Discipline and Ordination at Berkhamsted General Baptist Church, 1712- 1718

Abstract

"In his history of the English General Baptists, Adam Taylor makes reference to two older Berkhamsted church books, one beginning with 9 November, 1676/ and the other spanning the years 1688-1706.2 Regrettably, both books have been lost, making Taylor's picture of the church's earliest years virtually indispensable. The Berkhamsted church is known to have existed prior to 1661.3 By 1676, it boasted one elder, John Russell, five or six deacons, and over one hundred members. This number grew to around 250 by 1700, and increased to over 400 during the next six years. In 1712, a meeting house was built at Chesham, where there existed one "side" or branch of the tripartite congregation, Tring completing the triangle. "Ministering brethren" from these three "sides" supplied more than 18 different preaching points between 1712 and 1755. Chesham meeting house was enlarged in 1735 and a baptistry added in 1753. Tring acquired a building around 1750."