Religion in Rotherham
It appears to me that, for many people in Rotherham, as in other places, religion in the Twenty-first has been replaced by conspicuous consumption. Now I'm not a philosopher: the mere mention of the work philosophy is enough to send me to sleep faster than counting sheep. But there must be something better than Retail World and Meadowhall.
This lack of religion was not always so. Towards the end of the 18th Century, Methodist preachers arrived in Rotherham and Methodism was a great movement for good amongst the poor people and the mining communities who were often ignored by the established church. Even today many of the Methodist churches and chapels seem to be in the forefront of modern community activities.
Throughout the 19th Century many dissenting chapels were established throughout the borough. I'm not going to go into their history here but many of them have now gone as their congregations have aged, moved or turned their backs on organised faith. However some of the old chapels, tabernacles and missions still remain as they are good, stout and well located buildings though they now have other uses.
Until the 20th Century Roman Catholicism, although followed by many in the borough, tended to keep a low profile.
The most recent development has been the foundation of the town's mosques. I think that there are four in Rotherham itself, some of them in redundant churches. Ah God moves in mysterious ways!
Visit onsite at Rotherham Pictures >> Places of Worship and Places of Worship 2. If you can't find what you are looking for there is a superb collection of photographs of Rotherham churches at Genuki Rotherham and scroll down the page a bit.