed Church.
At this time the Church building had dry rot and, at times, a leaking roof. Maintenance of the building became the main focus of attention and the imposing spire, the main architectural feature of the building which could be seen from all parts of the town and beyond, had to be removed.
In the mid nineteen-nineties the increasing cost of staying in the church in Parsonage Street became unaffordable. The church building was handed back to the trustees and everything was sold. The Methodist Church invited us to share worship with them which we did for two years and this started what has become a lasting friendship. However, for the Church to fulfil what we felt was God’s purpose for us, we needed a new church building. After rejecting possible options on the grounds of either cost or location, we were offered the chance to buy what was then the Doctors’ Surgery, shortly to be vacated. The old Surgery appeared to have great potential and the Church members, guided by faith, took the courageous decision to buy the building.
At every stage we felt that this was where our Lord wanted us to be and we were given ways to overcome problems. In spite of a tight financial situation we found enough money to buy, convert and equip the new church to a very high standard and there was no debt when we moved in.
The Church met for the first time in its new home just before Christmas in the year 2000. It had already been accepted into the United Reformed Church and now the members wanted it to be called ‘The United Reformed Church of Halstead’ which was accepted by the Church governing body. We believe we have carried on the tradition of the old Church in the town by moving on when the Spirit leads us and continually being open to God’s will.
There is no doubt that after more than two decades the Church has established the URC at the very centre of Halstead. Until the Covid pandemic a community or Church activity took place on the premises almost every day of the year with the only restriction being the time available.
The United Reformed Church of Halstead is grouped with Bocking United Reformed Church and Kelvedon United Reformed Church in one pastorate sharing the same Minister. We belong to the Eastern Synod of the United Reformed Church. We have strong links with our friends from Halstead Methodist Church and a friendship with the Protestant Churches of Broich-Saarn in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany.