50 years ago today, then Southampton Stake President Reginald V. Littlecott dedicated the new Bournemouth Meetinghouse on Thursday 17 October 1974.
DEDICATORY SERVICE of the BOURNEMOUTH WARD MEETING HOUSE
Dedicatory Service of the Bournemouth Ward Meeting House
of the Southampton England Stake
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Thursday, October 17th 1974 at 7.30 p.m.
Presiding Authority:
President Reginald V. Littlecott, Southampton Stake President
Conducting:
John Babidge, 1st Councillor Bournemouth Ward Bishopric
Opening Hymn: No. 176 This House we dedicate to Thee
Invocation: David J. Cottrell, Stake High Councilman
1st Speaker: Sidney B. Kenchington, Stake Patriarch
2nd Speaker: Rosemary M. Attwood, 1st Councillor Relief Society
Choral Number: The Lords Prayer
3rd Speaker: Brian Hopkinson, Church Building Department
Hymn: No. 168 Sweet is the Work
4th Speaker: Harry G. Leal, Ward Bishop
Choral Number: Thanks be to God
Address and Dedicatory Prayer: Reginald V. Littlecott, Stake President
Closing Hymn: No. 213 The Spirit of God like a fire is Burning
Benediction: Robert Cheyney, Elders Quorum President.
176 This House We Dedicate to Thee
1 This house we dedicate to thee,
Our God, our father’s God.
Wilt thou accept and deign to bless; The path our feet have trod?
2 Wilt thou thy servants here inspire;
When in thy name they speak?
And wilt thou bless each contrite soul
Who here thy face doth seek?
3 Here may our sons and daughters come;
And find that peace which swells,
From grateful hearts, when touched by thee,
Wherein thy Spirit dwells!
4 And may pollution ne’er have place
Within this shrine we give;
And in it through the years to come,
Awake the dead to live;
5 Live to thy kingdom; live to thee
While life shall pass away;
Then greet again with praise and song,
In heaven’s eternal day.
213 The Spirit of God Like a Fire
1 The Spirit of God like a fire is burning!
The latter day glory begins to come forth;
The visions and blessings of old are returning,
And angels are coming to visit the earth.
Chorus
We’ll sing and we’ll shout with the armies of heaven,
Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb!
Let glory to them in the highest be given,
Henceforth and forever; Amen and amen!
2 The Lord is extending the Saints’ understanding,
Restoring their judges and all as at first.
The knowledge and power of God are expanding,
The veil o’er the earth is beginning to burst.
Chorus
3 We’ll call in our solemn assemblies in spirit,
To spread forth the kingdom of heaven abroad
That we through our faith may begin to inherit
The visions and blessings and glories of God.
Chorus
4 How blessed the day when the lamb and the lion
Shall lie down together without any ire,
And Ephraim be crowned with his blessing in Zion,
As Jesus descends with his chariot of fire!
Chorus
168 Sweet Is the Work, My God, My King
1 Sweet is the work, my God, my King,
To praise thy name, give thanks and sing,
To show thy love by morning light,
And talk of all thy truths at night.
2 Sweet is the day of sacred rest.
No mortal care shall seize my breast.
O may my heart in tune be found,
Like David’s harp of solemn sound!
3 My heart shall triumph in my Lord,
And bless his works and bless his word.
Thy works of grace, how bright they shine!
How deep thy councils, how divine!
4 But, oh, what triumph shall I raise,
To thy dear name through endless days,
When in the realms of joy I see,
Thy face in full felicity.
5 Sin, my worst enemy before,
Shall vex my eyes and ears no more.
My inward foes shall all be slain
Nor Satan break my peace again.
6 Then shall I see and hear and know
All I desired and wished below,
And every power find sweet employ
In that eternal world of joy.
Local Newspaper Article – Bournemouth Echo – Wednesday 16 October 1974
Their’s was labour of love
NOT so very long ago people walking along Bournemouth’s Wimborne Road were amazed to see groups of men, women and children busily devoting their time and energy on a building site.
They wielded shovels and picks and carried timber and bricks, perhaps only a brick at a time, but always with dedication.
For they were building their own new church.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was completed in January of this year and passers-by have since seen and admired the fruits of the labour of those busy people. And tomorrow the church will be dedicated a proud occasion for every single one of its members.
It will be the fulfilment of dreams going back over 25 years.
Missionaries of this church arrived in Bournemouth about 1946 and within two years there were enough members to form a branch of the church.
Early meetings were held in St. Stephen’s Road but it was later necessary to have a larger building. A new meeting house was built at Constitution Hill, Parkstone, in 1964.
But membership grew and it was decided to create two branches, one at Poole, the other at Bournemouth.
The Bournemouth members wanted a permanent meeting house so land at 30b, Wimborne Road, was purchased in October, 1970.
Members worked hard and the result is their new church which is now completely paid for.