History of the Richmond Team Ministry

The history of the Church of England parish in Richmond goes back at least 800 years.  The original St Mary Magdalene was built at the end of the 12th century and for 300 years was the only centre of worship in the town.  The expansion of Richmond in the 18th century led to the building of St John the Divine in 1827, and St John’s remained a separate parish until 1979.  Meanwhile the population continued to grow, and in the 1850s St Matthias, designed by the architect Sir Gilbert Scott, was built as a daughter church to St Mary’s.

In the 1980s it was decided that the local community could be served more effectively if the three churches, St John the Divine, St Mary Magdalene and St Matthias, were to work together as equal partners in a team ministry.  We have been working together in this way since 1990, and Richmond Team Ministry came into being legally in 1995.  We are committed to working together with the Parish of Holy Trinity, Richmond to serve the needs of the town.

Part of the strength of the Team lies in the freedom of the three churches to worship in the distinctive ways they have built up over the years.  All three churches have choirs and Junior Churches.  St John’s uses incense and reflects an Anglo-Catholic tradition in worship and service.  St Matthias has been developed as a multi-purpose centre with community activities throughout the week.  St Mary’s, as well as its weekly Parish Communion, continues its sung Matins and Evensong from the Book of Common Prayer each week.  The Eucharist is celebrated in one of our churches on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.