The Baptist denomination came into being at the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth century when Thomas Helwys and John Smyth returned to England from Amsterdam where they had been associating with the Anabaptists (re-baptizers). By 1644 two separate groups emerged - General Baptists, who believed Christ died for all men and the Particular Baptists, who followed the teaching of John Calvin that Christ died only for the elect. These two groups eventually came together, but it was the Particular Baptists who initiated the Baptist cause in Thorpe.

All Baptist Churches are independent and self-governed but do join together for mutual encouragement and support, and to start new initia­tives. So the Essex Association of Baptist Churches came into being in 1796 and immediately appointed itinerant preachers, the second of who, William Bolton, was sent to meet the need in Thorpe in 1800, since "at this time many of the inhabitants were perishing for lack of Scriptural Knowledge"! Many came from the surrounding areas to worship at Thorpe and so in 1802 ap­plication was made to erect a house to be used solely for worship. Amazingly the application had to be made to the Bishop of London, who had jurisdiction over the area. Basically the dis­senters had to ask the State Church for permis­sion to set up in opposition!

The application read as follows:-  

"To the Right Reverend Father in God by Divine Permission, Lord Bishop of London. We whose names are here subscribed being Protestant Dissenters from the Church of England in and near the Parish of Thorpe in the County of Essex in your Lordship's Diocese, do hereby certify to your Lordship that a new erected House in the said Parish of Thorpe, built on the grounds late in the occupation of Ann Musset White Smith is intended to be used as a place of meeting for Religious Worship for Protestant Dissenters. And we do hereby desire that the same may be registered in your Lordship's Court pursuant to an Act of Parliament made in the first year of the reign of their late Majesty's King William and Queen Mary, entitles an act for exempting their Majes­ty's Protestant subjects dissenting from the Church of England from the penalties of certain laws."

 This was signed by the leaders, including William Bolton, on the 30 October, 1802.

 The license was given and registration made and the building opened for worship on 10th November 1802. It cost £663 11s 2¾d, including the land and at that time was without a gallery, that being added in 1820.

 By the end of 1802, 12 believers were baptised by total immersion; the Church was formed with these 13 plus 9 others previously baptised at Langham; the 22 members celebrated the Lord's Supper; and William Bolton was set apart to assume pastoral leadership of the Church. William Bolton was Pastor of the Church for 40 years, a very considerable time for a Minister of any denomination to serve one Church. We are told that people came to the Church from all parts of the neighbourhood in all sorts of vehicles including gigs and farmers carts and these were kept near the Church during the morning and afternoon services.

 One of William Bolton's outstanding gifts was his ability to maintain records and a personal diary of the ups and downs of those early years. We see that at one time there were 100 members on the register and the records show those baptised (be­lievers' baptism); those who died; those dismissed from the membership for non-attendance and for unchristian behaviour, and those restored back into the membership.

 In William Bolton's records we also find the first recorded burial in the meeting yard, which is now the grassed area in front of the Church building. On November 7th 1803 Edward Taylor, junior, was shot and killed when the blunderbuss that the maid had given him to play with, dis­charged itself. Edward was only a few months old so a loaded blunderbuss does not seem an entirely suit­able toy!

 

 

 There are some interesting facts about the burial yard. Firstly between Edward Taylor's burial in 1803 and 1893 there are 97 certificates of death of those buried in the yard. That seems an incredible number for such a small area and brings into question the reliability of the records, until we come across an entry which talks of William Scott being buried ON TOP of Mrs Carson's child who had died aged 8 months on 24th December 1811. So we see that stacking was necessary be­cause of the shortage of space.

It is not clear how many headstones there were for the 97 folk interred in the yard but a few still remain standing in the bushes at the end of the grass furthest from the Church. Many of those which fell over were utilised to provide a path to the ladies toilet!! This may shock some readers but without being irreverent does illustrate our belief that only the soul is impor­tant when death overtakes the physical body.

 Entries from William Bolton's records/diary which appear to refer to the deaths within his own family In April 1813 Thomas Bolton died aged about 17 months, and in September of that year Susan Bolton died, about 7 months old. But William’s greatest sadness must have been the death of his wife on June 20th 1832, who "died by her own hands, having been deprived of her reason nearly 21 years previously". Maybe her loss of reason was connected with the birth of Thomas, who would have been born in 1811, 21 years before 1832? Whatever the cause of her illness and eventual suicide, she was buried "WITHIN the chapel at the foot of the baptistery between the two pillars which support the gallery".   Just in front of the right hand pillar is a ridge in the floor!

 Just prior to Mr Bolton leaving in mid 1840 the membership agreed to allow members of other churches to share in Holy Communion. Today this has been extended to allow all those who know Christ as their personal Saviour, whether members of a Church or not, to partake of the bread and wine. 

