The following article was printed in the Discover Whittlesey Magazine in March 2006.

1669 there has been a Baptist Church in Whittlesey. Here we look at the history of the church from it's early years up until the end of the Second World War and see how much of what was begun then still goes on today.

If you are heading out of Whittlesey along Orchard Street, towards Thorney you will see a sign for Whittlesey Baptist Church.  While the sign and notice board on the corner of Gracious Street are relatively new there has been a Baptist Church in Whittlesey since at least 1669.

Today the church has 68 members. It holds weekly services and a midweek meeting for prayer and Bible Study. The church does work in the town among the elderly, including holding services in the old people's homes. At the other end of the age range it holds groups with children from pre-school ages through to teenage years.

The faces have changed over the years and different specific groups have been added or changed to reflect the changing times. But much of what goes on at the church and what is taught have remained the same for hundreds of years.

The earliest record the church knows of that shows Christians with the same Baptist beliefs in the town come from the Episcopal Returns of 1669. In Whittlesey (or Whittlesea as it actually reads) the record says that there were "At the house of John Gates. And at a hamlet called Coles and in ye Fennes…Divers of Anabaptists and Quakers…At Gates' house about 20. At ye others about 100 from divers places."

To translate from the quaint English this record shows there were about 20 Baptists who met and formed a church at the house of a man called John Gates, plus around 100 others around the area including at Coles - or Coates as it is now known.

The current Pastor of the church is Jonathan Wood. He explained that the 'church' is the people rather than any building. Pastor Wood said: "Many think of a church as just being the bricks and mortar. We believe that, though the building is not unimportant, if you were to take the building away, you would still have a church if the people were there. The church consists of those who have seen their need of salvation and that the only Saviour is none other than Christ Himself. Hence, the early followers of Christ were called 'Christ's-Ones' - we now use the simple word, 'Christians'."

In 1769 a group of Christians drew up a Trust Deed for the Baptist church - a declaration of what they believed. By this point the church was meeting in Gracious Street, Whittlesey. Part of this 1769 Trust Deed is still included in the constitution of the church as a statement of what the church believes.
Pastor Wood said: "We don't believe that any of the truths of the Bible have changed in this time, or ever will so we still teach and believe these timeless and unchanging truths. People might say that the times have changed; we would not disagree with that, but the heart of man has not altered and, therefore, his need for forgiveness through Christ remains the same."

In 1804 the Baptist church hit some hard times and may almost have disappeared. The last of the existing trustees died and the church failed to appoint new ones. This led to the church's Meeting House and the adjoining cottages, which belonged to the church, going to Lord of the Manor.

The church recovered from this enough to ask the Lord of the Manor if they could have the building back and he agreed. In 1831 the church had a list of members and became properly organised once more. It was not long after this time that a new building was needed. In March 1834 Matthew Mills gave the church an estimate for the building of a chapel. The figure quoted for the building work was £219, with an additional £20 needed if an Oak batten floor was required!
The chapel was built and opened in September 1836. The building is the same one that is used by the church today. In 1837 there were 12 names on the church membership roll. The first Pastor was one of these, a man called Richard Lay from Sutton.

The 1850s saw a time of growth in the church. In 1853 a new Sunday School Hall was built and a man called David Ashby became the Pastor of the church. The Sunday School has remained an important part of the church through the years as youngsters were taught from the Bible week-by-week. 

The Sunday School is still going strong today although it meets in a far newer building at the church. And as well as this are many other groups for youngsters during the week.

Pastor Wood said: "From Sunday School right through the week there are activities for young people at the church. Each of these contains a time when the youngsters are taught from the Bible. There are two Mothers and Toddlers groups (on Monday's and Wednesday's) and weekday activities for primary age children on a Tuesday and Thursday.

"A large group of secondary age children also meet on a Thursday evening. With many of the town's teenagers milling around the Buttercross, looking for something to do, we believe a real service is being rendered in allowing these young people to come to the church, go out on different activities and then, twice a year, go away to Norfolk for weekend of fun, organised events and times studying the Bible in a way that is relevant to young people."

Back in those early days Pastor Ashby remained as Pastor until 1871. During that time 120 people were added to the churches membership - quite a growth from 12!

Pastor Wood said: "As a church we are always looking to grow, not so that we can say lots of people come to the church, but because we believe it is essential for people to hear the good news of why it was Christ came into this world. The more that Christians dwell on this, the more they find they just can't help telling others of what God has done for them."

Even in the 19th Century it was necessary to stay on top of maintaining the building and ensure it was up to the job of holding the various meetings of the church. Samuel Willis was Pastor from 1878-95 and during this time new seats were fitted in the chapel with lighting and heating being installed.

At the turn of the century the Pastor of the church was a man called John Turner Peters. Under his ministry from 1896 to 1912 church membership reached 129. While this was time of new people coming into the church Pastor Peters himself faced very difficult times in his personal life. His life was affected by personal tragedy when his baby daughter Eva died in 1905. 

Further tragedy struck when his wife died aged 43 a few years later. When he left the church to become Pastor of a church in Guildford Pastor Peters recalled how his time at Whittlesey had seen a mixture of great joy and great sorrow. He wrote to the church at Whittlesey: "The greatest joys of my life, and the deepest sorrows and trials I have passed through have been shared by a loving people in this place."

Pastor Wood commented on this: "As the pastor of just four years here, I can testify to the fact that there is a real sense of God's love amongst the people in Gracious Street.

"We live in a selfish and loveless world. Jesus said that one of the ways in which Christians can show others the love of God is by displaying love for one another. How I thank God that this is the case at Whittlesey Baptist Church."

One of those people who had become a Christian and joined the church while John Peters was Pastor was a man called Tom Benstead. He had gone on to become one of the officers in the church and started preaching while still working in the brick yards that are still so much in evidence in the town. In 1915 he was asked to become Pastor of the church. Pastor Benstead served as Pastor through the First World War which affected so many of those in the church. Members of the church were killed at war and those who remained lost people near and dear to them. 

The war also led to the church and it's members coming under pressing financial pressure and Pastor Benstead had to lead the church through this time of great difficulty, sadness and uncertainty. He continued as Pastor until April 1936 when he died after a short illness.

The church's next Pastor, Benjamin Mutimer would lead the church from 1937 through the Second World War. Again the war years would take their toll on the church as members were lost in service for their country and those at home mourned the loss and faced the effects of the war here. One of the visible signs of the passing of these war years was the fact that the church railings evident in all the pictures from before the war were taken down as the metal was used for the war effort. Following the war they were not replaced. The affect of the wars on the church was shown more poignantly by the list of names on the front of the church of those lost. But once more the church came through the difficult years. Pastor Mutimer left Whittlesey to move to a church in Middlesbrough in 1944.

Following the Second World War Albert Whayman took over as Pastor of the church in October 1945. Since then there have been four more people who have served as Pastor of the church Alan Taylor, Brian Keen, Andrew Smith and the current Pastor, Jonathan Wood. The building has also seen changes, with renovation work in the 1975 and an additional church hall being built in 1990. But, as Pastor Wood said, since the beginnings of the church in the 17th Century the focus has remained on the people and working with them, rather than on the building.