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Birkby Baptist Church History

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BIRKBY:
Birkby Baptist Church History up to 1912.

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

BIRKBY BAPTIST CHURCH

The Birkby Church, the youngest of our Huddersfield Churches, is the consummation of work undertaken more than fifty years ago by Salendine Nook. For some years a congregation was gathered at Hillhouse, in "an open timber-rafted building," a phrase which we may regard as an euphuistic description of a barn. A small building of two stories was erected in 1859. The cause made slow progress, and, in 1879, then consisting of eighteen members, was taken under the care of one of the larger Huddersfield Churches, help being received from the Home Mission from 1881 to 1889, and lay preachers supplying the pulpit.

The Birkby district increasing in population, a committee was appointed in 1902, in co-operation with the New North Road Church, to consider the needs of extension. A site was purchased in 1906, and, on July 10th, 1907, Birkby was formed into a separate Church. A building scheme was inaugurated, and on July 2nd, 1910, the present beautiful chapel was opened, and declared free from debt, although it had cost £5000. This splendid result was achieved, first by the devotion of the Birkby congregation, which raised nearly 1000; by a grant of £750 from the "Twentieth Century Fund"; by very generous local gifts, and by a successful bazaar held by the united Baptist Churches, which added the splendid contribution of £1186 to the fund. The Rev. H. Townsend, M.A., accepted a call to the pastorate, and commenced his ministry on July 17th, 1910.


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