St Andrews Psalter Lane Church is the result of the coming together, in 1998, of two
Sheffield Church.
St Andrews Sharrow, the Anglican parish church on St Andrew's Road, was dedicated in 1869 to meet the growing needs of the Victorian suburb. It was a fine church, built on the brow of the hill, with a capacity of 700 and a stone spire which could be seen for miles around. Unfortunately it had almost no foundations, and towards the end of the 20th century, the nave and transepts began to crack alarmingly, as the clay on which the church was built dried out. By the end of 1996 the church was no longer safe to use, and the congregation moved out into the Church Centre next door (now St Andrews Hall).
Psalter Lane Methodist Church (the present St Andrews Psalter Lane church building) was dedicated in 1930, after South Street Methodist Church off the Moor was bought out by Marks and Spencer and the congregation bought Shirley House and its adjoining land on the corner of Psalter Lane and Cherry Tree Road and built their new church there. A well-built cruciform church oriented to the south, it could seat almost 400 people. For many years there had been good relations between St Andrew Sharrow and Psalter Lane Methodist Church, with shared services and events. In 1997 the Methodist congregation invited the congregation of St Andrew Sharrow, who now had no church building, to join them. This invitation was accepted, and after much careful prayer and planning, the two churches became one, as St Andrews Psalter Lane, in January 1998. Technically, the church is a Local Ecumenical Partnership (LEP), and it is sponsored and regulated on behalf of the two parent denominations by Churches Together in South Yorkshire.
The old parish church was demolished in 2000 and the land sold (it now has
the Monarch's Gate apartments on it). The proceeds were used towards a major redevelopment of the former
Psalter Lane Methodist Church (now St Andrew's Psalter Lane), designed by Peter Wright of the architects
Peter Wright & Martyn Phelps, and carried out by T &C Williams in 2002-3. The result of this
redevelopment is the calm, intimate, comfortable, flexible, inspiring church interior we have today.
As you approach the church from Psalter Lane and climb the steps, or after you have walked slowly up the long ramp, admiring the plants and flowers on the way, and come to the glass doors, you can already see the reds and blues of the new stained glass window which Rona Moody created for us in 2002-3. The glowing colours invite you in through the glass doors with the church's trinitarian logo etched on them. As you pass through the porch, look up to the left and right, to see the stone symbols of the trinity which inspired the new logo. You continue into the new narthex, a bright carpetted area for people to meet and greet each other, drink tea and coffee and have a chat. To the left is the kitchen with the serving hatch, and to the right the creche area, divided by the William Morris window from the old parish church.
Before entering the main worship area, you go up the stairs from the narthex,
to find yourself in a beautiful long balcony room dominated by the north window of the church. This is
the choir vestry, but is also a most pleasant meeting room. As you go out on to the small balcony
itself (from which the sound system is controlled), you feel energised by the brilliant colours of
the New Creation window in front of you and, if the sun is shining, you soon notice the many
reflections on walls or floor or dais. You then take in the inclusive intimacy of the church, with
the central altar on the dais and the chancel arch somehow continuing in the encircling chairs.
Back downstairs, you enter the worship area from the glass doors of the narthex, and immediately encounter the font, set quite traditionally near the entrance of the church (baptism being entrance to the church community) and balancing the altar, which now lies ahead of you. Sit anywhere you like and realise how comfortable and relaxing yet also stimulating this space is. If you have picked up from the table in the narthex the yellow card with some details about the New Creation window and some ways of meditating as you look at it, you could do that now.
If not, you might wish to explore round the back of the church. If you go out to the left, you will find first the ministers' room and then three rooms used by the Junior Church groups during Sunday morning worship. You will also find toilets in addition to the ones in the narthex, and the flower vestry.
The church is usually locked when not in public use. If you would like to visit the church, a good time is 9.30 am every day except Thursday, following Morning Prayer. At other times, a visit may be arranged by contacting the caretaker (tel 255 3787).