I placed this one because I really enjoy the Church Micro series and want to give something back, and also because of the apparent dearth of unorthodox or Restoration churches on the list. So here goes!
*********************
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT
The Restoration Movement began in the United States in the late 18th century against a backdrop of massive and ongoing changes to the nation's frontiers, economy, and demography, and played into the highly spiritual and superstitious climate prevalent in those days. Christianity itself would have looked different then, of course, with folk magic and Biblical tenets far happier bedfellows than they are today. By the end of this 'Second Great Awakening' in the 1850s, the Fox sisters of New York had established Spiritualism, another tradition from that time that survives to the present day.
Our story also begins on the East Coast, but earlier, in 1820, when a teenage farmhand named Joseph Smith Jr. experienced what has subsequently been called the First Vision. In a clearing in the woods at Palmyra, New York, young Smith underwent a transformative event (precise accounts of which vary, but that isn't exactly the point), which led to the formation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints/LDS.
English people were fundamental to the establishment of this church, migrating in the tens of thousands to join it in Nauvoo, Illinois, in the 1840s, via New York or New Orleans, as the economy in Northern England stagnated. Failed 2012 Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's ancestors were among those who booked passage - at the church's expense - to help settle the frontier.
LDS church founder Joseph Smith Jr. was killed on June 27, 1844, in a jail cell in Carthage, Illinois, along with his brother Hyrum. Brigham Young soon took control of the church and shortly thereafter initiated the mass migration of the Saints west toward Great Salt Lake in Utah, where they remain headquartered today.
*********************
COMMUNITY OF CHRIST
Dissatisfied with the changes Young was making to the church, a small group of Saints stayed behind in Nauvoo, under the aegis of Joseph's widow Emma Hale Smith, and son Joseph Smith III. These folks considered themselves loyal to Joseph Smith Jr.'s original vision for his new church, and called their congregations the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints/RLDS. In 2001, the church changed its name to Community of Christ.
The modern church is active in over 50 countries, maintains two Temples in the United States (Independence, Missouri and Kirtland, Illinois), and estimates its global membership to be around 250,000. It is an inclusive denomination, celebrating the worth of all persons, and ordained women a full decade before the Church of England.
*********************
THE CHAPEL
Now, (finally!) to the building at hand. This chapel was built in ~1966 in a light, airy, modest, modernist style. It is of brick construction with glass double doors, black metal railings, and limited parking for congregants. My favorite feature is the abundance of windows, and the fact that none of them really match any of the others.
Original 1960s fixtures still exist within the building, such as parts of the kitchen, bathrooms, and the offices upstairs. The overall design is ageing well, if a little understated when viewed from the street. Unconstrained by traditional layout rules, the chapel is shaped like a capital T perpendicular to Yardley Wood Road, giving it a South-East to North-West alignment. The wall parallel to the street, with cross detailing in contrasting colored bricks, is the outer face of the wall behind the altar.
The Billesley chapel is the largest Community of Christ worship facility in the United Kingdom and is the site of the biannual British Isles Mission Center Conference. Services are held at 11:00 on Sundays, and the chapel building is also used for recreational activities such as Tae Kwon Do.
*********************
THE CACHE
The cache is not on the chapel grounds, but a short trot away up Bromwall Road, just about within view of the chapel building, hedge growth permitting. It is a black magnetic nano.
--- Well done to SOAPY chickens for FTF! ---
****************** ********************
For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him at churchmicro.co.uk
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
****************** *******************