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The History of Colchester Road Baptist Church - The years 1963 to 1982 | |
At the same time, the Rev Alan Kippax felt that the time had come to leave the Baptist Church at Barnoldswick, Yorkshire, and he had made this known to his Area Superintendent and to Dr Kevin. Consequently, Alan Kippax preached "with a view to the pastorate" on 1st March 1964. The church gave him a unanimous call, and he accepted after visiting Ipswich with his wife, Janet, and their two daughters, Ann (10), Janey (9) and 2 year old Stephen. A manse was bought - 167 Colchester Road - and the family moved in after extensive renovations, decorations and the erection of a large conservatory, beginning a ministry of 18 years.
At that time the membership was 63 and, to give a financial perspective of the times, the stipend was £750 per annum, as opposed to £10,000 in 1990! Services were held in the Old Church and the building was full to capacity each Sunday, with about 100 chairs crammed in, and others in the vestry (now the new cloakrooms). The 150-strong Sunday School met in the afternoons, when all the buildings were used, the Bible Class, led by Alan Kippax, meeting in the manse.
There was at that time a Prayer Meeting on Monday evenings, and a Bible Study on Thursdays, both attended by about 75 people.
The pastor saw the need for a new church building on the land facing Colchester Road, and urged the church meeting to consider building. At that time the members were not prepared to begin the project, but agreed to review the situation every 3 months in the church meeting. The Rev Stephen Madden was the anniversary speaker in 1965, and urged the people to go ahead. The church members received this as a "call" from God and decided to build.
At that time the blessing of God was very evident, as just the right people were in the church. One was a quantity surveyor who drew up plans for the new building which, after the approval of the church meeting, were submitted t the Town Planners. It was decided to build without borrowing money outside the church and without getting into debt. Once the decision to build was made, the church members began to give generously and, by the time planning permission was given and permission obtained from the Trustees (the Baptist Union Corporation), the fund had risen from £200 to £1500. This was just enough to clear the site and lay the foundations to damp-proof course. It was decided to build a stage at a time, and if, by the time the foundations were laid, there was no money in hand, then work will be covered and halted until there was enough to put up the walls and the roof.
Because the members of the church were doing a lot of the work themselves, the work went slowly, especially in winter when it was Saturdays only. This was a blessing in disguise, as it gave time for money to come in to but materials as the were needed. The building took 3 years to complete but the cost was only £8000 for the basic building - less than half the commercial rate which would have exceeded £20,000.
The Lord's provision of the right people at the right time simplified the whole building project. The building committee met about 40 times during the course of the construction of the new Church, thrashing out details at every stage. All the members helped in one way or another, some practically, others financially. To name any would mean naming all.
The Foundation Stone was laid at the Church Anniversary in July 1967. The basic building was opened for worship at the Anniversary of 1969 when Principal Gilbert Kirby of the London Bible College was the guest preacher. On the Saturday afternoon about 500 people gathered to rejoice with the church. On Sunday 5th July 1969, there was a baptismal service, using the new open baptistry which had been designed to emphasise the truth of believers baptism and the mode of baptism which is central to Baptist church life.