 Since it is the responsibility of the members of each Baptist Church to select, appoint and pay their Ministers, upon Mr Bolton's departure the Church sought God's guidance in prayer for their next Minister. 

 It would appear that there were a number of unsuccessful approaches made before the Church felt "induced" to invite John Hirons who was at a church in Folkestone, Kent. He commenced his ministry in 1841 but left in July 1844, owing to the poor health of his wife and the unsuitability of the climate! I would have thought the difference in climate from Kent coast to Essex coast was minimal. Anyway a Rev Bilson took up his duties in 1844 and when he left after two years much had been accomplished. Sunday school sermons commenced in 1844 and although it is unclear if this was some form of children's address in the service or the commencement of Sunday school teaching, it does signify the importance of children in the life of the Church. This importance is amply demonstrated to this day by the place that the Cam­paigners have in our Church life and the way we gear our Sunday morning Service to suit all ages. (This is during John Singletons time as minister)

 

 

During Rev Bilson's ministry there were over 50 people baptised and the Church membership rose by 61! They also instituted a financial committee in December 1844 and later rejoiced that they had been able to pay the Pastor's salary and meet all expenses. Rev Bilson was followed by a Rev Cherry, who commenced in early 1847. Unfortunately for the Church, and bringing discredit on God's name, Edwin Cherry was frequently "overcome with strong drink" and after he had disappeared to London for 3 weeks with £30, the Church "was forced to remove him from office". He also neglected to keep the Church books, thus leaving no accurate record of Church life during his ministry. It would appear that there were another 3 Ministers be­tween 1848 and 1861 and the membership at the end of the period had dropped to only 31.

 However the Rev Cockerton, who was with the Church from April 1862 to autumn 1864, appears to have witnessed a mini-revival as 70 people were baptised and received into Church membership during these two and a half years. Following Rev Cockerton in 1864 was the Rev Joseph French, who was Minister between 1865 and 1877. He was followed in January 1878 by G N Pope who, although he was only Pastor for 19 months, attracted large congregations by his unconventional style (this gives the current Pastor encouragement-note John Singleton at the time)). During his ministry, proposals were put forward for a new preaching platform and harmonium (1877) and the Church joined the Bap­tist Union in April 1878. (The Baptist Union is the national body of the denomination and pro­vides a focal point through which individual churches can express their opinions, and channel resources to help other Baptist Churches and those in need. Membership is voluntary and does not replace in anyway the responsibility of the individual church to manage its own affairs).

 The third fascinating development during the ministry of Mr Pope was the proposal to amalgamate the Baptist School and the Church School. It is not clear when the Baptist School started but in March 1878 it was assessed to find out whether it met the terms of the Education Act 1876. The report was not too complimentary, an extract be­ing:-

 "Reading is fluent but wanting in expression: Handwriting is also fair. Spelling is weak and arithmetic very much so, there being ignorance of notation and want of accuracy in working the sums. Order is very fair".

 Their Lordships concluded that they were unable to recognise the school as a certified, efficient school, since it did not meet the requirements from a buildings, furniture or attainments point of view! It was therefore proposed that it should amalgamate with the Rolph School on the following conditions: - that there be 4 non-conformist representatives on the Rolph Management Committee (2 Baptists and 2 Methodists); that the Pastor of the Baptist Church be allowed the same rights of initiation and Biblical in­struction in the school as the Anglican clergy­man; and that certain standards of religious in­struction be maintained. These being acceptable to Rolph, the amalgamation took place.

 In 1961 enquiries were made as to the situation regarding non-conformist representatives on the Rolph Management Committee. It was stated that the managers were appointed in accordance with the rules laid down by the Minister of Education and that there was therefore no formal provision for Baptist representatives. However it is good to note that in 1993 one of the Parent Governors, David Wilkinson, was a Deacon of Thorpe Baptist, that his wife Margaret was secretary of the PTA and that the Pastor enjoyed free access to lead assemblies. (Present Pastor David Murray still does in 2010) Denominational cooperation in the education of primary school children of our village continues.

 Mr Pope left in July 1879 'amid the regrets of his people'. Mr Hadler commenced his ministry in 1879 and this was one of the longest pastorates, lasting almost 16 years. During the latter half of his time at Thorpe interest seemed to diminish in the Church and it dropped to a low ebb. However, in 1886 they approved the suggestion for a stove to heat the Church so although they may have been few in number, they were warm!

 

 

 Mr Steadman of Clacton followed Mr Hadler. Then from 1904 to 1911 we see a number of students serving the Church, who were going through training at the Pastors' College in London. The Pas­tors' college was founded by the famous Victorian preacher C H Spurgeon, and subsequently was re­named Spurgeon's College. It is to this same College that the current student Pastor travels on a Thursday! How I wish that I had the same preaching gifts as the College founder (and the same number in the congregation!) (Again this refers to John Singleton) The last of these student Pastors was A T Veryard and a memorial stone to him can be seen set in the left hand side wall of the Church building. 

