History of Hall Green Baptist Church

History of Hall Green Baptist Church

There have been Baptists meeting for worship in Hall green since 1914. In the 1920’s they met at the building on the corner of Stratford Road and Hamlet road which is now used by the Society of Friends. They asked the West midlands Baptist Association for help in acquiring a piece of land to build their own church and in 1923 the present site was purchased from funds arising from the sale in 1851 of the Circus Baptist Chapel in Bradford Street. These funds also provided land for two other Baptist churches developing in the quickly expanding suburbs of Birmingham.

At a Church meeting on 31 March 1925, Hall Green Baptist Church was officially constituted, and a period of rapid expansion began. In 1926 the first building was put up across the rear of the new site.

The Sunday School grew so quickly that the premises had to be extended in 1932, and as well an additional small hall added. members flooded in to join the church as the suburb filled up with new housing. The foundation stones of the present building were laid in 1935 and it was opened in 1936.

In the 1930’s a group of members transferred from Highgate Park Baptist Church, closing because of population movements outside from the city. they brought with them to Hall Green important resources including the Hope Jones organ, now in 2003 celebrating it’s centenary.

In the 1950’s and 1960’s further consolidation took place and the Church moved forward into a period of serving the community with Day Centre, Meals on Wheels, youth work, clubs for the handicapped, and of developing collaboration with other churches in Hall Green. The original temporary building wore out.and was replaced in 1957 and 1967 with the present site of halls. The interior of the church was refurbished as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of 1975.

This brief history of Hall Green Baptist Church seems to be framed by the story of its premises but, of course, there has been more to it than that. The bricks and mortar serve here to embody the record and witness of the church in its worship of God and its service of the community for over 75 years, still continuing in changing times.