Stechford Baptist
Encyclopedia
Stechford Baptist Church is a small Baptist
church in Stechford East Birmingham
UK, notable for a 40 year history of combating racism and promoting community cohesion in a UK urban-deprived setting. In the vanguard of attempts from the 1960s to engage immigrant West-Indian communities within mainstream indigenous churches, it played a key role in opposing the National Front
during the 1970s. By the 1980s and 1990s it achieved a 50%/50% balance of indigenous and non-indigenous membership and leadership, thereby contrasting sharply with a UK tendency towards majority-white and majority-black churches, where splits are typically in the 90/10 ratio. During the 1990s the church developed relationships with a number of black-led community groups which had grown out of the Handsworth Riots
(which also included Stechford), and from 2000 the church worked actively to support asylum-seeker rights. One of the church leaders, Mrs E C McGhie-Belgrave, was awarded the MBE
in 2002 and subsequently the Queen's Golden Jubilee Award in 2004 http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/page.cfm?objectid=14334891&method=full for her contribution to community cohesion and Black-White issues in Birmingham.
http://www.sobhelpproject.org.uk/ in 1998.
The church was established in 1906, beginning meetings at the Council Schools and subsequently in the Masonic Hall. The present building, a Canadian timber frame and asbestos panel structure, was erected in 1926 on a larger plot of land acquired by the church. The timber frame structure was expected to last about ten years, to be replaced by a permanent brick structure. However, this work was never undertaken, and the additional land was sold for housing in the 1970s. For a long time the timber frame structure was known as 'Stechford Baptist Hall' http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/teacher/history/jm_jones/jmj_yardley_church/page18.htm, or Stechford church hall http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22981 a reflection of the expectation of a permanent structure.
churches, Stechford Baptist is congregational in structure, with the Church Meeting of adult members electing the officers of the church at the Annual General Meeting. The calling of a pastor is also in the hands of the Church Meeting, although for more than half of its history the church has been lay-led. The church belongs to the Baptist Union of Great Britain
, although there is no authority link between the union and the church, reflecting the position that the Baptist Union is an association with administrative functions rather than a denomination.
is on Albert Road, and Corpus Christi
straddles Albert and Lyttelton Roads.
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
church in Stechford East Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
UK, notable for a 40 year history of combating racism and promoting community cohesion in a UK urban-deprived setting. In the vanguard of attempts from the 1960s to engage immigrant West-Indian communities within mainstream indigenous churches, it played a key role in opposing the National Front
National Front
The name National Front is used by a number of political parties and coalitions.* Albania — National Front * Belarus — Partyja BPF* Belgium — National Front * Botswana — Botswana National Front...
during the 1970s. By the 1980s and 1990s it achieved a 50%/50% balance of indigenous and non-indigenous membership and leadership, thereby contrasting sharply with a UK tendency towards majority-white and majority-black churches, where splits are typically in the 90/10 ratio. During the 1990s the church developed relationships with a number of black-led community groups which had grown out of the Handsworth Riots
Handsworth riots
The Handsworth riots may refer to:* 1981 Handsworth riots* 1985 Handsworth riots* 1991 Handsworth riots...
(which also included Stechford), and from 2000 the church worked actively to support asylum-seeker rights. One of the church leaders, Mrs E C McGhie-Belgrave, was awarded the MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 2002 and subsequently the Queen's Golden Jubilee Award in 2004 http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/page.cfm?objectid=14334891&method=full for her contribution to community cohesion and Black-White issues in Birmingham.
History
Stechford Baptist Church preserves a complete set of written minutes from the date of its founding. A history http://www.stechfordbaptist.org.uk/About%20us/history.html of Stechford Baptist was commissioned by community organisation Shades of BlackShades of Black
Shades of Black is a community organization in the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England, formed after the Handsworth riots in the mid 1980s, extending from the 1990s to work in other deprived areas including Stechford....
http://www.sobhelpproject.org.uk/ in 1998.
The church was established in 1906, beginning meetings at the Council Schools and subsequently in the Masonic Hall. The present building, a Canadian timber frame and asbestos panel structure, was erected in 1926 on a larger plot of land acquired by the church. The timber frame structure was expected to last about ten years, to be replaced by a permanent brick structure. However, this work was never undertaken, and the additional land was sold for housing in the 1970s. For a long time the timber frame structure was known as 'Stechford Baptist Hall' http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/teacher/history/jm_jones/jmj_yardley_church/page18.htm, or Stechford church hall http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22981 a reflection of the expectation of a permanent structure.
Organisation
In common with other British BaptistBaptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
churches, Stechford Baptist is congregational in structure, with the Church Meeting of adult members electing the officers of the church at the Annual General Meeting. The calling of a pastor is also in the hands of the Church Meeting, although for more than half of its history the church has been lay-led. The church belongs to the Baptist Union of Great Britain
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:...
, although there is no authority link between the union and the church, reflecting the position that the Baptist Union is an association with administrative functions rather than a denomination.
Location
The building is situated in Victoria Road, Stechford, inside the Albert Road - Lyttelton Road - Victoria Road triangle originally established by a building programme which accompanied the construction of the railway station in 1843. All of the existing church buildings within Stechford are within this triangle: Stechford Methodist (closed for services from 2005) is on Lyttelton Road, All SaintsAll Saints
All Saints' Day , often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November by parts of Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Christianity, in honour of all the saints, known and unknown...
is on Albert Road, and Corpus Christi
Blessed Sacrament
The Blessed Sacrament, or the Body and Blood of Christ, is a devotional name used in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, to refer to the Host after it has been consecrated in the sacrament of the Eucharist...
straddles Albert and Lyttelton Roads.