St Mary
Luton, Bedfordshire
St Mary’s church has a rich and long history, being over 850 years old and has been rebuilt and refurbished constantly over the centuries.
The church was built in 1937 with a large hall and kitchen, three rooms and a lounge across the back. The outbreak of war in September 1939 saw the church being used as an Air Raid Warden’s Post and as additional classrooms for the local Denbigh Road school, an arrangement that continued until March 1954. In 1955 a permanent stage was provided in the large hall, as it now exists. In 1969 the stained glass window was installed, along with the stone cross on the roof, above the south entrance. The church was extended in 1965 with a New Room and steward’s vestry to the rear and the kitchen, from the hall, modernised in 1981.
The building serves a multicultural, (top 5% Deprivation Index) impoverished community in both the Biscot and Saints areas, hosting a nursery and local Oasis charity which offers English lessons, homework clubs and job advice. Three different church communities worship on Sundays in the large church and hall. We have joined with the local Baptist Church to become a Local Ecumenical Partnership called ‘The Olive Tree Church’ with 'Tree' and 'Branch' sites in Blenheim Crescent and Montrose Avenue. Together we fund a community worker with a successful Messy Church attended by over 50 families (mainly South Asian and Eastern European).