St Andrew's Church, Bentley

St Andrew's Church is a Free Church of England church in Bentley, Walsall, West Midlands. Three services are held weekly, Sunday at 10am 11:30am and 6pm.

The minister is Bishop Paul Hunt, the Bishop of the Southern Diocese of the Free Church of England (FCE), assisted by the Revd Mark Spiers, Revd Henry Birtley and Mr Matthew Spiers. The Revd Mark Spiers writes a daily devotional which is circulated around the denomination of the FCE for all to read.

Many events happen on a regular basis. There are youth groups with 30-40 members, a lunch club, a friendship group, prayer meetings, bible study, and a coffee and chat that meets every week at 10am. The church holds annual summer and christmas fayres, harvest festival, choir nativities and memorial services.

History
Bentley consisted of 933 houses when the Revd G K Naderer, Mr Norris and Mr Roberts conferred together on the possibility of establishing a Church. This was at the beginning of the post war building boom. The area was very much Black Country and set three quarters of a mile from Junction 10 of the M6. On Saturday afternoon, January 16, 1943 at 4pm in a tiny wooden hut in the middle of an industrial town, St Andrew’s was officially opened and soon became known as the church on the doorstep. On 13 March 1943, St. Andrew’s acknowledged their first baptism, that of Alan John Perry, born on the 8th February 1943 to parents Thomas and Alice Perry of ‘Belmont’, Wolverhampton Road.

Having obtained temporary buildings, St Andrew’s soon became a thriving church, especially with its youth, attracting a Sunday school of over 180 children in the mid-fifties and with 13 Sunday school teachers.

In 1955, St Andrew’s started a building fund with a goal of raising £10,000.

On Saturday 17 November 1956, the foundation stone of the new church was laid by the G W Forbes Smith. In July 1957, the church was almost complete. The ceiling was painted pale blue and the walls dove grey. On Saturday 10 August 1957, St Andrew’s, Free Church of England, was officially opened in its new building.

In 1997, many church members began fundraising toward a goal of £160,000. In 2000, the Church Hall was opened and dedicated by Kenneth Powell.