Childs Hill Baptist Church
ORIGINS
In 1865 Child's Hill was a village of laundry workers and labourers engaged in constructing the new Midland railway line. The place was notorious for drunkenness, cockfighting and similar evils. It was in this setting that William Rickard, a Devonian (I wrote Cornish but that is wrong), began his open air work.
Mr Rickard was working with the fashionable Heath Street Baptist Church in Hampstead, but by 1866 he was meeting regularly with twelve others in a laundry here and a Sunday School had also been started. In 1870 a permanent building was erected, thanks to the generosity of cotton merchant James Harvey and others, and seven years later the church was formally constituted by covenant.
EARLY DAYS
For more than twenty years Mr Rickard was not only a faithful minister but also a pillar in the community. This early testimony has been preserved.
He was a man who felt very deeply his responsibility, and for many years it was his custom to seclude himself for an hour every day, in his vestry, to plead with God especially on behalf of the neighbourhood. He was a powerful evangelistic preacher and hundreds were converted under his ministry. His one great object in life was to preach Christ and he lost no opportunity of doing so. In season and out of season he was ever pleading with sinners to trust the Saviour.
On at least two occasions, C. H. Spurgeon preached at the chapel and the next minister, J. Sylvester Poulton, was a former student at the Pastor's College and first came to the church on a student mission.
DECLINE
The downgrade controversy seems to have passed by without the church's notice. Throughout the early part of the century numbers continued to increase but although there is no evidence of liberal teaching, there was a slow drift away from solid and evangelistic preaching. Bazaars, teas and concerts became the great concern, and the needs of a lost world, if not forgotten, did not have the prominence they once had. Inevitably, numbers began to decline and by the end of the third ministry (another long one under an ex-missionary to the Congo) things were in a state of spiritual declension.
CHANGE
The story of the church from the mid fifties is quite a different one. By this time Child's Hill was no longer a village but a part of the ever-growing London conurbation. It was on the verge of even more change as roads and housing were modernised and the villagers were joined by ever more exotic outsiders.
RECOVERY
Three long ministries (85 years together) were succeeded by a succession of shorter ministries under young men fresh from college who were eager to offset the ravages of long neglect. During this thirty-year period much sterling work has been done. There have been negative aspects, such as variations in theology and lack of continuity (due to various factors) but the present situation is most encouraging. At present we have a converted and baptised membership of about 30; many of these are committed to remaining in the area; outreach into the community continues to grow; the long neglect of the buildings has been brought to a halt; in a word - people's minds have been driven back to the Scriptures, ties with liberal churches have been severed and a truly spiritual work has been set on foot once again.
TODAY
Of course, there is still a great deal to be done. Over the years, inevitably, some confusion has been sown in the minds of people who have remained in the community as the church has gone through its different phases; the cost of living continues to be prohibitive for many young couples despite their desire to remain in the area (we've resorted to housing one couple in a part of our buildings); understandably, we have a generation gap from the thirties to sixties, no teenagers, and a young leadership; finally, the incredible social, ethnic, religious and financial variation in the area brings its own problems, and yet its own challenge too.
EVANGELISM
As you might expect, one of the chief concerns of a church like Child's Hill is evangelism, reaching the lost. Apart from the obvious and essential elements of personal witness and regular, consistent proclamation from the pulpit we have engaged in various types of witness. Regularly, we give out tracts in our nearest shopping area (Golders Green). Recently, we have begun to produce our own 'home-made' tracts for this purpose. We also seek to give out invitations to people in the area to come to our regular meetings.
Along with another local Baptist church and the Harrow Road church planting team we have set up a telephone message system - Bible Line. This involves providing a two minute taped message which can be phoned at any hour of the day or night.
For some time we have been seeking to establish a work amongst children and young people. This work is a totally pioneering effort and so has proved very demanding. We have made some progress.
A little while ago we arranged a meal on a Thursday evening and invited our unbelieving friends to eat with us and hear the message of the gospel. This was very encouraging in that a number of unbelievers came, some of whom had never come to us before. We plan to do something similar in the near future.
