Powerful Goodness 1968-1975: Volume 7 of The Story of Christ Church, New Malden
In April 2022, Stephen wrote the seventh volume of his illustrated history of Christ Church. This covered the seven years in which Peter Coombs was Vicar of the parish from 1968-1975. Although the shortest of the parish’s ten incumbencies, this was an important time for the parish, chiefly through the significant modernisation that occurred. ‘Experimental’ services providing an alternative to the Book of Common Prayer, and using modern English, were used for the first time from the later 1960s producing a very different atmosphere. Another significant change from October 1973 was members of Christ Church being encouraged, for the first time, to use one another’s Christian names. The first steps were also taken to planning what later became the Christ Church Centre, although the diversity of viewpoints about this meant that this didn’t occur until later. Political and social events also received greater engagement at Christ Church than they had for some time. Behind all of this, the transparent and powerful goodness of Peter Coombs had a significant effect on the character of the parish and its ministry.