© 2006 haebea.org.uk
History
The Methodist congregation that now calls itself 'St Andrew's' started in 1952 with the arrival of its first minister, Rev Eryl Hughes. The church hadn't been built, so the services took place in the Moot House at The Stow. Harlow New Town had a growing population, soon the congregation had grown to over thirty full members. It was then that the building of the present buildings was started. The Foundation Stone was laid on 27th June 1953 and the Grand Opening was on 30th October 1954. St Andrew's formed part of the Harlow Mission Circuit until 1979 when changes in the way our church was funded led to proposals to work together with the United Reformed churches in Harlow. In 1989, the West Essex United Area was established made up of four Methodist Churches (including St Andrew's), four United Reformed Churches, plus the joint Anglican/Methodist work that had begun at churches in Great Parndon. The new Area included churches in Harlow, Roydon, Ongar, Epping and North Weald.
As time has moved on, the development of new housing around Harlow and its surrounding area brings fresh challenges, particularly with much of that development planned to occur along the Herts/Essex border. In September 2006, a new and larger Area was formed from the merger of the West Essex United Area with the Lee Valley North circuit to form the Herts and Essex Borders Ecumenical Area, adding churches in Waltham Cross, Hoddesdon, Hertford, Ware and Watton-on-Stone.
Despite the changes, St Andrew's as a building hasn't changed much in its 50-year history. Some of the folk who were around in those early days are still with us, albeit somewhat older and with a few more grey hairs. The buildings you see now were Phase 1 of the church building, Phase II was never implemented and a block of flats (St Andrews House) now stands on the land on which Phase II might have stood. Alas in 2007, we now find our facilities too small to meet the demands of the 21st century and if all goes to plan, building work will soon commence to enlarge and enhance our building. Much work has been done to raise the necessary funds to allow this work to commence.