History of Stechford Baptist Church 1906-1998
Mr Hurst was called to the ministry in 1939, ascending to the pulpit
on the very day and at the very hour that war was declared. The church
has already subscribed to a pastor to work among German refugees in Birmingham,
as it later did to a pastor for the newly arrived West Indian immigrants
in the early 1960’s. During the ‘70s the church took steps
to introduce services of a more West Indian character, and today a third
of the members are African-Caribbean background, with two members from
Asian background. The church is currently looking for ways in which it
can make its services more welcoming to people from Asian backgrounds.
Mr Hurst eventually left to become a forces chaplain in 1944. A special
note of thanks to God was set in the minutes for the preservation of
the (still-temporary) building throughout the Battle of Britain. From
1942-43, Sergeant Hadley of the Royal Canadian Army who was stationed
at Marston Green ran a Bible Class, through which Mr Peter Wright became
a Christian believer. Sergeant Hadley kept the names of all those who
had made a profession of faith in his Bible until the day he died, many
years later.
In 1948 the church purchased it first Manse, number 8 Manor Road. It
was not until some years later that it was able to purchase the freehold,
and then with the intention of selling the property. Dawkins and Grey
were the solicitors, a connection which has continued to be significant.
Some years after that, the church was able to purchase 33 Rosemary Road,
later selling it for sufficient to purchase the much larger 143 Flaxley
Road. 143 Flaxley Road is, along with Station Road, the oldest thing
in Stechford. Flaxley’s farm, of which it was the farm-house, is
mentioned in records from 1218. Although rebuilt many times over the
course of the years, some of the 17th century woodwork is still visible
on the inside.
In 1949, Mr Prentice became pastor, and enjoyed what was, judging by
the minutes, one of the three most fruitful periods of ministry in the
church’s history (the others were Norman Rowell, and David Turner.
It is perhaps no coincidence that these were not only the most active
pastorates, but also the longest). He remained pastor until 1956.
It was in 1950 that the church acquired its first (and current) water
heater for the baptistry. As the name suggests, Baptists baptise only
adults, and that by full immersion. At Stechford the pool is underneath
the stage. Until 1950, only cold water was used. The Ladies Cloakroom
was constructed in 1951. Strange as it may seem, this church building
which was only from the 1950’s equipped with indoor toilets also
possessed a grass tennis court.
At this time, Mr Brighton, Mr Buzby and Mr Pratt were still active members,
having been with the church throughout or almost throughout its history.
The church was at that time making plans to plant a daughter fellowship
in Castle Bromwich, just as it had earlier evangelised the Glebe Farm
estate. The Sunday School and many other activities were thriving, and
members of the youth group from that era still meet each other periodically
for fellowship, although none but Mr and Mrs Wright (who became organist
for the first time in 1953) still live in the area.
In 1955 the church in Castle Bromwich opened, and in 1956 Mr Quinton
was appointed a pastor. Mr Quinton’s pastorate did not last long,
since he expressed the desire to join the presbyterian denomination within
a few months of the commencement of his ministry. Mr Harding was appointed
pastor in 1959, until ill-health forced him to resign in 1964.
Mr Churchill was called as joint-pastor with Glebe Farm in 1966, at which
point the manse in Rosemary Road was purchased. In 1970 the church, still
in its ‘temporary building’, was contributing to the establishment
of a church in Chelmsley Wood.
Mr Churchill resigned the pastorate in 1971. In 1971, the church was
considering for the first time what it could do for Mental Health Week,
and in this same year a cross was fixed on the outside of the building
1971-1972 was a year of enormous importance. It began with the calling
of Rev David Turner, who was to be the longest serving pastor of the
church. In early 1972, the rest of the land owned by the church was sold
for £7,500. The church had been attempting to sell this land to
a series of buyers (each time to be thwarted by planning permission)
throughout the 1960s. In autumn 1972, Operation Mobilisation held their
September Conference in Birmingham, and, by the end of the year, Liz
Cleak had determined to serve the Lord overseas as a missionary (she
is to this day working in Chad with WEC), and John Taylor elected to
join the London City Mission, where he went on to serve for 25 years.