My first casual glance at this worried me as it seemed that he died soon after leaving Thorpe! What did they do to him? Did he escape alive only to wither away and die soon after? I was reassured to find that he died whilst in service during the Great War. 

 The next key event was not a Pastor arriving; it was the lavatory facilities being installed at the end of the yard and a kitchen being added to the Church building in 1918.

 The Rev Hunt served from 1920 to 1930 and during this time the following notable events are recorded:-

 1920                    application for a grant from the central Baptist sustenance fund to help pay the Ministers salary Approved and continued for 10 years.

 

1922                    application for Church to be registered for marriages - granted

 

1922                    Vestry added - cost £25

 

1923                    agreement that regular communicants, who also serve the community, should be considered members of the Church

 

1928                    Sunday school has 61 on books attendance normally between 45 and 50

 

1929                    electricity installed at a cost of £25, repayable over 5 years

 To fund alterations during this period many rummage sales were held and Church meetings majored on a discussion of who would man the stalls at the forthcoming sale!

 

 

 Pastor Southgate from Walton on the Naze was called to the Church in 1931 at the salary of £50 per annum, and since he did not belong to the Ministerial settlement and sustenance fund, the Church had to find the salary themselves. He stayed until 1948 and the Church was blessed during this time. A permanent partition was added to the schoolroom in 1931; printed rules for Church Members were introduced in 1934: and a 1500 shilling fund was set up for the year of 1935, its purpose being to carry out restorations to the interior of the Church. These practical changes were reflected in the spiritual state of the Church, since 1938 shows 48 people being in membership and 62 children in the Sunday school.

In 1948 Pastor Southgate concluded his 17 year ministry, a time of practical, numerical and spiritual blessings for the Church.

 Pastor Hobrough was called as Pastor in 1949 and remained until 1958. About 20 adult baptisms took place during this period and two practical alterations were made to the Church. The organ, dating back to 1911, was converted from hand pump to electric blower in 1956 at a cost of £70.8s.0d; and a small extension was added to the schoolroom in 1950, on land given to the Church. Mr Frank Davies became lay Pastor in 1960 and remained in this role until 1965. Frank was a civil servant and had been a missionary in India from 1935 to 1944. He was assisted by his first wife and together with the deacons and congregation, witnessed to Christ's saving power as they went about the village. Sunday school, Bible class and weeknight children's activities were held, as were weekly women's meetings. Many of these were led by the now departed husband or wife of current members of the Church, including the husband of Win Austin and Jo Grimsey's son. Frank Davies is now 90, in good health and living at Singholm in Walton, and is still a member of the Church, together with Elsie, his second wife. (Accurate at time of writing)

 Pastor Salmon was Minister from 1965 to 1967, having served with his wife for 30 years as missionaries in the Congo. He retired when he reached 65 years of age, and although he has since died, Mrs Salmon is alive and well in Stowmarket, Suffolk. I heard from her recently and two of our members have visited her.(Again accurate at time of writing)

 Pastor Moore was Minister from 1968-70 and from then until 1973 the Church was without a Pastor, although it was well served by local preachers and by Mr T Edwards, the Moderator. In 1973 the Rev Richard Capel came as Minister and stayed until 1978, during which time the Church interior was decorated. The cost then was £725 and the premises were also totally rewired at a cost of £262. Also the Manse in the High Street was sold along with Number 1 Chapel Cottages, and the pro­ceeds used to build a new Manse in The Crescent at a cost of £8183.34. Sadly, also dur­ing this period and within a space of 20 months, Mr Austin, (secretary and organist), Mr Beeston (secretary and caretaker) and the Rev Capel all died.

 

 

 Derek Carpenter, then 32 and having been trained at Romsey House Bible College, Cambridge, accepted the call to become Pastor in June 1979. Since adequate finance was not available to pay a full time Minister, Derek and his family were provided with accommodation (the Manse), and expenses of £25 per month. He was responsible for each morning service, one or two evening services per month and the normal pastoral duties. The deacons led the fortnightly prayer meeting. This pattern is similar to that existing today, al­though Derek probably led more services than the present Pastor. 

Given the financial situation Derek obviously needed other income to support his family and therefore commenced a career in nursing, alongside his pastoral duties. As many of you will know, this has culminated in Derek now holding the position of Manager of the Ernest Luff homes at the Triangle, Frinton on Sea. When Derek took up the Pastorate the numbers had dropped in the Church, there being only 14 members and no Sunday School or youth work. However the prayer meeting was well attended and from that strength the Church started to blossom. 

