Charles Church, Plymouth

Charles Church is the second most ancient parish church in Plymouth, Devon in England. The senior church is St Andrew's Church, the mother church of Plymouth.

The church was an important centre of spiritual life for the city for 300 years; boasted a number of important clergy; and was the mother of many existing churches. During the nights of 21 and 22 March 1941, the church was entirely burned out by incendiary bombs. Although now a monument, the tradition of ministry at "Charles" is not lost and is carried on by the Parish of Charles with St Matthias, one of its daughter churches a quarter of a mile away to the north. It is an important landmark for the city of Plymouth.

There have been several histories made of the church including two written in the early 20th century. Most focus on the fabric of the building rather than the spiritual life of the church and ministers, of whom Robert Hawker was a notable figure. There are several short accounts of his life and some much longer works.

That day the mayor and thirty others of the council assembled and passed a resolution to petition the king, Charles I, for permission to divide the old Parish of Plymouth into two and build a second church.

The reason for a second church was not that the existing Church of St Andrew was too small (it could comfortably seat 1,200 and the population was around 8,000 at the time), but rather one of religious controversy. Plymouth had grown into a Puritan town. This is hinted at by the Pilgrim fathers who felt at home here, "kindly entertained and courteously used by divers friends there dwelling". Being a Puritan town it meant that the High Anglican king did not see eye to eye with the townsfolk on religious matters.

Increasing tensions grew between the king and town over St Andrew's. In addition to the minister the town regularly appointed a "lecturer" to supplement the minister in his ministry. This lecturer might refute the morning sermon or the minister in an evening sermon. Battles were fought over the choice of ministers for the church and at times the king ordered the town's choice to be refused admission or tried to appoint his own lecturer. With increasing friction; disappointment with the Royalist tendencies of the St Andrew's incumbents; and a desire for Puritan preaching, the solution of creating a second church was mooted.

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Wikipedia