The Second Phase

After a number of years it was decided to proceed with the second phase of St. Luke’s — that is the raising of funds, design and building of the church. This was a very desirable objective due to the undoubted success of the services and social events all being held in one room.

The Dedication Festival

The following is taken from a newspaper article that advertised a ‘Dedication Festival’ that was to take place during the period September 26th-29th 1973.

The Dedication of St. Luke’s Church. The Bishop of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich, the Right Reverend Leslie W. Brown, DD, comes to Beccles on Saturday, 29th September, 1973 at 3.00 p.m. to dedicate the new St. Luke’s Church at the top of Rigbourne Hill — the climax of more than ten years of planning, prayer and work.

Work on the new church was begun on January 18th, and the foundation stone laid on February 3rd. Money has been raised in a variety of ways — not least by the St. Luke’s Thrift Shop in Smallgate.

Many people recall the dedication of our present building, primarily a hall, by the Bishop of Dunwich on February 12th 1966.

Other events advertised within this article were a concert by the Wrentham Band, Suffolk champions and East Anglian Championship band. Prior to this would be a short piano recital by Malcolm Herbert. “Parchment”, the Liverpool group that recorded the chart-topping theme song for the London festival for Jesus in 1972 were also to give a performance. There was also a concert given by the choirs and orchestra of the Sir John Leman High School which comprised a varied programme of high quality by our own youngsters.