Lymm Baptist Church

Lymm Baptist Church is Baptist Church situated in the village of Lymm near Warrington, England.

History

According to the Baptist Handbook. Lymm Baptist Church was founded in 1850, but its roots are to be found 100 years earlier at Millington, some 4 miles from Lymm. The land for the Millington Chapel was purchased in 1756 and the chapel was built in 1759. However, it is fairly certain that a group of Baptists had been worshipping together at least 12 years earlier, perhaps in a farmhouse nearby.

Among the founders of the Millington Church were the Ridgway family.

At the end of the 18th century, Thomas Ridgway, was engaged in a considerable tea business, namely The House of Ridgway Tea Merchants, and it was he who in 1848 gave the land at Lymm for the building of the Baptist Chapel, a move necessitated by the view that the church needed to be sited within a more populous area and in a more convenient location.

The chapel was opened in September 1850, the first pastor being Rev Isaac Ridgway, Thomas‘ brother.

A Sunday school was inaugurated in January 1851, with 15 children attending. By October of the same year there were 133 names on the register.

In 1852 the building was extended to cater for this number of children.

The church was served by a succession of pastors and students from the Manchester Baptist College.

During the 1970’s and 1980’s the limitations of the building became a cause for concern, not least the fact that numerical growth meant that the numbers attending on Sunday could not be adequately accommodated.

A major project of enlargement was initiated in 1987. Discussions and consultations continued for 4 years and work eventually commenced in April 1992 and completed by the end of the year. The opening ceremony was conducted on 6 February 1993.

Further refurbishment has taken place since then and the church building acts as a Worshipping Centre, an Open Centre and a Caring Centre.

The result has been an expanding of the vision to be a church with relevance to a growing and changing community. The church membership has grown over the last few years and the church remains committed to preaching the Word of God and worshipping the risen Jesus Christ.

Current Minister

The current Pastor is Rev Chris Newton.

External links

* [http://www.lymmbaptistchurch.com Church Website]