The ‘Baptist’ movement began in 1612 in Spitalfields, London, in the wake of the Reformation of the Christian Church spearheaded by Martin Luther in Germany.  The founders of the movement believed that certain aspects of the established Church at the time were so at odds with what they read in the Bible that they could no longer worship there in good conscience. As a result, the Baptists called for the freedom to gather together elsewhere and were persecuted for many years for their stand, although their calls for religious liberty were officially acceeded to in 1689 with the passing of the ‘Act of Tolerance.’ 

In 1792, William Carey formed the ‘Baptist Missionary Society’ to facilitate the sending of Christians overseas to share the good news about Jesus Christ.  Many of the intiatives that Protestant Christian Churches support today have have developped out of Carey’s pioneering legacy.

The most famous Baptist preacher to date was Charles Haddon Spurgeon, whose ministry began in 1850 at the age of 16.  He was the Pastor of the largest Baptist congregation in London until his death in 1892, regularly preaching to 10,000 people.  It was in this era, in 1865, that the Baptist Church was established in Jersey – hence the style of the building we continue to meet in today.