Maintaining our Spiritual Heritage with Freedom and Concern
Welcome to this site of our tenacious little Lewes congregation. We hope that you’ll feel inspired to attend a service to discover what we have to offer.
Our aim is to enable an alternative state of consciousness in which there is a stilling of the mind, a distancing from immediate concerns, and a dialogue with a real or imagined God. This should help us to see our true selves, to recognise the humanity in others, and let go of enmities.
On 5 November 1700 an English Presbyterian congregation was inaugurated at Westgate chapel, off the High Street in Lewes. This moved towards the Unitarian position of rejecting the theology of the Trinity, though until 1813 it was illegal for congregations to openly declare themselves Unitarian.
There was also a General Baptist congregation in Eastport Lane which similarly moved towards the Unitarian position. In 1820 a Grecian-Temple-style Unitarian Church opened in nearby Brighton, and shortly afterwards the Eastport Lane congregation joined Westgate Meeting, which then declared itself Unitarian.
During the nineteenth century the congregation shifted from a Biblical Unitarian position to a more interpretative and intuitive theology. While Westgate did not adopt the “Free Christian” label, its ministers and members broadly followed that conception well into the twentieth century, with growing interest in insights from other religions.
At the start of the twenty-first century, members held different views about the congregation’s direction. Services were discontinued in 2019, shortly before the COVID lockdowns. After COVID, the congregation reconvened at Cliffe Hall, where interest in services has been encouraging. It is hoped that a return to Westgate will eventually be possible.
The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (GA), the national organisation in the UK. Since 2001 the GA’s object has been “to promote a free and inquiring religion through the worship of God and the celebration of life; the service of humanity and respect for all creation; and the upholding of the liberal Christian tradition.” https://www.unitarian.org.uk/
The London District and Provincial Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (LDPA), serving a wide area of South East England and the largest Unitarian District by population in the UK. The nearest congregations to Lewes are at Ditchling, Brighton and Hastings, and we have close relations with all of them. https://www.ldpaunitarians.org/
The General Baptist Association (GBA), a historical survival largely because of its ownership of property, the income from which is used to make grants to congregations like ours that can trace General Baptist ancestry.