These were, if the records are correct, the first missionaries sent out
by the church. It must have seemed a great sacrifice for a church with
just 16 members at the time to lose two of its most outstanding young
people, but in 1974 the Church Secretary was able to report “a
turn in the tide of our church affairs… it has been a better year”.
The 1970’s saw significant attempts by the church in the political
field to combat racism, including overt political action during one election
campaign against the National Front, which had decided to make the area
a testing ground. By 1976, a West Indian-led Pentecostal fellowship was
regularly using the building for services on the invitation of the Baptist
church, and the number of West Indian members in the Baptist church was
slowly but surely rising.
In 1977 Jeff and Esther Greaves joined the church, and went on to lead
a large and successful youth group which has had a powerful impact on
the subsequent history of the church. In 1978, two workers from the Birmingham
City Mission were seconded to the church, and it was through their work
that Mr Raymond Jellicoe came to Christ.
In 1979 Jeff Greaves was called to attend Moorlands Bible College, and
Barry Robinson, a worker with the Birmingham City Mission, joined the
church and led the youth work.
In 1981 the joint pastorate with Glebe Farm came to an end, since that
fellowship was troubled by a number of issues. Mr Turner resolved to
remain at Stechford on a half-stipend, and later also becoming the (unpaid)
assistant-director of the Birmingham City Mission, in addition to other
wider ministries. In 1982 the local churches organised a Stechford Carnival,
and in 1983 Mr John Corfield was endorsed as a local preacher.
In its early years, the church had been a recipient of ministry and help
from around about. During its middle years, it was able to contribute
financially to the growth of other churches regularly, but still relied
on the outside world for both pastors and lay preachers. The sending
out of Liz Cleak and John Taylor, the sending of Jeff Greaves to Bible
College and subsequent ministry, the wider ministry of Mr Turner and
the endorsement of John Corfield as a preacher were signs of the church’s
maturity: it was sending out far more than it was receiving, even though
it remained numerically and financially one of the smaller and poorer
Baptist fellowships in the city.
In 1984-85, and from 1988 -96, Martin Turner, Mr Turner’s son,
was sent with Operation Mobilisation for evangelistic ministry in Belgium,
which remains one of the world’s least evangelised nations.
Mr Turner resigned the pastorate in 1987 to move to Southampton, although
his eldest children, Ruth and Martin Turner remained in the church, Ruth
marrying Mr Ray Jellicoe in that same year.
Mr Peter Bryant became pastor in 1987, but the ministry was not a success,
and he remained only until 1988.
From this period, the church was led by its deacons, the authority of
the church meeting continuing to be maintained, and, until 1995, most
particularly by Mr Barry Turner, who was full time lay pastor from 1993.
At the close of 1998, Kelvin Bottle was commissioned to go to work in
Belgium with Operation Mobilisation, the same year that both Jeff Greaves
and John Taylor took up pastorates in the Banbury area. Liz Cleak was
still in Chad, playing a crucial role in leading the WEC work in that
country.
As of today, the average attendance at Sunday morning worship is the
same as it was in 1906 — 35 people. The fellowship remains therefore
small, but powerfully active. It remains, after other bodies of all kinds
have grown up, declined and disappeared in the city and in the area,
the Baptist Church in Stechford, committed to world evangelism and social
compassion, to spiritual maturity, to the value and equality of each
believer without regard to sex, race, social background, disability or
past life, to the worship of God and to prayer, and to the upholding
of the Scripture.
Martin Turner
1998
The minutes of Stechford Baptist Church, which run in an unbroken line
from 1906 until the present day, begin as follows:
“ On January 31st 1906 the Committee of the Preachers Union of the West
Midland Baptist Association after preliminary enquiries decided to undertake
the responsibility of commencing Baptist Services at Stechford, and appointed
a sub-committee to make and carry out arrangements. As a result, the first
service was held in the Council Schools and conducted by the Rev DE Evans.
There were about 35 persons present. … Next came the decision to commence
a Sunday School which began on Sunday May 6th 1906 with 13 scholars and 2 teachers.”
Stechford Baptist Church is situated on Victoria Road, between the Railway
Station, which at that time was Stechford’s most prominent feature,
and Albert Road, which was intended to be (although never became) the
main arterial road through the village. Although beginning with neither
financial resources nor a full time pastor, the newly established church
was able to purchase the freehold of the land on which its building today
stands in 1907. At this time, Baptists were unwilling to saddle their
fellowships with large debts, and so it was determined to continue the
building fund until a permanent structure could be erected paid for outright.
