Área de identidad
Tipo de entidad
Forma autorizada del nombre
Forma(s) paralela(s) de nombre
Forma(s) normalizada del nombre, de acuerdo a otras reglas
Otra(s) forma(s) de nombre
Identificadores para instituciones
Área de descripción
Fechas de existencia
Historia
Munster Park Wesleyan Church was founded in 1880. In 1932, following a vote taken at a meeting of the United Methodist Church, it changed its name to Munster Park Methodist Church. For many years it was highly attended, and became a centre of community life in Hammersmith, hosting meetings of the Munster Park Wesley Guild, the Munster Park Cycling Club and the 6th Fulham Girl Guides among others. During the Second World War, the roof of Munster Park Church suffered severe bomb damage, and the congregation was temporarily transferred to the Methodist church at Munster Road. The Munster Park church organ was rescued and rebuilt in the 1950s, when the church re-opened for worship.
As the years progressed, however, the congregation dwindled, and Munster Park Church became too large to serve the Methodist community's needs and too costly to maintain. In the late 1960s, the community took the decision to sell the old church and much of the land, and to convert the existing assembly halls into a new church. The sale was completed in 1971, and the new church opened for worship in 1972. It continued to provide a venue for community groups, and in subsequent decades other local church communities also used the premises for worship. At the same time, the Methodist congregation at Munster Park became involved in an ecumenical project at St. Barnabas Anglican Church in Kensington. The Anglican-Methodist Experiment, as it became known, began in 1966 and was formalised in 1969. In the 1980s, however, the Anglican community was considerably increased by the closure of nearby Anglican churches, while the cost of maintaining St. Barnabas placed a greater strain on Anglican finances. The Methodist community consequently felt under-represented at St. Barnabas, and began to question the feasibility of the Experiment. In 1985, the Anglican and Methodist communities jointly decided to terminate the project.
Munster Park Methodist Church saw a severe decline in attendance throughout the 1980s. The Hammersmith and Fulham Methodist Circuit, taking into account Munster Park's ageing congregation and lack of religious engagement with the local community, decided to close the church, and in 1995 Munster Park's remaining assets were sold.