9:00pm Wednesday 17th March 2010
By Mark Tallentire
SOME of the region's oldest Methodist chapels are featured in a new heritage guide.
The Methodist Heritage Handbook 2010, a free guide to 100 Methodist sites of historic importance, was launched by the Methodist Church today.
Among the sites included are, in County Durham: Newbiggin-in-Teesdale Methodist Chapel, the Weardale Museum and High House Chapel and Beamish Museum.
From North Yorkshire and Teesside, Osmotherley Chapel, Yarm's Octagonal Chapel and York's Central Methodist Church are featured.
Newcastle's Orphan House and Brunswick Methodist Church are also included.
The guide has been endorsed by Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, presenter of the BBC's The History of Christianity series.
He said: "Methodism has been at the heart of Protestant Christianity worldwide since the 18th Century - far beyond the churches that call themselves Methodist.
"Without the new departures in Christian life inspired by John Wesley, the movements which encompass Pentecostalism, the Salvation Army and the many independent Churches of Africa and Asia would not exist in anything like their present form.
"It is a task of global importance to preserve the places and experiences in Britain that triggered this extraordinary variety of Christianities."
For more information, visit methodist.org.uk/heritage
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