The Church was officially established in 1910, with a constitution which
has gone through remarkably few amendments to this day. In 1920, a clause
was inserted explicitly acknowledging that the diaconate — the
group of leaders who, under the authority of the membership of the church,
conduct many of its affairs — was open to women. The original constitution,
allowed for this, but it was felt that the church’s position should
be stated categorically.
Plans for the building were set back by the war, and then by the depression,
so that, in 1926, the membership of the church voted to construct a temporary
building, with a life expectancy of perhaps ten years. One person withdrew
their £13 — a substantial sum — in protest at this
move, but the £749 10s was eventually forthcoming, with the help
of an advance of £100 and a gift of £100, both from the Forward
Trust. The temporary building is still standing, and in regular use for
two services each Sunday, a Sunday School of forty children, three mid-week
meetings, and an increasing number of special celebrations and outreach
services. The builders of that temporary building built better than they
knew: when the East Birmingham cluster of Baptist Churches recently chose
to hold a joint series of outreach meetings, they chose Stechford on
the grounds that it was the most suitable of all their buildings for
a modern, contemporary programme.
The government of a Baptist Church may seem strange to those used to
a hierarchical structure. The ultimate authority, under God, is the Church
Meeting; the body of all believers who have committed themselves to the
life of the church and have been accepted on profession of their Christian
faith by a vote of the members. The Baptist tradition of church democracy
stretches back into the 16th century, and was one of the foundational
influences on the forms of parliamentary democracy and the government
of businesses which have grown up since. The Deacons work under the authority
of the Church Meeting, and each deacon must be reelected on a three-yearly
basis. The Church Meeting calls the pastor — although the church
can continue to function, and has done so frequently, through even extended
periods without a paid full-time minister.
Rev Leslie Curwood was the first full time pastor, from 1917-1920. He
was followed by an interregnum, until Rev James Briggs became joint pastor
of Hall Green and Stechford Baptist Churches. There have been a number
of joint pastorates since that time — with Newbridge, with Hall
Green again, and with Glebe Farm. Mr Briggs was pastor for just a year,
and it was not until 1928 that Mr Blackie became lay Pastor. A schoolroom
was added to the church in 1931, capable of seating (although not under
current fire-regulations) 150 children. Mr Blackie was called elsewhere
in 1930, and in 1932 Norman Rowell became pastor. Norman Rowell’s
ministry began outreach work in Glebe Farm, saw the purchase of a stencil
duplicator for £2 (since which time, the church has produced a
constant stream of home-grown literature and materials, some of which
have later been taken on by large and prestigious national and international
organisations), and, in 1937, the purchase of the organ for the princely
sum of £185, although an electric blower was not added until 1948.
Music — always accomplished, frequently extraordinary for a church
of its size — still plays an important role in the church life,
and the organ, occasionally augmented by trombone, clarinets, recorders,
drums, electric and acoustic guitars, remains the linchpin of this corporate
worship.
At the beginning of 1938, Norman Rowell wrote: “We are trusting
that 1938 will realise some of the great hopes that 1937 has raised and
pray God that He will abundantly bless our cause and help us all to commit
ourselves fully to His service here in Stechford, so that God may work
through us to extend His kingdom.” It was not to be: his life came
to a tragic end in that year, and a commemorative plaque, the only one
of its kind, remains on the wall opposite the organ to remind us of what
he meant to the growth and life of the fellowship.
At the beginning of 1939, the church secretary wrote: “Any record
of the activities of our church for the past year is necessarily overshadowed
by the unfortunate loss we sustained through the sad passing of our Pastor.
The sudden manner of his withdrawal from our midst at time when his work
showed all the signs of bearing forth the fruits of his labours was a
profound shock to us.”
1938 saw an interregnum with a student pastor, and the purchase of the
communion chairs which are still in use on the first and third Sundays
of each month.
Stechford Baptist Church • Victoria Road • Stechford • Birmingham B33 8AH. Map. Stechford is in the Stechford and Yardley North Ward, and is close to Hodge Hill.