Centenary of the London Baptist Association 1965

Abstract

"THIS WILL BE the centenary of the LBA in its present form. Attempts to form an Association prior to 1865 had proved abortive, but the drive and vision of C. H. Spurgeon, supported by Dr Landells of Regent's Park and Dr Brock of Bloomsbury, set a pattern of cooperation among London Baptists in evangelism by church extension that has held as a constant theme for a century. A centenary is a birthday that cannot lightly be passed over, and the officers of the Association were eager to mark the occasion in a worthwhile manner. After much discussion it was agreed to attempt something that was described as urgent twenty-five years ago - to seek to rehabilitate the churches of Inner London. For purposes of definition we accepted a circle with a four-mile radius from Charing Cross, within which circle there are fifty-two Baptist churches. At a Special Assembly the Association adopted two great purposes to celebrate the Centenary, to invite teams from other London Baptist churches to work with those in Inner London in a sustained effort for evangelism during the winter of 1965-66, and to raise a fund of £100,000 to support these churches in building improvements, helping to sustain ministers or deaconesses where gaps need to be filled, and to provide full-time trained Christian youth leaders in co-operation with the local authority"