Crumbs from the Table

The Croatian people originally lived in the Carpathian region (W. Ukraine) and in the early 600s migrated to their present homeland in the Balkans on the eastern coast of the Adriatic sea. They were evangelised and baptised by priests from Rome in the 600s, and therefore became part of the Latin-speaking western Catholic church centred in Rome (as opposed to the eastern Orthodox church with its headquarters at Constantinople). The initial "conversion" of the Croats probably focused on the elite, and it was only during the course of later phases of Christianisation that the Croats were fully Christianised. Reorganisation of church jurisdictions under the Franks brought the Croatian church under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchal see of Aquileia.  Croatia became a kingdom in 925 and fought wars with Bulgaria. Croatia reached its height under king Petar Kresimir IV (1058-1074/5). In the 1102, Croatia and Hungary were ruled by the Hungarian king Coloman. Croatia was invaded by t...

Cambodia is a land-locked country in south east Asia which borders Vietnam to the East and Thailand to the West. The traditional form of religion is the Theravada branch of Buddhism.  The first recorded Christian missionary contact with Cambodia was in 1555/6 by a Portuguese Roman Catholic missionary and member of the Dominican Order called Gas par Da Cruz. He is said to have only baptised one convert who died shortly afterwards.  Later, Cambodia was under French colonial rule (1863 to 1953), but the Christian church made little impact. Those who were Catholic believers were mainly of Vietnamese heritage.   The first Protestant missionary contact came in 1923 with missionaries from the Christian and Missionary Alliance. The New Testament and later the whole Bible were translated by 1954. (The Cambodian language belongs to the Austro-Asiatic language family, the same language family as Vietnamese.)   The evangelical church saw some growth in the period ...

During the 1600s, increasing numbers of Christians were disaffected with the current state of the Church of England and sought its reform. This overlapped with parliament's struggle with the Stuart Kings, which culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649, and the brief period of the Commonwealth, when Britain was ruled as a republic led by Oliver Cromwell, and briefly his son Richard. The monarchy was restored in 1660.  Those who sought reform of the Church of England in the 1600s were known as Puritans. Some Puritans wanted the national church to be reorganised along Reformed/Presbyterian lines, and this is what more or less what happened during the Commonwealth period. Others, sometimes known as "Separatists", rejected the whole idea of a national church, and organised independent churches - what would later be known as the congregational churches.  In the Lancashire town of Bury, in 1645, the incumbent parish vicar Travers, also a Puritan, was removed for suspecte...

The origins of Baptist churches go back to the 1600s.  The very first Baptist church began in 1609 and was for English speaking Christians based in the Netherlands, relocating to London in 1611 (Thomas Helwys). These churches were known as "General Baptists" and followed the theology of Arminius and the Anabaptists.  A second genesis of Baptist churches was in London in about 1638 (John Spilsbury). These churches followed the Reformed Theology of John Calvin and the Synod of Dordt. In 1644, the First London Baptist Confession was signed by seven Baptist churches in the capital.  Baptist churches later spread from London outwards.  During the time of the English Civil War (1642-1651), there were Baptist Christians in the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell. In 1648 the New Model Army campaigned in Lancashire during the Second Civil War.  From about 1649/50, John Wigan (d. 1665) was pastor of a Baptist church meeting in Chetham's hospital which is now part Chet...

The first Baptist church in Bury (Greater Manchester) was Providence Strict and Particular Baptist church which started in March 1835 (with a building from 1836). In 1845, Ebenezer Baptist church started (with a building on Knowsley Street from 1853, relocating to Tenterden Street in 1898). Later, there were Baptist churches on Rochdale Road (from 1860), and on Chesham Avenue (from 1881).  These historic churches are now represented by Bury Baptist Church (Baptist Union) on the Manchester Road, and Radcliffe Road Baptist Church (Grace Baptist Assembly). There is also a Bury Bible Baptist Church whose origins go back to missionary work by pastors from the USA in the 1970s. Anyway, until 1835, there were no Baptist churches in Bury .  The origins of Baptist churches go back to the 1600s.  In 1669, the vicar of Bury parish complained of various conventicles "constantly kept at private houses of Independents, Presbyterians, Dippers and other such like jointly, of the best ...

In Bury (Greater Manchester), on the corner of Hornby Street and Birch Street (just off Walmersley Road), there is a set of buildings which look like a church.  This is what they look like today.  This is the former St John's schools, which appear on old maps, such as the one below dated to 1890.  Here is the school on a map of Bury dated to 1908:  I have found a reference to these schools (one for boys and one for girls) in Barrett's 1883 Directory of Bury. Based on the name, the school had links with St John's Church of England which used to be on St John's square in Bury (near where Costa is now on "The Rock"). Old St John's church dated back to 1770. From 1956, most of its services were held at Seedfield Mission Church on Parkinson Avenue, later the site of the church hall. From 1964, the congregation of St John's church permanently relocated to a new building at its present location on Sunny Avenue. Here is some information about the school/s take...