Brief History

How we got here

Garston Lane 1934

The civil war that split England in 1642 was caused in part by religious fervour. King Charles I wanted to run the Church along lines that he dictated-but many felt that the ultimate authority in the Church was God.

Some Christians considered they had no alternative but to leave the established church and worship in a different style. One such style was that adopted by the Baptists, who understood that the act of baptism was performed as and when people were old enough to make their own personal commitment to God as a Christian.

In Wantage, a young John Pendarvis - straight from Oxford University - was called to minister in the parish church. His understanding of the Bible led him to give talks outside the church confines in which he directed people to a freer style of worship. Later he was to become the minister of the newly opened Baptist Church in Abingdon. By then he had inspired a number of Christians in Wantage to meet in homes for worship. As they grew in number, they invited another young man, Robert Keate, to be their first minister in 1649. The Baptist Church had officially come to Wantage.

It first met in homes and then in a rented barn along Garston Lane. Eventually the barn and a field were bought to establish a permanent meeting place. In 1860 the current building in Mill Street was built and opened for worship. It was completed on 30 November and the full cost of the project was £1,519.14s.3d. Originally the building was illuminated by a huge chandelier that was suspended in the centre of the church.

Where are we now?

Whilst as a church we are rightly proud of our long history, we are not a living museum. The message of the Gospel is as relevant today as it was in 1649 and we seek to proclaim it in our generation, just as our predecessors did in theirs.

We meet twice on Sunday, at 10:30am and 6:30pm, when we worship God, learn what He says in the Bible, and catch up with one another. We have a variety of speakers within the fellowship and regularly invite guests to minister to us throughout the year.

We have a group of musicians who lead our worship with piano, guitar, bass, flute, saxophone and drums, as well as the traditional organ. In the morning, we run special activities for the children, including numerous classes and a crèche for infants. We serve tea and coffee after the morning service each week and this provides an excellent opportunity for people to mix and get to know one another better. The Christian life is not just for Sunday though and we have many activities throughout the week.

There are tea-time and evening clubs for most age groups of children and young people,meeting on Monday evening and Tuesday evening. Here, the younger ones play games while older ones enjoy a range of activities including table tennis, snooker, Playstation, table football and crafts. We often take our young people on a bowling trip and involve them in other events organised on a larger scale.

One of our annual highlights is the "Splashdown" at Swindon's Oasis Leisure Centre. Here, the kids can play basketball, football, badminton and trampolining, before enjoying a couple of hours in the main pool and water slides. In the lighter summer months, we often take our older children up to Wantage Recreation Ground for rounders and volleyball. Parents of small children will want to know about our Parent and Toddler group that meets each Thursday morning.

Ladies are well catered for with day-time meetings to suit all ages and last but by no means least, on Thursday evenings we meet in various locations for Bible study and prayer. Why not come along to one of our meetings and find out more about Jesus and the difference He is still making to people's lives today. Times are on our notice board