52 residents #16 Andrew Hindley
17/04/15 23:52
Andrew Hindley was born in April 1956 and brought up in Lytham St Annes. He was educated at Rossall School and Trinity College, Bristol, where he trained for the Baptist ministry. He had two younger brothers, Mark and Michael.
In 1979 he was appointed minister of Sion Baptist Chapel where he stayed for six years before moving to Brockley Baptist Church, S London, in 1986. After a period of ministry there he worked for a while in a retreat centre on Lindisfarne.
His passion was to help people understand faith and the Bible better. He explored the option of lecturing in Bible college but decided instead to train as a secondary school teacher which he did at Lancaster University. He taught RE at St Wilfred’s, Blackburn, from 2000-2006. It is alleged he performed a version of the Troggs’ ‘Wild Thing’ at a school talent show. He certainly was an expert in 1960s-70 pop trivia and therefore a useful person on a Trivial Pursuits team.
As minister of Sion he oversaw the transformation of the ‘old’ C19 chapel from a poorly maintained building (the congregation meeting in the schoolroom) to a set of flats which have been in demand since. Stone from the old chapel was reused in the flats and the complex was named ‘Litchford House’ after a Robert Litchford who donated land and property to the church in 1705. This was in the face of opposition from a local history group who were vocal in wanting the old building retained but less willing to pay for its upkeep when it was not in use for worship - a common problem in heritage and one with no easy answer.
Sadly Andrew died on 23 December 2006 aged 50. He conducted my baptism and my wedding.
In 1979 he was appointed minister of Sion Baptist Chapel where he stayed for six years before moving to Brockley Baptist Church, S London, in 1986. After a period of ministry there he worked for a while in a retreat centre on Lindisfarne.
His passion was to help people understand faith and the Bible better. He explored the option of lecturing in Bible college but decided instead to train as a secondary school teacher which he did at Lancaster University. He taught RE at St Wilfred’s, Blackburn, from 2000-2006. It is alleged he performed a version of the Troggs’ ‘Wild Thing’ at a school talent show. He certainly was an expert in 1960s-70 pop trivia and therefore a useful person on a Trivial Pursuits team.
As minister of Sion he oversaw the transformation of the ‘old’ C19 chapel from a poorly maintained building (the congregation meeting in the schoolroom) to a set of flats which have been in demand since. Stone from the old chapel was reused in the flats and the complex was named ‘Litchford House’ after a Robert Litchford who donated land and property to the church in 1705. This was in the face of opposition from a local history group who were vocal in wanting the old building retained but less willing to pay for its upkeep when it was not in use for worship - a common problem in heritage and one with no easy answer.
Sadly Andrew died on 23 December 2006 aged 50. He conducted my baptism and my wedding.
