Passion for the Pagans 1991-2006: Volume 9 of The Story of Christ Church, New Malden
In June 2022, Stephen wrote the ninth volume of his illustrated history of Christ Church. This covered the fifteen years in which Stewart Downey was Vicar of the parish from 1991-2006. The decision of the Church of England to ordain women in 1992 immediately revealed major differences of perspective that had to be managed. Less obviously, it was also a time when significant differences were opening up about the most effective approaches to take to evangelism and mission. A major refurbishment of St John’s took place in 1994. Stewart Downey made an extraordinary impact through his pastoral care but also his passion for reaching ‘the unchurched’, frequently described with his Northern Irish accent and good humour as ‘pagans’. One outcome of this was ‘Oxygen’, a major youth project spearheaded by Christ Church and involving many other churches in the area. Another was the ‘New Start Service’. This began the new millennium in January 2000 with an ethos of removing as many as possible of the cultural barriers commonly stopping people coming to God.