Daffodil LogoSt Mary's Church, Dymock


History

 

This History section contains two parts: The church in Dymock The world-wide church
You can move through either part in time order by clicking on 'Next' or 'Previous' at the bottom of the page, or you can compare the two parts within the same time period by clicking on 'Switch'.

Beginnings, Middle Ages, Reformation, Enlightenment, Victorian, Modern

Beginnings
Introduction, Pre-Christian, Roman Times, 'Institutionalised'
Introduction
In Medieval times, Dymock was part of the 'Forest Deanery' in the diocese of Hereford, but it 1541 it was transferred to the newly-established diocese of Gloucester. In 1857 the unwieldy Forest Deanery was divided into Forest South and Forest North, with Dymock in the North division. Deaneries are headed by one of the local priests, previously called the 'Rural Dean' but now called the 'Area Dean'. In 2009, the Bishop of Gloucester decided that a committee of 16 Area Deans was too large to be effective, so directed that the 16 Gloucester deaneries should be merged into only 8 or 9. Forest North merged with Gloucester North to create a new Deanery called 'Severn Vale'. (Return to top)
Pre-Christian
Picture of Pre-Roman ManChristians believe that all people have a basic attraction to God because he created us, so if we don’t know about him we're driven to find a substitute. In ancient times, people didn't yet know the one true God, so they worshipped many false gods to explain the things they saw in the world about them, but didn't understand, such as rain, wind, fire, forests etc, usually based on superstition. As humanity has matured our religion has developed, such as the Druids with their mixture of barbarism and enlightenment. (Return to top)
Roman Times
During his human lifetime, Jesus taught his 12 special followers to be 'Apostles' (Apostle' = Greek for 'Messenger'). After Jesus returned to heaven, the Apostles took the message out to the world as Jesus had intended. Wherever the Apostles travelled, they preached the message they'd been taught, and they created new congregations (often at first very small) who worshipped God and supported each other, much as the first church had done in Jerusalem (See Christianity Explained). (Return to Top)

Picture of Christians in ColiseumThe church continued to grow such that it came to the notice of the Roman authorities. The Roman Empire was beginning to experience difficulties, which eventually led to its downfall. Christians, along with other minorities, were blamed for the problems, not least because Christians advocated only one God compared to the Roman practice of worshipping several gods, and Christians declined to recognise the Roman Emperor as a God, which the authorities saw as a destabilising threat. This came to a head in 64AD after a great fire, in which three quarters of Rome was destroyed or damaged. The Emperor Nero blamed the Christians, who became fair game for persecution, including being fed to the lions or involved in gladiator fights in the Roman 'games' in the Coliseum. (many historians now suggest Nero may have started the fire himself). (Return to Top)

Clip Art, Christian FishSubsequent Roman Emperors were even more cruel, so Christians often met in secret for their own safety in the catacombs (tunnels) under Rome and the symbol of the fish became a secret sign of recognition. One person would casually draw the first arc in the dust on the ground and the other would draw the second, to complete the figure and make the recognition (see Religion Explained). (Return to Top)
The Church becomes 'Institutionalised'
Picture of Orthodox PriestIn 313AD the Roman Emperor Constantine, who had become a Christian, declared Christianity the only religion of the Roman Empire, so the persecution of Christians stopped and Christianity came under the auspices of the Roman authorities. It's from this time that we trace the three-fold structure of Bishops, Priests and Deacons and the wearing of black by priests, because Christian priests became Roman civil servants and adopted those aspects of that service. (Return to Top)

As the original Apostles died out, those remaining came to realise that Jesus wasn't going to return in their life-time as they'd originally thought, so they had to rethink what Jesus' teaching meant and what they believed. Besides Rome and Jerusalem, two main centres of Christian thinking developed - Constantinople (in modern Turkey) which the Emperor Constantine had made the eastern capital of the Roman Empire, and in Alexandria (in modern Egypt). The great thinkers in those centres, the 'Early Church Fathers', became the leading thinkers of their time and used the established principles of Greek Philosophy and Logic to try to understand the teachings of Jesus and the nature of God. Many different theories were advanced, some becoming accepted as true and then rejected as false more than once. (Return to Top)

At this time the the individual gatherings of Christians around the world were still united as one, so that church is described as 'catholic', a Latin word that just means 'universal'. From time to time several 'Councils' were called of all the bishops to address various points of disagreement. One of the greatest was called in 325AD by the Roman Emperor Constantine in Nicaea (in modern Turkey) to resolve the dispute about the nature of God and Jesus. It was at this Council that the form of the Creed (statement of belief) was put forward which describes God as 'Trinity', and it's this creed, agreed when the church was still one, that we still repeat in Christian worship today. The Creed was confirmed at the Council of Chalcedon (also in turkey) in 451AD, except that the church in Egypt disagreed with the conclusion and split off - the Christian Church in Egypt still exists separately and is known as the Coptic Church, with it's own chief bishop. (Return to Top)
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