Easter 1980 saw a holiday Bible club being run and about 70 village children attended. This resulted in the restarting of a Sunday school and mid week youth meeting, and David and Margaret Wilkinson came into membership and became involved in both these activities. Derek's wife Marilyn was also active in the Church. (Marilyn is the administrator today 2010)

 Much prayer had been made that God would bring more families into the Church and five new families joined in this period. Although the prayer meeting continued fortnightly, house groups were introduced on the alternate weeks. These house groups were less formal than the Church prayer meeting and were led by the owner of the house in which the group was meeting. Derek continued as lay Pastor and then Moderator until 1983 and Church membership grew from 14 to 26.  Derek was followed by the Rev Ernest Nunn who was Minister from 1983 to 1986. During his ministry the Campaigners uniformed youth organisation was started. This grew to a thriving part of our work and we had about 80 children and young people coming to the Campaigner meetings each week, for which we thank God.

 During Pastor Nunn's ministry there were various changes to the premises and the downstairs original box pews were replaced with movable chairs (the upstairs original box pews can still be seen in place in the balcony). Much of this work was performed by Mr Nunn with the help of David Crawford and Fred Burrows. Mr Nunn will be re­membered by many in the village for his care and concern for everybody and I still see him regu­larly at the local Baptist Ministers' meeting.

 

 

1986-89 was a period without a Pastor but spiritual and numerical growth took place under the leadership of Derek Carpenter as Church Secretary and Rev Bolton of Holland Baptist Church as Moderator. One key feature was the week long mis­sion in 1987 in the village when an American Pas­tor and his wife and colleague joined the Church members for an intense week of Church activities. During this period a pastoral team was formed to be responsible for the ministry and pastoral work of the Church. This team consisted of Frank Davies, Derek Carpenter, Martyn Cooper and David Wilkinson. Also during this time the Church became a listed building and it was realised that the roof would need replacing at an estimated cost of £15,000. The eventual bill was just over double this esti­mate when the work was completed in 1992!

In 1987 Victor Hensman was called as Minister, following his retirement from Highfield Road Baptist Church in Dartford, Kent. Victor, together with his wife, Joy, came to the Church in October 1987. Victor took the leading role in the preaching and pastoral team but continued to use the gifts of the team members who had served the Church so well during the interregnum. Joy became very active in the Church, especially in the Women's meeting, where numbers increased greatly. In 1988 there were two baptisms and the number of active Church members increased to 31. Unfortu­nately Mr Hensman's health deteriorated and in 1990 he officially retired from the Church and moved to Yorkshire. During his time as Minister the Church rules were revised (1989) and David Gibbons became Church Secretary.

Rev Ron Watson, a retired Minister living in Holland on Sea, agreed to act as Moderator for the Church and under his leadership the Church were led to investigate the possibility of inviting a 'student Pastor' to become the Minister at Thorpe. The Church entered into discussion with Spurgeon's College, a Baptist theological college in South London, to see whether this was feasi­ble. At this time (early 1992) I was studying for the final set of exams in order to gain my theological qualification. This study had taken three years, and was undertaken by distance learning whilst we lived in Doncaster, South Yorkshire and I worked for IBM in Sheffield. The last part of my training would be for me to enter Spurgeon's College for pastoral training and on my course this would take the form of being based in a Church as a student Pastor, working on Church work 50% of the time, and college work the other 50%.

 

 

So my wife Enid, my daughter Caroline and myself were invited to spend two weekends meeting the fellowship at Thorpe Baptist, and enabling them to assess my preaching and suitability for the pastorate. They and we felt that God wanted us to work together at Thorpe and therefore we moved from Doncaster to Thorpe in late August 1992 ready for me to commence ministry in September 1992. We have been warmly received not only by our own Church fellowship but also by everyone in the village and we appreciate that welcome. 

Both the Vicar and Rev Clifford Newman made me most welcome and I regret that Clifford has already left and that Vic will be leaving soon. However I look forward to working with both their successors, wherever possible, and my desire and prayer is that there will be three evangelical thriving Christ centred Churches in the village before long.

As many of you know I have been invited to stay as the full time Minister of Thorpe Baptist from September 1994, when my studies are completed and I have been ordained. I believe God wants to do great things in Thorpe and I am delighted to be remaining here to be a part of His work.

Therefore we come to the end of the history of the Baptist Church but not to the end of the Church. We remain in good heart; we are seeing growth in numbers and in spiritual maturity; we are embarking on building work and redecoration; and we have a very full year ahead as we seek to meet the needs of all ages within the village.

To finish I will use an extended version of the words used by Derek Carpenter to complete the notes which have been the basis for this booklet:-

 

"To God be the Glory, great things He has done in the past, great things He is doing in the present and greater things He will do in the future."

This history was written by Pastor John Singleton

 

The present pastor is David Murray who joined Thorpe church on the 24^th September 2005