REV. J.C.McCALLUM

 

         Rev. J.C. Mcallum, who had replaced E.H.Shaw, conducted his first service in St. Hilda’s on March 10th 1930. He was at the time Curate in Charge, but shortly afterwards became the first Vicar, a ministry which was to last almost thirty years. On 28th February 1930, the Conventional District of St. Hilda’s was elevated to the status of Statutory District by Order in Council. In 1934, the patronage was passed entirely to the Bishop and part of the endowment of Harborne benefice was transferred to St. Hilda’s.

As 1932 was St. Hilda’s 25th Anniversary, the Church Council decided to mark the event by erecting a Memorial oak Clergy Desk recognizing the generosity of William Jones. It was placed in the Church at a Dedication Festival on November 20th. By June 1934 a New Church Scheme was underway.

 

                                         THE  NEW  CHURCH

 

          Early in 1935 the Bishop of Birmingham announced his Diocesan Scheme for Church Extension and launched an appeal for 100, 000 guineas to be raised in two years. A committee was formed to organise the Bishop’s Appeal in Warley Woods and every one of the 3000 houses in the parish was visited. In February 1937, the PCC was told that a new site had been purchased higher up Abbey Road. By September the estimates for the building had been reviewed and were announced at £8000 for a complete church. The contract was placed with C. Bryant & Sons and the ceremony of cutting the first turf took place at 6pm, just before Harvest Festival Evening Service on 2nd October 1938. A month later, on November 5th, the Archdeacon of Birmingham, Ven. C.E.Hopton, in the presence of the Lord Bishop of Birmingham, laid the foundation stone. There was a short service at the site after which everyone made their way to the Rathbone Road Church where the Archdeacon addressed them.

By October 1939 the fabric of the New Church was completed and in 1940 the parish boundaries were altered by Royal Order, which brought the new church into the centre of the parish. Built to the design of E.F.Reynolds in brick with Byzantine features, it was the fulfilment of a dream, made reality by the effort and dedication of its parishioners. After the fabric of the building was completed volunteers laid out the paths and grounds and the great day arrived at last. The new St. Hilda’s Warley Woods was consecrated on 29th June 1940 by the Bishop of Birmingham, Dr.E.W.Barnes and the Statutory District became a full parish, and St. Katherine’s incorporated into the charge of the Vicar of St. Hilda’s. Furnishings for the new church were brought from the old St. Hilda’s, but as yet there was no organ.  

 

                                                         1940-1944

 

At first it was very much a case of make do and mend. There was no organ and furnishings were brought from Rathbone Road, but as services continued there for some time, not everything could be removed to the new church. The war began to affect parish life as it did every other aspect of life. The first anniversary was celebrated by the Children’s Festival, and the collections were given to the Organ Fund that had been set up to pay for its removal from Rathbone Road to the new church. In 1943, the Vicar Rev. J.C.McCallum left the parish temporarily to become a naval chaplain. The curate, Rev.A.P.Comeau, under the supervision of the vicar of the Old Church held the fort

 

1945-1949

 

The shortage of paper had become critical, and the parish magazine had been reduced to little more than a letter from the curate, parish registers and a diary giving only the briefest details of forthcoming events. 1945 saw a plan to complete the church front, and there was also consideration given to building a new Parish Hall. The vicar returned in April 1946, and the curate left for his hometown of Plymouth.

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