THE Then and Now featured by Shirley Mathias in last Wednesday's Advertiser (December 6) referred to Pilgrim House used by Methodists, Baptists and United Reformed Churches.

In fact, members of these three denominations came together in 1978 as one worshipping congregation, when their five churches responded to a call from the then Swindon Council of Churches to all churches in central Swindon to come together in a new ecumenical centre.

The resulting congregation is now known as Central Church, Swindon and its constitution still gives other local churches the opportunity of participating in the partnership.

The new ecumenical centre was built on the site of the old Baptist Tabernacle, providing facilities for churches, charities and other local bodies, and functioning in a way that the Tabernacle could never have.

The use of meeting rooms by many local groups and the worship area by more than one church, the operation of the Roundabout Coffee House (using volunteers from a wide local area) and the provision of the Befriending Service for the homeless, are all part of a God-serving, community-orientated building called the Pilgrim Centre.

DAVID POPE

(Member of Central Church, Swindon)

Regent Circus