Crumbs from the Table

 New York Street Baptist Chapel was a place of worship in the centre of Manchester which stood from 1808 to 1869.  The church was a breakaway from the Baptist church pastored by William Gadsby shortly after his arrival in 1805. For a time, the church met at Cold House chapel in the Shudehill area of Manchester (a longstanding place of non-Anglican worship), before moving into the premises on New York Street in 1808. The well-known pastor John Fawcett (1739-1817) of Wainsgate Chapel in Hebden Bridge preached at the opening service.  The location of the church was on New York Street which at the time of writing is on the other side of the City Tower from Piccadilly Gardens. The chapel stood in the block between Pine Street and Faulkner Street on the site of what is now the carpark.  The chapel is clearly marked on various historic maps of Manchester, such as this one (Pigot 1813):  According to Baptist church historian Whitley (Baptists of the North West, 1913), ...

Moss Lane Baptist Chapel was a place of worship in the Moss Side area of Manchester. It was constructed in 1872. Marriage records for the church 1900-1971 are held here . The origins of Moss Lane Baptist Chapel go back to a Baptist chapel which stood on New York Street in Manchester City Centre from 1808-1869. This was a breakaway from Rochdale Road Strict Baptist Chapel, and it stood between Faulkner Street and Pine Street, approximately where the Arnii cafe now stands.  The old chapel was sold in 1869, and the funds used to build the new church building in Moss Side with seating for 850 which was completed in 1872. At the time, this was reported in  several publications including the Manchester Guardian . It stood on Moss Lane East on the south side between what was then Stockton street and Sewerby Street. Its precise location appears on many maps, including the following:  It is not to be confused with the former Welsh Calvinist Methodist Chapel (now Polish Roman Cat...

Today, at our church coffee morning, I gave a brief presentation about two cousins from the late 1600s, and early 1700s born in a small town called Heptonstall, and who were instrumental in the spread of Baptist Christianity in our "neck of the woods": William Mitchell (b.1663) and David Crossley (b. 1669).  The first ever Baptist churches on English soil were started in 1611 and 1638 respectively, and spread out from London with offshoots in places such as Coventry, Kent and Wales.  The earliest Baptist churches in the North West (historic Lancashire and Cheshire) began around 1650: one in Manchester and one in Warrington.  However, William Mitchell and David Crossley started out as itinerant preachers from about 1685, and were not initially Baptists by conviction. Before becoming Baptist, they bravely preached and set up "preaching stations" throughout the area bordering Yorkshire and Lancashire in places such as Barnoldswick, Bacup and Rawdon. Eventually these be...

This is not a post about Brexit. But I am going to use the 2016 Brexit referendum in the UK as an analogy.  To refresh your memory, in 2016 a referendum was held in the UK on whether or not to stay in the European Union. This had been a longstanding issue for debate ever since the UK first joined in 1971. In the event, to the surprise of most pundits, the vote was 52% to leave the EU. This led to the immediate resignation of the Prime Minister, David Cameron, and later to the resignation of his successor, Theresa May, in 2019. For months and years, the British parliament, the House of Commons was "blocked" - unable either to implement the referendum or to vote to hold a second referendum (effectively, to reject the result of the first). Finally, under Boris Johnson, a deal was reached and the UK left the EU in 2020. This was followed by years of wrangling over issues such as goods crossing the land border between Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland (...

The beginnings of what became Ebenezer Baptist Church in Bury go back to Andrew Nuttall (1784-1846) from Haslingden who came to live in Bury and started the "cause" as a branch of West Street Church in Rochdale, and later taken on by the "County Home Mission". In 1844, the Home Mission appointed Joseph Harvey as its missioner, and this led to the church being constituted in 1845 with fifteen members including Joseph Harvey (the founding pastor) and Andrew Nuttall.  During Harvey's pastorate, in 1853, the church moved into a permanent building on Knowsley Street (on the site of the present Art Picture House opposite the travel interchange, see picture). There may have been another Baptist church building on Spring Street completed in 1852.  Joseph Harvey would later baptise as a believer Franklin Howorth (d.1882), former minister of Bank Street Unitarian Chapel in Bury. Howorth amicably resigned the ministry at Bank Street and in 1854 started the "Free Chris...

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.  1. John Wigan & the "Coldhouse cause"   During the time of the English Civil War (1642-1651), John Wigan (d. 1665),...

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 ...

 Baptist churches first emerged in the English-speaking world around 1609 (General Baptists), and 1640 (Particular Baptists) respectively. The Particular Baptists are so called not because of some inate "pickiness" but because of their (our) belief, along with most other reformed Christians at the time, in Christ's particular redemption. The saving work of Christ on the cross and in the resurrection actually saved particular people. This is sometimes referred to as "limited atonement".   The Particular Baptist churches in the English-speaking world emerged from existing independent congregations, which had sprung up in England from the late 16th century onwards. What made them "Baptist" was their conviction that baptism should be administered on profession of faith, and therefore should not be given to infants too young to profess faith. The practice of delaying baptism until the serious commitment could be made in an informed way was certainly a commo...