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Girlington Baptist Church History

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GIRLINGTON:
Girlington Baptist Church History up to 1912.

Source=h:/!Genuki/RecordTranscriptions/WRY/BaptistChurches.txt

GIRLINGTON BAPTIST CHURCH

Girlington is a daughter of Westgate. In the year 1827, while Dr. Steadman was pastor, Girlington. the Westgate friends opened premises at Lady Royd as a Mission Church. School sessions were held morning and afternoon, and public worship for adults in the evening. Forty-five years later, in 1872, the growing needs of the district called for increased accommodation. The Westgate Church took up the work with enthusiasm, and the present chapel was erected at a cost of £9,086. In 1882, Girlington was constituted an independent Church, 272 members being transferred from Westgate for that purpose. Since then it has become one of the most important and successful Baptist causes in the city. During the forty years since 1882 there have been three pastors, the Rev. J. G. Knight, Rev. Rowland Evans, now of Leicester, and the present pastor, Rev. A. T Hollinshead.

Mr. Evans ministered to the congregation for nearly seventeen years, from 1888 to 1904. During his pastorate the present fine block of school buildings was added at a cost of £4,437. This left a debt of £9,500 on chapel and schools, but the whole of the money was raised in five years, and the Church also contributed more than £1,000 to the Twentieth Century Fund. The interest in the cause is well maintained under the pastorate of Mr. Hollinshead. For forty years the Church has stood for the liberty wherewith Christ sets men free, and situated as it is in the midst of a large and still increasing population it has almost unrivalled opportunities. Not a few well-known names in our denominational life and also in the civic life of Bradford have had place on the roll of the Girlington Church.


Transcribed by Colin Hinson © 2014
from the "Present Churches" section of
The Baptists of Yorkshire
by Rev. J. Brown Morgan
and Rev. C.E. Shipley