Peculiar people

Evangelical church, St Annes Rd, Southend

I'm trying to piece the facts together because at the time I was just a boy and church politics was hardly one of my interests. But I do have some memories which may be worth sharing.

The building in the picture used to belong to the Peculiar People, as in you are a chosen generation, a Royal priesthood, an holy nation, a Peculiar People, a denomination that seems to have been restricted to the Essex area and started by one James Banyard. My father's parents and Aunty Mary used to attend another church in Southend but at some point the two churches joined forces. I remember attending meetings when both pastors, one from each church, were in operation. I think they took it in turns to preach. One was Pastor Danes and the other Pastor Peters. I do not know which one was "peculiar". But I do vividly remember Pastor Peters reading the passage from John 20 with such passion that I felt like I was an onlooker...

And she (Mary Magdelene) saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.  They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."  Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).

I remember a man in the congregation, Smee by name. He had a boil or pimple on his face (children remember such things) and sang the hymns lustily but, being tone deaf, totally out of tune. Someone commented on this and he responded that he did not care what he sounded like - nobody was going to stop him praising his Lord. That anyone could have such devotion meant a lot to me at the time.

There was Renee who sang Oh Holy Night with my Aunt. Renee would dig into her handbag and fetch out little bits of paper with maybe a picture and a Bible verse written on them for us children. I don't rightly remember what we did with them: her intentions were no doubt good but I cannot recall the verses changing my life in any way.

The church had a choir, composed mainly of older folk, indeed the whole congregation was mainly older folk. Every Sunday meeting the choir would sing an anthem. I used to enjoy this simply because it was variation, but what relevance the anthem had to the rest of the meeting alluded me. Apart from that it was the usual "hymn sandwich" with a lengthy sermon thrown in towards the end.

My grandfather used to play the pipe organ with me sharing the organ bench, but maybe this was before the merge.

I found this picture on the internet, it being the closest I could find to another memory. My Aunt took me to a meeting in a dusty church hall, I know not where. There were wooden chairs arranged in a circle and a harmonium, and everything was dusty and looked like it was a relic from some bygone era. My grandfather was into mending organs and I have inherited from him a harmonium reed puller which is a very useful though simple tool for getting things out of awkward places. A harmonium is a reed organ (aka pump organ) with bellows operated by the feet and a number of "stops" which all sound much of a muchness because there is not a lot you can do to alter the noise a brass reed makes. They were quite common in small chapels at the time. Anyway, back to the meeting, I think we sang a hymn (possibly Mary played the harmonium) and otherwise it was a prayer meeting which, if you are a child, is hardly the most interesting of activities. It is often not much better when you grow up.

When I read, in my link to the Peculiar people, mention of a Mr William Perry of Southend my memory was once again tickled.  My grandmother, who owned and drove their Ford motor (Ginty never learnt to drive), often spoke of Mr Perry who ran a car sales and repair business and I wonder if it he was the one healed?  Which reminds me of another instance when she was driving us back from church and did something silly like running a red light and explained afterwards that she had panicked so closed her eyes and prayed and hoped for the best. The best apparently happened for here I am to tell the tale.

In 1956 the Peculiar people were renamed the 'Union of Evangelical Churches" and, like so many other movements started by a particular individual, waned in popularity and extremism. This site says only 15 churches remain open within the UEC.