Our History

Folkestone Baptist Church has a long history, stretching back to 1750 and some say even further. For certain there has been a continuous congregation of people worshipping Jesus in the Baptist tradition of believer's baptism and congregational decision-making for that time.
 
  Although the Baptist church was fully established in 1750 there were Baptists before that in the town. There were Baptists and other non-conformists here when the Great Fire of London raged, and even before that.
 
In the 1720s the miller, John Stace, not only gave a piece of land for a graveyard, but gave some land in Mill Bay. A building was put up which was used for 100 years as the first church in the town.
The first Rendevous Street building was erected just before the railway came and within 30 years was too small. The West End of the town was developed, the population increased and a new church building was called for. This was built to replace the old one in 1873 and was used for over 100 years.
In the early 1950s a new cause was started at Hill Road. A little church was erected and this forms part of the bigger building now in use.

The Baptist cause in Folkestone is in a healthy state with members, deacons and energetic ministers looking to the future.

Folkestone Baptist Church has a long history, stretching back to 1750 and some say even further. For certain there has been a continuous congregation of people worshipping Jesus in the Baptist tradition of believer's baptism and congregational decision-making for that time.

Many thanks to our local historian Alan Clough  who has given us this wonderful insight into our historical origins in Folkestone

Where It Began
How many of us remember the opening of our new church? This was a far cry from the little meeting house in Mill Bay built in 1729. We have the construction of the new church fully recorded with lots of photographs of the new building going up. When it was opened it was a great day for the Church.
 The new church was first used on Christmas Eve in 1989 although the Dedication Service was not held until the following March.
  Our minister was the Rev. Tom Bowman who led the Service with the platform full of influential Baptists. The 350 seat church was full and there were about 100 more in the concourse. Among the congregation were past ministers - the Rev. CJ Pike, the Rev. Muriel Scott, and the Rev. Paul Brake. The car park was full to overflowing and it was good to see friends from the past .
Guests included people from France, Holland and Germany bearing gifts and giving good wishes. The pictures which grace the walls of the church now are some of the gifts they brought. This reminds us of the strong ties we have had with those churches on the Continent.
 The original church at Hill Rd, which is now Room 4, was built in the 1950s and seems such a small worship areas. There were various rooms adjoining with flat roofs, but these were all demolished when the new building went up.
 There is a large concourse which is used every Sunday for refreshments and for meeting others. The Baptistry was put here. It was open at first with glass screens round it but children playing in the concourse collided with the glass and it was thought safer to put covers on it.
 
At the Dedication Service, the architect, Mr David Irwin, read one of the lessons. We still have the building plans of the new church. An illuminated cross was incorporated at the top of the building. Mr Paul Powell was in charge of the committee which put the whole work in hand. He also played on the new electronic organ and led the choir which took part in the Dedication Service. The new building cost nearly half a million pounds and with loans, sacrificial giving and various money-making schemes, the money was eventually raised. The schemes included a cook book, cards made by a group of ladies, and Mr Fred Fleming selling donated Christmas trees.
 
How would the catering committee members serve tea to nearly five hundred people? They supplied boxes of sandwiches and cakes.
 
The new church has been in use now for nearly twenty years. There have been many changes, but the torch of faith is being handed on.