{{Infobox church , name = Stechford Baptist Church , fullname = , image = , imagesize = , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption = , coordinates = {{coord, 52, 28, 58.6, N, 1, 48, 50, W, format=dms, type:landmark, display=title,inline , osgraw = , osgridref = , location =

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, country = England , denomination =

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, previous denomination = , churchmanship = , membership = , attendance = , website = , former name = , dedication = , dedicated date = , consecrated date = , cult = , relics = , events = , past bishop = , people = , status = , functional status = , heritage designation = , designated date = , architect = , architectural type = , style = , groundbreaking = 1906 , completed date = 1926 , construction cost = , closed date = , demolished date = , capacity = , length = , width = , width nave = , height = , diameter = , other dimensions = , floor count = , floor area = , spire quantity = , spire height = , materials = , bells = , bells hung = , bell weight = , parish = , deanery = , archdeaconry = , diocese = , province = , provost-rector = , viceprovost = , subdean = , precentor = , chancellor = , canonchancellor = , canon = , canonmissioner = , canonpastor = , canontreasurer = , succentor = , archdeacon = , prebendary = , rector = , vicar = , curate = , priestincharge = , priest = , asstpriest = , minister = , assistant = , honpriest = , deacon = , deaconness = , seniorpastor = , pastor = , abbot = , chaplain = , organist = Stechford Baptist Church is a small

church in the

Stechford Stechford is an area of East Birmingham, England, situated about five miles east of the city centre, bordering Ward End, Yardley, Hodge Hill and Kitts Green. Historically it lay within Worcestershire. History Stechford's history is uncl ...

area of

, England and is notable for a 40-year history of combating racism and promoting community cohesion in a British urban-deprived setting. In the vanguard of attempts from the 1960s to engage immigrant

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

communities within mainstream indigenous churches, it played a key role in opposing the National Front during the 1970s. By the 1980s and 1990s it achieved a 50%/50% balance of indigenous and non-indigenous membership and leadership, thereby contrasting sharply with a UK tendency towards majority-white and majority-black churches, where splits are typically in the 90/10 ratio. During the 1990s the church developed relationships with a number of black-led community groups which had grown out of the

1985 Handsworth riots The second Handsworth riots took place in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, West Midlands, from 9 to 11 September 1985. The riots were reportedly sparked by the arrest of a man near the Acapulco Cafe, Lozells and a police raid on the ''V ...

(which also included Stechford), and from 2000 the church worked to support asylum-seeker rights. One of the church leaders, Mrs E C McGhie-Belgrave, was awarded the MBE in 2002 and subsequently the Queen's Golden Jubilee Award in 200

for her contribution to community cohesion and Black-White issues in Birmingham.

History

Stechford Baptist Church preserves a complete set of written minutes from the date of its founding. A histor

of Stechford Baptist was commissioned by community organisation Shades of Black (organisation), Shades of Blackbr>
in 1998. The church was established in 1906, beginning meetings at the Council Schools and subsequently in the Masonic Hall. The present building, a Canadian timber frame and asbestos panel structure, was erected in 1926 on a larger plot of land acquired by the church. The timber frame structure was expected to last about ten years, to be replaced by a permanent brick structure. However, this work was never undertaken, and the additional land was sold for housing in the 1970s. For a long time the timber frame structure was known as 'Stechford Baptist Hall

or Stechford church hal

a reflection of the expectation of a permanent structure.

Organisation

In common with other British

churches, Stechford Baptist is congregational in structure, with the Church Meeting of adult members electing the officers of the church at the Annual General Meeting. The calling of a pastor is also in the hands of the Church Meeting, although for more than half of its history the church has been lay-led. The church belongs to the

Baptist Union of Great Britain Baptists Together, formally the Baptist Union of Great Britain, is a Baptists, Baptist Christian denomination in England and Wales. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance and Churches Together in England. The headquarters is in Didc ...

, although there is no authority link between the union and the church, reflecting the position that the Baptist Union is an association with administrative functions rather than a denomination.

Location

The building is situated in Victoria Road, Stechford, inside the Albert Road – Lyttelton Road – Victoria Road triangle originally established by a building programme which accompanied the construction of the railway station in 1843. All of the existing church buildings within Stechford are within this triangle: Stechford

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

(closed for services from 2005) is on Lyttelton Road,

All Saints All Saints' Day is a Christian holiday. All Saints, All Saints Day or Feast of All Saints may also refer to: Art and entertainment * ''All Saints'' (film), a 2017 Christian drama film * ''All Saints'' (TV series), an Australian hospital drama * ...

is on Albert Road, and Corpus Christi straddles Albert and Lyttelton Roads.

External links

Stechford Baptist Church
Baptist churches in the West Midlands (county) Churches in Birmingham, West Midlands Christian organizations established in 1906 1906 establishments in England Churches completed in 1926 20th-century church buildings in England