Long service recognition for Norwich pastor  

A Norwich pastor has received a long-service award at a national assembly, and remains as passionate about ministry as he was when he started thirty years ago. 

Dr John Clements is pastor of the Old Meeting House Congregational Church in Norwich and he received the award at the annual general assembly of the Congregational Federation which this year was held at Nottingham on May 10.  

John said, “I have been rather overwhelmed from people all over the country sending me their best wishes and offering to pray for my ministry – that’s a very humbling experience.” 

John was aware of God’s calling on his life to ministry from a young age. He said, “Since I became a Christian at boarding school in 1959 God had placed in my heart the desire to serve Him as a minister. I also had a very godly father who was an Anglican minister who set me a wonderful example and one of my prayers was to follow in his footsteps.” 

John first became pastor of the Old Meeting House in 1995. In the Congregational Church each chapel is independent and can call whoever they want to be their pastor, so whilst John was locally recognised, he was not nationally recognised until the assembly this month when he was accredited and his long service was acknowledged. 

Being pastor at the Old Meeting House is an immense privilege for John, as well as a huge challenge. John said, “The chapel is soaked by great saints who have served there since it was gathered in 1643. It is believed to be the oldest Congregational Church in the country. It is also a huge challenge as the chapel was built during a time of religious persecution and deliberately hidden. One of the big challenges today is to make people aware of its existence.” 

Another issue is that very few people know what a Congregational Church is. John said, “Thankfully the Congregational Federation have just produced a five week course on what Congregationalism is and we will be running it at the Old Meeting!” 

The church meets at 3pm every Sunday at The Old Meeting House, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BW 

https://oldmeetinghousechurch.org.uk/how-to-find-us 

https://oldmeetinghousechurch.org.uk/