Having established the hut as the first John Keble Church, work started on the hall which would initially function as a church and a hall.
The Bishop of London came to dedicate the dual-purpose building on July 14th,
1932, a day chosen as Patronal Festival for the parish, since it was the 99th
anniversary of John Keble's preaching of the Assize Sermon in Oxford. The sermon
is usually regarded as the starting point of the "Oxford Movement" that spirit
of Catholic revival within the Church of England which characterised its life in
the 19th century.
With a permanent building now available, activities and congregations
multiplied. One part of the building was kept as an altar and sanctuary but, in
the other, parish organisations met frequently on most afternoons and evenings
of the week. Sunday Schools were begun in late July after Diocesan experts had
given the first group of teachers some initial training. At Christmastime the
first Confirmation and the first Nativity Play took place in the same week. The
latter was a triple performance of E. Martin Browne's "The Christmas story
in mime" and had a cast of 80 and an audience of 800. It was the first of many
ambitious productions from John Keble and heralded an interest in religious
drama which the church has sustained ever since.