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Rivington Unitarian Chapel is a place of Unitarian worship in Rivington, Lancashire, England. It was founded in 1703 and is designated as a Grade II * listed building.〔(Borough of Chorley: Listed Buildings ). Retrieved on 26 July 2009.〕 Its restoration in 1990 was aided by English Heritage.〔 The chapel is an active place of worship: services are held at 2.15pm on the first and third Sunday of each month, and the bell is rung to call worshippers to the service. The congregation is a member of the Manchester District Association of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, part of the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians, the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches. The chapel's motto is: :"Here is quietness for the healing of our spirits; :Here is history for the background of our lives; :Here let no one be a stranger."〔 ==History== Nonconformity has its roots in the Clarendon Code, legislation passed after the Commonwealth and the English Restoration, which made it difficult for people who did not conform to the established church. The Act of Uniformity caused about 2,000 clergy to leave the Church of England in the Great Ejection of 1662. The Conventicle Act 1664 prohibited unauthorised religious meetings of more than five people and Nonconformist clergy were not allowed to live near a parish from which they had been banned by the Five Mile Act 1665. There was a strong Puritan element in Rivington, possibly inspired by local martyr George Marsh. The Reverend Samuel Newton was ejected from Rivington Church on "Bartholemew Sunday" in 1662 and most probably the congregation followed him. Newton regained a licence to preach in 1672. The Willoughbys of Parham, of Shaw Place, Heath Charnock were prominent Presbyterians. and Hugh Willoughby was one of the first trustees and benefactors of the chapel, which was built in 1703. At Rivington Chapel the Unitarian doctrine replaced Presbyterianism in 1754 and around that time the chapel became licensed for weddings. A manse, or minister's house, was built in 1787. A Sunday school began in 1795 in the adjacent school house and a library was added, which operated from 1821. Four men rallied support to build the Presbyterian Lee Chapel at Horwich; one of them was Moses Cocker, whose farm in Rivington bears his name. The congregation of the chapel stopped an invasion of Methodists who tried to convert them by holding a service at the chapel gates in 1893. J. M. Andrews, the second Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, was married to Jessie Ormrod at the chapel in 1902. The interior of the chapel had extensive repairs in 1960. The chapel was the focus of a national pilgrimage of Unitarians in 1961.〔 The manse is now a private residence; money from the sale was used to create a garden of remembrance in 1970. After the library closed in 1985 the building became a café, now known as Rivington Village Green Tea Room. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rivington Unitarian Chapel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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