Fairplace - EX20 1DT
Facebook: Fairplace Church
Fairplace Church (Methodist and United Reformed)
Services - Sundays 10.30am and some Sunday evenings as advertised
Other services and prayer and study groups as advertised
Fairplace Church is situated in the heart of Okehampton opposite the Post Office and representing both the Methodist and United Reform traditions. They have a long history in Okehampton. Wesleyan (New Road), Bible Christian (East Street) and Congregationalist (Ebenezer) congregations first met in people’s homes and public rooms until congregations were large enough for church buildings to be needed.
Fairplace Church was completed in 1904, firstly for the Wesleyan Methodists, joined in 1962 by those from the Bible Christian tradition (although the Methodist Church had united in 1932) and amalgamating with the United Reform Church in 1974. Some of the buildings previously occupied no longer exist, but the original Wesleyan Church is now used by the New Life Church. There have been further additions to the Fairplace premises such as the Gratton Hall in 1954, with an additional storey built above in 1982. In the 1990s there was considerable refurbishment with pews in the church replaced by chairs, the addition of a new entrance porch at the front of the building and the creation of the Terry Bennett Centre and coffee bar (which was refurbished in 2019).
There are legacies from previous churches in the fine church organ (from East Street Methodist) and the hanging light cluster (from Ebenezer URC) allowing past traditions to live on in Fairplace. The additions of a fully computerised central heating system, an AV system (updated in 2019) with telephone line and broadband also installed in 2019 have adapted the building for modern use.
Fairplace holds services every Sunday morning and occasionally on Sunday evenings and there are several worship groups within the church community who, on occasion, lead services. The church has a number of groups who meet for fellowship, worship and a range of activities during the week. There is mid-week prayer, worship and communion and coffee mornings in the Terry Bennett Centre. The Community Outlook group meet regularly to consider future initiatives both within the church and in the wider community. Fairplace is a member of Christians Together in Okehampton, sharing with Christians from other denominations in the town. The premises are shared with local community groups of many kinds and ages, meaning that the church is also meeting some of the needs of the local community. Most notably the Okehampton Street Pastors use the church as a base for prayer when on duty in the town.
Fairplace strives to be a church whose purpose is ‘In the community, part of the community’
