Re-ordering 

When the new parish of Birch with Fallowfield was formed in 1979 and St James', Birch-in-Rusholme closed it became clear that the remaining church building, Holy Innocents, Fallowfield, would have to be adapted to form an appropriate base for the new Christian community. Here was an opportunity to make the building serve the liturgy and other aspects of our life together, and we embraced the idea enthusiastically. The people of this parish, who recognised the Church's true priorities, were prepared to risk what many would have called their most precious possession in order to enhance the life of the community.

The development of the building began in 1982 and has been carried out in a number of stages. Between 1982 and 1984 the main worship area was reordered and a gallery constructed, creating the new sacristy and office space; the kitchen and toilets were fitted in the former sacristy and choir vestry, respectively. The Lady Chapel was reordered in 1992. Ten years later, after several sets of architects plans, we started work on the Apse – the former sanctuary. This part of the re-development involved the installation of a floor below the East window of the Apse extending to the gallery, thus creating two rooms; a ground floor meeting room soundproofed from the main body of the church and an upper room accessible from the existing gallery. An additional staircase was also installed with access from the entrance foyer to the gallery.

The reordering of the worship area has allowed us to be creative and more flexible in our liturgy. The altar is less remote enabling the congregation to see what is taking place and feel more involved in worship. The atmosphere of the church is one of space and openness. The large ground floor meeting room was a much needed space for the Children’s Church who used to meet in the church office. The upper room is an ideal place for prayer, meditations and vigils, and for exhibitions and concerts, with the stained glass windows depicting the life of Christ giving wonderful light and feel to the space.

The reordering of the church and particularly removing the fixed pews and installing movable seating, and the fitting of the kitchen and toilets has allowed us to use the church for many and varied functions including: concerts/rehearsals, exhibitions, fairs and parish quiet days. The church is now used regularly for meetings by various church and community groups.

On-going work

Future plans for the building include a refurbishment of the toilets as well as an upgrade to the heating and lighting.