We have no success story. Each effort has brought a little encouragement but no conversions. Yet we continue to hold the word of life out to those who are perishing all around us. We trust that those who are appointed to eternal life will be brought in, in due time.
A recent sermon
SIN-OUR MAJOR PROBLEM (Romans 1:28-32) Gary Brady
Romans chapter one is a mirror. Here we come face to face with ourselves as we really are by nature. You shrink from the truth I know but you must face the facts. There are four things here to face up to.
1. The root of the problem
Mentioned before, here it is again in 28a - (Men) did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God. It's not that men do not know there is a God or are unsure; rather they refuse to glorify God or give him thanks. They'd rather believe a lie than accept the truth about God (think of faith in evolution). As G. K. Chesterton put it (in the Father Brown stories): When men stop believing in God they don't believe nothing; they believe anything. Here Paul particularly brings out men's arrogance. Life is busy, some things are not worth the time and effort. Is that your attitude to knowing God? 'I don't care if he's there or not'. That's your basic problem, you're an ostrich! Face the truth, worship the Lord. Repent. The full wrath of the Lamb is coming soon.
2. The stem of the problem
'Someone up there doesn't like me' says the superstitious atheist. When? When his wicked schemes fail. But no, that's a sign of God's mercy. It is a kindness that should lead to repentance. God's wrath is quite different. You are saying, '1 don't want anything to do with God or his ways'. 'Okay, have it your way' the Lord says, as it were. (Think of how the parable of the lost son begins.) God gives men over. What a dreadful thing to be given over. Don't be sorry when you don't get your own way. Give thanks to God. Pray, 'Your will be done. Lord, not mine'. Crucify self. Each increase in wickedness is a punishment from heaven. Notice carefully the connection here. Not, unbelief leading to wrong-doing. No, unbelief leads firstly to a depraved mind (Cf vv 21,24,26). The problem begins with the heart. You are a sinner. It's hard to deny. But what makes you a sinner? ... I'll make it simple, what makes an apple tree an apple tree? 'Easy' you say, 'It's got apples on it'. Wrong. What makes an apple tree an apple tree is its nature. As Jesus says 'A good tree will produce good fruit, a bad tree will produce bad fruit'. Your sins are fruit, evidence. What makes you a sinner is your nature, your depraved mind. Therefore the way out is not simply to try and stop sinning. That would be like trying to kill an apple tree by picking the apples! No the tree must be uprooted or chopped down and a new one planted. You need to be delivered from your depraved mind and brought back to faith in God. Cry out to God to deliver you from your depravity and bring you back to himself.
3. The fruit of the problem
Although sins are the symptom rather than the disease, we must put the spotlight there for a moment. Sometimes it's not until we see the effect of a thing that we begin to sit up and take notice. If I say, 'Here's a sinner' you have a vague picture in mind. If I say 'Here's a thief' the picture is clearer. I can call you sinners all night and you won't mind too much but once I get specific, then your conscience will shout. Paul often has lists of sins like the one(s) in vv 29-31. I don't want to go through this catalogue in detail, but we must expose our consciences to what is written here. At some point, sooner or later, your consciences will be struck. You cannot conscientiously read this list and say I1 am innocent'. (At this point the preacher proceeded to apply vv 29-31 to the congregation for a short while. Readers are recommended to look at those verses and see where they have fallen.)
4. The problem in its advanced state
In v 32 we see the ultimate condemnation. The situation is not, as so many claim, that people don't know right from wrong. They do. You do and I do. We also know what will happen to us if we go on doing these things - we will die. Oh yes, we try to deny it, but deep down, we know the truth. There must be a day of reckoning. We will have to give an account. Yet so many not only continue to do these same evil things but they even encourage others to do the same (v 32). Giving approval to others is the final depth. We reach it sooner than we expect.
So what will you do? Agree that what I say is true and then go on living without Christ? That's the attitude of the drug addict. How hopeless! It doesn't have to be. Stop! Turn! Cry out for help and for mercy! The Lord will hear. Put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
This article appeared in Grace Magazine in March 1989
