Volume 15: George Dawson & the Church of the Saviour

The Church of the Saviour was the most talked-about place of worship in Victorian Birmingham and its minister George Dawson was the most talked-about preacher. Those who flocked to ‘Dawson’s Chapel’, as it called, on Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings, spoke openly of their love for their minister; his critics declared him unfit to preach. It was from Dawson’s sermons at the Church of the Saviour that the men who were to implement the famous civic gospel in Birmingham drew their inspiration. Yet the story of this remarkable institution has never been told. This is the first account of the Church of the Saviour. It describes its building and opening; it makes clear what it was like to attend a service led by Dawson; it identifies the leading seat holders; it explains why music and the decoration of the interior were so important; it recounts the extensive educational activities that were undertaken; and it discusses the slow decline that followed Dawson’s death.