| Description | A Visiting Committee was appointed by an Annual Meeting of the Congregation of the Church of the Messiah in 1877. The committee was chaired by the minister, the Reverend H.W. Crosskey, two churchwardens and the church treasurer. The committee's first meeting was on the 5 June 1877. Crosskey explained that the committee was appointed to 'secure the recognition in a kindly & general manner of new members joining the Church, & making them feel at home amongst the Congregation' (see UC 2/3/8/3/1). The duties of the committee were to welcome strangers wishing to join the church and visit seat holders in the church at least once a year. The minutes of the monthly meetings include reports on seat holders visited (including addresses), the progress of their children attending Sunday School and the vocational progress of young adults who had previously attended the school. The reports included those who had left the church to join other churches (Unitarian or otherwise), recording the reasons why they had left in a non-judgemental way. The committee also kept in touch with members who had moved from Birmingham to other parts of the country, as well as those who could not attend church due to illness or disability. As a record of Unitarian congregants moving to and from Birmingham the minutes provide an interesting source for migration history, the extent (and occasional lapse) of religious belief and the economic welfare and state of health of individuals and families reported on. The minute book is split into two sections, with the main minutes of meetings at the front with the back section comprising an index book arranged alphabetically by name of seat holder, with their addresses (amended as they moved), name of visitor and any remarks. The minutes also include annual lists and totals of new seat holders who had joined the church and losses due to resignation or death, and any other related business. |