In 1880, a new Chapel (dedicated to St Michael and all Angels) was built within the parish of St Gluvias: at Ponsanooth. Previously the Vicar had conducted Sunday afternoon services in the village in a carpenter's shop behind the Stag Hunt Inn. So the Parish of St Gluvias entered the Twentieth Century, without its sister Church at St Budock, but with a daughter Church at Ponsanooth.
Another change at the turn of the Century was that the Church was moving from its evangelical theology and expression, towards a more Anglo-Catholic tradition. It was Frederick Robert Carr, appointed in 1909, who brought this tradition to St Gluvias; and under his ministry other changes also happened within the Church. In 1910 the coat of arms of 1750 were restored to the Church, being hung over the doorway into the vestry; in 1912 the Enys family waived certain rights in the South Aisle. This meant that a side-Chapel could be opened and dedicated to the Good Shepherd; and in the following year, the Enys' also enlarged the Vestry of the Church.
Throughout the period leading up to the First World War, the Church was very prosperous and successful, as illustrated by the number of candidates coming forward for Confirmation:[fn1]
1894 = 14
1896 = 25
1898 = 16
1900 = 19
1902 = 18
1904 = 20
1906 = 14
1907 = 31
1909 = 15
1911 = 29
1912 = 40
1913 = 45
But with the outbreak of the First World War, and the disillusionment that resulted from what was suffered by the ordinary `Tommy' of the trenches, church attendance dramatically reduced "After the First World War there was a noticeable decline in church attendance, due in part possibly to the shattering of faith in the comfortable ideas of the inevitability of progress, and the easy ‘Christianity’ of the time.”[fn2] In 1920 there were only seventeen candidates for confirmation at St Gluvias' Church.
In 1915, Frederick Carr was succeeded by F D Bruce, who although was not an Anglo-Catholic himself, maintained the tradition set by Carr. Whereas his successor, Thomas Hammond, (appointed in 1926) was committed to the Anglo-Catholic Tradition, as have all his successors to 1970 at least.[fn3] In November 1928, the one that the publication ‘Vicars of St Gluvias’ describes as the best loved of all the Anglo-Catholic Vicars of Penryn was appointed. The one who, even years after his death, was affectionately known as ‘Padre’: Edward Shore.
In September 1941, the Church had a near miss when a land mine was dropped less than thirty yards from the building. Fortunately for the Church it did not explode!
James Simcock became vicar in 1943; and was replaced, in 1952, by Thomas Samuel Lewis. It was during his ministry [1954] that the church repairs by Sir Ninian Compton took place.
Throughout the first half of the century it was felt that the organ in the north-east corner of the Church was in the wrong position. For not only was it blocking the corner itself, but was restricting the space between the choir and the altar. Because of this, Compton moved the organ to the back of the Church into the south-west corner and moved the choir into the South Aisle. He also lowered the Victorian Chancel[fn4] to its old Cornish proportions; and laid a floor of headstones. At the time, the pulpit was put over to one side of the altar into the southern aisle.[fn5]
Lewis was succeeded by Raymond Perry-Gore [1959], who in turn was succeeded by the then [1970] vicar, Maurice Furlonger.
At the time of writing [1970], St Gluvias’ Parish Church was still feeling the effect of its geographical location, although within only a matter of months, work began on the new estate beyond the church. And so with the town developing and growing the Church is no longer beyond the town boundary. In 1970 there were approximately 5000 communicants per year in the church, compared to about 2000 at the beginning of the century; but the number of candidates for confirmation has never really returned to the numbers of those earlier years:
1966 = 13
1967 = 12
1968 = 24
For the Church of England, as Miles Brown put it,[fn6] the 20th Century has been a time of decreased numbers, "but it has caused a deeper spirituality to many."
..........
In a century in which most churches have sought greater unity and understanding between the different sects, factions and denominations, the denomination that seemed to gain most from the ‘Ecumenical Movement’ during the first half of the century was the Methodist Church. In Penryn alone there were three churches that were part of denominations that based their beliefs on the ministry of John Wesley: the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on the Terrace; the Bible Christian Chapel in West Street and the Primitive Methodist Chapel at the bottom of St Thomas’ Street.
In 1907, some of the smaller branches of Methodism, including the Bible Christians, merged together to form the United Methodist Church [UMC]. It wasn’t until in 1932, that all the strands of Methodism (excluding the Independents) were brought together as one Methodist denomination. Meanwhile in the Wesleyan Chapel, the evangelical flame of John Wesley was being kept alight. In 1905 an evangelist, A A Richards, stayed at Penryn for a month, packing the chapel to overflowing night after night, with people eager to hear the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
As the Wesleyan and UMC (Bible Christian) Chapels were near enough to face each other in West Street, they gradually began to worship together in the 1940s, but something happened “too recent to comment upon"[fn7] to allow permanent fusion. By the time of writing [1970], the remnants of the Bible Christian congregation had withdrawn to their old Chapel and even seceded from the Falmouth Circuit.[fn8]
Whereas both the Wesleyans and the Bryanites were still flourishing in the first part of the Century, the Primitive Methodists were finding survival rather a strain. By 1930 the congregation were on the verge of collapse; and as a last desperate attempt to survive, a mission led by the Friends (Quaker) Evangelical Band was held at the Chapel, but it only prolonged the life of the Church for a few extra months, for in 1931 the Chapel was closed and during the following year, with the formation of the United Methodist Church the remaining ‘Prims’ became part of this ecumenical Methodist denomination. The Chapel buildings were then sold to the Roman Catholics for a place of worship a daughter congregation to the Catholic Church in Falmouth. That is, until it was destroyed by a bomb in 1941. The site of the Chapel now supports a local garage.
fn1: Taken from “Registers of Services 1891-1928”
fn3: This tradition is both High in terms of Churchmanship, and also seeks to promote a return of the Anglican Church to many of the principles of the pre-Protestant Church in England, but without a complete submission to the Roman See.
fn4: Raised during the 1882 restoration
fn5: By all accounts this was Lewis’ idea rather than Compton’s
fn6: Himself a former Curate at St Gluvias'
fn8: By all accounts, they eventually joined with the Wesleyan Chapel folk in November I979 when the Bible Christian Chapel was closed. The building has since been converted into flats.
