Morden Baptist Church
Encyclopedia
Morden Baptist Church is a Baptist
Baptist Union of Great Britain
The Baptist Union of Great Britain, despite its name, is the association of Baptist churches in England and Wales. -History:...

 church in the London Borough of Merton
London Borough of Merton
The London Borough of Merton is a borough in southwest London, England.The borough was formed under the London Government Act in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton and Morden Urban District, all formerly within Surrey...

. The church building is on Crown Lane part of the Morden
Morden
Morden is a district in the London Borough of Merton. It is located approximately South-southwest of central London between Merton Park , Mitcham , Sutton and Worcester Park .- Origin of name :...

 one-way system.

History

In 1880s Morden was a place of cornfields and cattle, a country district with three little far sundered groups of houses. Each group of houses had a public house at its centre. Those public houses can still be found - "The Plough","The George" and "The Crown". On a Sunday evening in 1885 a little company of "Lovers of Jesus" gathered in one of the shops in what is now London Road, to hold a simple evangelistic service. They met, and sang, and prayed and read the Scriptures. Near Morden one of the iron building firms had a few sample buildings on show. When they abandoned the pitch, they offered an iron chapel for sale and Queens Road Church Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...

 offered to buy it for Morden".
In 1915 the membership was only 16. However the extension of the Northern Line
Northern Line
The Northern line is a London Underground line. It is coloured black on the Tube map.For most of its length it is a deep-level tube line. The line carries 206,734,000 passengers per year. This is the highest number of any line on the London Underground system, but the Northern line is unique in...

 and development of Merton Park
Merton Park
Merton Park is a place in the London Borough of Merton. It is a quiet and leafy suburb situated between Wimbledon, Morden, South Wimbledon and Wimbledon Chase. It is 7.3 miles south-west of Charing Cross...

, Morden and St. Helier Estate
St. Helier, London
St. Helier is a residential estate in the London boroughs of Merton and Sutton. The portion of the estate north of Green Lane and Bishopsford Road is in Merton, the rest is in Sutton.-History:...

 resulted in the numbers of church members rising to 84. 1929 saw the fellowship moving across the road from the 'Tin Chapel' to the "new" School Hall. This building still remains, and is now used for sports, playgroup, luncheon club and other activities. From small beginnings above a shop in 1885, who could have foreseen that exactly 50 years later, a new church would be needed (in addition to the School Hall) to accommodate the rapidly growing fellowship. So on the 9th March 1935, the new church was formally opened.

As Morden ceased to be a quiet rural parish, and become part of London's suburbia, so the Church
Local church
A local church is a Christian congregation of members and clergy.Local church may also refer to:* Local churches , a Christian group based on the teachings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, and associated with the Living Stream Ministry publishing house.* Parish church, a local church united with...

 grew, developed and changed, Morden centre changed during this period. As the church continued to grow the old buildings proved inadequate to meet those needs. In 1990 a very substantial building scheme was undertaken to provide the current improved facilities, an including an enclosed concourse new offices and a sound-proofed cresh with a view into the main church. The Church now stands with the main entrance facing up Crown Lane part of the Morden one way system.

Leadership

The Current Minister is Reverend Gavin Murray, there is also an associate minister Ellen Wild and a youth minister Dave Marvin. These are also 'Elders' elected from the congregation for a term of 5 year. Currently there are three elders whose role is to be the spiritual leaders of the congregation, responsible guiding growth and development of the church both, internally and though links with the community, part of their role is seeking future vision and care of the full time leaders.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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