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On December 17th 1896 a measure was laid before the Queen in Council assigning the Chapel Royal a separate parish. The parish was not quite the same as the "district which we worked for so long yet it is a source of great satisfaction to know that we have our own legal parish".
Fr Penzer made the Chapel a going concern once more. This "shop assistants" church" with its population of 2,000 was now so packed that on Sunday evenings seats had to be placed in the aisles. Further, he had taken the only steps which could possibly ensure that the Chapel Royal could continue past the turn of the century. The change over from the private Chapel was finally complete. Even so not all its important connections were lost. As Penzer's fame spread he came to the notice of Mr. Gladstone who was a not infrequent worshipper at the Chapel.
With this new thriving community Penzer did not fall into the fatal trap of regarding his flock and himself as a business organisation. He never for a moment lost sight of the spiritual needs of his people or of his most important task in bringing about the Kingdom of God on earth. At Easter 1897 he began what became an almost continual theme, the need for all Christians to attend Holy Communion regularly.
Things were indeed going very well as was reported at the Vestry Meeting of 1900. The offertory had almost doubled in seven years. The congregation numbered around 700.
Little needed to be done to the fabric for several years and so gifts were channelled to more decorative ends.
The war inevitably caused a decline. Many of the male members of the Chapel left to fight overseas. One feature of this was the curtailing of the Choral Communions on the first Sunday in the month. More seriously the loss of earnings and the rise in prices meant that, particularly in a poor area, the Church was bound to suffer.
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