Cradley Heath Baptist Church facts for kids
Cradley Heath Baptist Church, also known as Four-ways Baptist Church, was the first church of any kind to build a chapel in Cradley Heath, West Midlands. The first meeting happened in December 1833. Later, land was bought, and a meeting place was built near the Four-Ways end of the High Street. The church grew, and two more buildings were added, with the newest one finished in 1904.
The church building is a Grade 2 Listed building, which means it's an important historical site.
This church is famous for having Britain's first recorded black West Indian pastor, Rev. George Cosens, who started his role in 1837.
Contents
How the Church Started
Cradley Heath Baptist Church began in 1833 as a new group from Cradley Baptist Church. Their minister, Rev. Jabez Tunnicliff, had a new understanding of the Bible. This led him to leave Cradley Baptist Church in a friendly way. Thirty-four other people joined him that year. In December 1833, they started meeting and formed a new church. So many people from Cradley Heath joined them that by 1834, they had to build a large chapel. This first building was made bigger in 1850 by adding a gallery inside. This part is the side entrance seen on the right side of the main photograph.
Early Leaders
Two of the first four deacons, who were church officers in charge of practical tasks, are worth mentioning. Benjamin Fellows was also a lay preacher, meaning he could preach and lead services even though he wasn't a minister. He even performed baptisms, which ministers usually do. He led two baptism services in 1838 when George Cosens was the minister. This might have been because baptisms were often done in a local canal branch called "the cut" before the church had its own baptistry.
Samuel Hallam and his wife Ann were not from Cradley Heath. They owned shops that sold hats and other clothing items. They lived in different towns before moving to Canada. Samuel had been a deacon at another Baptist church before joining Cradley Heath. He worked as the secretary and treasurer for the Sunday School until 1841.
Different Beliefs Among Baptists
Rev. Tunnicliff left his old church because of different beliefs about how God saves people. In Britain, Baptists generally have two main groups based on this idea. One group, called Particular Baptists, believed that Jesus died only for a special group of people chosen by God. The other group, General Baptists, believed that Jesus died for everyone, but only those who believe in him receive the benefits.
Rev. Tunnicliff studied the Bible and came to believe that the General Baptist ideas were correct. Because of this, he felt he could no longer work for a Particular Baptist church.
Church History
Even though Baptists were the first to build a chapel in Cradley Heath, another group called Primitive Methodists met in homes from about 1820. They built their own church later, in 1841. The history of Cradley Heath Baptist Church includes important stories about its ministers and members.
Rev. George Cosens, the First Black Minister
Cradley Heath Baptist Church is special because it had the first Afro-Caribbean minister in the Black Country, and possibly the first known in Britain. In 1837, Rev. George Cosens became the minister. He was very well-liked and served in other churches in the area too. His first time at Cradley Heath was from 1837 to 1839. He returned later, serving from 1869 to 1879. His second time was successful at first, but as he got older, health problems meant he had to resign. He then moved to a less demanding role at Brierley Hill.
Born in 1805, Rev. Cosens was said to have come from Jamaica to study in London. In 1823, he became a Christian. His family disowned him, but he held onto his faith. He never went back to Jamaica but served many churches as their pastor. He first worked with the Primitive Methodists starting in 1824. He later joined the Baptists after a disagreement during his mission work. His first job with the Baptists was in Aylesbury in 1837, and his first time as a main pastor at Cradley Heath began in November 1837.
Rev. Cosens passed away in 1881 and was buried in the cemetery of Brierley Hill Baptist Church, where he was serving as minister at the time. His life is now celebrated in Britain's black community.
You might see his name spelled as George Cousens in some old books, but Cosens is found in church records and on his photograph.
Church Buildings
The very first meeting place, after Rev. Tunnicliff's home, was on December 23, 1833, in "the wheelwright's smithy" near Five-Ways. This place was in the yard of Heath Cottage on Grainger's Lane.
In September 1834, the church bought land in an area called "Quarry Piece" in Cradley Heath. The first church building was put up in December 1834. It was a "fine new chapel" that could seat about 300 people. This building is now mostly the church's schoolroom. The gallery was added later. The church next door, St Luke's Church, was built in 1847.
The main church building used today opened in December 1904. It's a large brick building with a tall spire and decorations inside and out. It also has a big pipe organ with two keyboards and pedals.
The original 1834 chapel now serves as the schoolroom and a hall for events. Sometimes, in very cold winters, the church services are held in this older, smaller building.
In 1987, Sandwell Council made the church a Grade II Listed Building because it's an important landmark in the area.
The Church Today
Even though the number of people attending has become smaller, the church community continues to meet. In 2007, they discussed whether to keep using the current building. After much talk, they decided to stay. The church celebrated its 175th Anniversary in December 2008.
Besides the Sunday morning service, Cradley Heath Baptist Church helps people in local nursing homes who cannot go to church. They also have short outdoor meetings for singing hymns on some Saturdays, sometimes in the market or other open spaces before Christmas.
Community activities include a "Toddlers Group" on Friday mornings and a gardening club on the first Thursday evening of each month. The Cradley Heath Flower & Gardening Club started in 2009 and became so popular that it still meets in the winter. In November 2009, a famous florist named Andrew Lloyd gave a special demonstration at the club's Open Evening. He is a chairman for a flower arranging group and has worked as a florist for many years. His event, called 'A Floral Sparkler', was completely sold out, with almost 90 people attending.
Christmas activities in December 2009 included a "Christmas Spectacular" concert. Children from nearby Springfield Primary School performed, and a special guest, Charlie Green, who was a semi-finalist on "Britain's Got Talent" in 2008, also appeared. Two hundred and fifty tickets were sold to raise money for important repairs to the historic church building.
The church also collects toys every Christmas. In 2010, these toys were given to a local charity called Loaves 'N' Fishes. This charity provides toys to children in need. The collection received a big boost from the people of Cradley Heath, thanks to the local Tesco supermarket, which provided a collection point.
During the winter of 2009–2010, the church building had problems with thieves stealing lead from its roof. This happened around the same time that lead was stolen from the nearby public library and several homes. The church building suffered a lot of water damage inside because of the missing lead. The pipe organ alone needed repairs that cost about £4,000.
In early 2011, a special toilet for disabled people was built in the Choir Vestry. This was part of updating the building to modern standards. Because it's a listed building, the construction had to be done carefully to protect the original features. The church applied for a grant from English Heritage in 2010. The building was considered historically important enough to receive a grant of £106,000 in March 2011. This left about £60,000 more to be raised for major repairs, including damage from dry rot and replacing the roof on the original 19th-century building for the first time.
The first part of the general renovation happened in the first half of 2013. This fixed the front (west end) and north side of the 1904 building. It included replacing decorative parts made of terra-cotta and repairing the floor on the north side.
Images for kids
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Situation of buildings in the 19th century showing the original 1834 building and the 1850 extension.
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Situation of buildings showing the 1904 extension which is the main building today.
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More detail of the buildings after the construction of the 1904 building.
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Pipe organ in Cradley Heath Baptist Church.
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Interior of the organ showing part of the tracker action.
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Additional view of the action.
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Memorial to John and Ann Fellows, who were leading members of Cradley Heath Baptist Church during the nineteenth century.
More Information
- Cradley Heath Baptist Church blogspot site with notice board including samples of messages by various preachers.
- Baptist Union of Great Britain
