The Beginning and Beyond of Kingswood Baptist Church
An Address delivered at the 50th Anniversary Celebration on October 4th 2008 by John Watson, a Founder member.
I feel very privileged to be standing here today, not just because I’ve been asked, but because I (and I speak for Pat, my wife as well) we have been blessed by God to have been of service to Kingswood Baptist Church for these past 50 plus years.
We had moved into Basildon in 1954 over the hill in Mapleford Sweep, Swan Mead and in 1956 we were approached by a friend of my family in Southend, Frank Sampson, a well known Lay Preacher telling us of a new outreach proposed by the Southend Baptist Union to begin a church in Basildon. This was following a vision of a well respected Lay Preacher, Mr E B Walling of Southend for such a witness in the New Town. We are pleased to have with us tis afternoon the daughters of Frank Sampson, Mrs Joy Taylor, and Mrs Sheffield and her husband, the daughter of Mr E B Walling. A site had been selected from several offered by the Basildon Development Corporation who had allocated one site to each denomination in each estate of the New Town. Southend Committee selected this corner of the field where we are now standing - at that time a farm, which included cows standing up to their knees in mud!
The church was to be named Kingswood Baptist E B Walling Memorial Church.
The only houses were the beginning of the area in Witchards, where Frank Sampson together with friends from Southend, mostly from Shoeburyness Baptist Church, had started to visit the new arrivals as they moved in. We began by meeting together for Prayer and Bible Study in the home of Rhoda Warren, another friend and contact of Mr Sampsons, who had recently moved into Methersgate, and also occasionally in our home.
Very soon as numbers increased we began to meet as a Sunday School and Adult Fellowship together in a Builders Canteen on the site of the Progression Centre, previously called Bader House, on the corner of Witchards and Clay Hill Road, led by Frank Sampson and the Southend friends (some details of these meetings are in a little booklet written by Rhoda Warren, ‘Early Years’ – copies are available; Rhoda, who later was appointed a Life Deacon of the Church, was ‘called home’ and died before its final publication in 1993). My wife, Pat, Rhoda and others as contact was made with them helped on these Sunday mornings, I was only able to be present on alternate Sundays because I was working in the Pathology Laboratory at St Andrews Hospital in Billericay on alternate Sundays.When the Primary School opened across the road in September of 1957 we began to meet in their hall on Sunday Morning for Sunday School and in the afternoon for a Church Service, while the Manse was being built.
In what was I’m sure a divine inspiration from God, the Southend Committee were led in a quite unique decision, to appoint a minister for the, as yet, a very tiny Fellowship of Christians, who were not even yet registered as a Church! Rev Cyril Rusbridge, at that time in Bristol, was invited to take up the post and graciously accepted the call to come.
I remember collecting Cyril from Pitsea Station one dark late afternoon, in December, in my motor cycle sidecar, there were no buses and very little transport of any sort at that time around the few houses that made up Basildon, and as we came to the top of the hill which was Clay Hill Road –seven feet higher then- it was reduced when the new road was built, all that was before us was complete blackness – no lights visible at all !! Cyril stayed with us a few times in Mapleford Sweep until the Manse was completed in January 1958 when his family moved in, Cyril’s wife, Joan the three girls, Helen (7), Cynthia (5) and Alison just four months old, really a typical Basildon New Town family ! Rhoda in her booklet describes the Manse as a ‘lighthouse’ as they kept their landing light on constantly – the only light in around in the dark that was Kingswood.
We moved into the house next door, by the good services of the Basildon Corporation, we explained that since we would be holding services in the Manse it might not suit everyone with meetings and singing close by, and we were members of the fellowship, and as later it turned out we took over the cleaning and care of the church as it was built.
February 1st 1958 saw Rev Cyril Rusbridge officially inducted as the Minister and building of the Church continued with much fund raising from various sources, including the Presidents Purse offerings from the Essex Baptist Association to cover the cost of the building of £17,OOO. These offerings were the highest donations to the President Purse before, or I believe, since to any single appeal. So the fellowship was established and in March 1958 Kingswood Baptist became officially a member Church of the Baptist Union when 23 founder members were joined together, A week or two later we held our first Baptism service in the pool in Laindon Baptist Church. Pat and I are as you know are the last founder members of those original persons still worshipping here. I’m sure this is by God’s good grace since He blessed me with a very stable career in the Medical Laboratory Service in this part of South Essex, working around in Billericay, Orsett, Thurrock and Tilbury Hospitals till I took early retirement in 1985.
With the opening of this building in October 1958, in true Baptist style, the building was flooded several inches deep just four days before the planned opening. The builders brought in a lorry load of sawdust with which to soak all the water up, and over this was laid the floor you see today. But this was not the end of our water ‘baptism’ – just a week later the Baptistry was filled for the first time – AND IT LEAKED !! – a large amount of water spread out over around two thirds of the floor. We still managed to baptise four new believers that day. When the architect was informed of the problem his comment was ‘I didn’t realise you actually filled it up with water’ – it appeared it had not been ‘tanked’ waterproofed! The nice blue tiles then had to all removed and a black bitumen seal was applied to the floor and walls so we ended up with a black baptistry with only a blue surround at the top.
Other activities soon followed, we were committed to hold a regular weekly Open Youth Club, because we had been given a grant of £5000 from the Essex Education Department, there being no other facilities for young people in the town, myself together with the then secretary, Ben Wilshire, acted very much as guardians/security for around 100 or so lively youngsters who were quite happy to just chat together and ‘jive’ around. We also started Girls’ Brigade and Boys’ Brigade Companies, as well as a twice a month Mother’s and Baby clinic (Great Oaks Clinic was not yet built) and there was still no access to the Town Centre other than right around Clay Hill Road and Timberlog Lane.
So under Cyril’s dedicated leadership the church grew and developed in a genuine family environment, many people from distinctly differing circumstances – some only for a short time, 1-2 years as companies moved in and moved staff on to other posts.About 3 years before Cyril Rusbridge left us, in 1964, an arrangement was entered into as advised by Essex Baptist Association that we should join together with Laindon Baptist when a young Pastor was appointed as their minister, Rev Mark Churchill, he was to be mentored by Mr Rusbridge,so we became known as ‘Kingswood and Laindon Baptist Church’ until Mr Rusbridge left after 9 years spent building a Fellowship here at Kingswood, he moved to Selsdon and then later to Bath from were he later retired.
In 1968 Rev Ken Welford was appointed and continued the ministry here – a year or so later Mark Churchill felt called to go into Missionary service together with his wife and left the Laindon church and the joint arrangement with the fellowship at Laindon was dissolved. Ken Welford left Kingswood after 5 years and joined the Leprosy Mission as an administrator.
The Rev David Gardner accepted the call to come to us in September 1974 and so began a new phase and growth in the fellowship together with Sylvia, his wife and children, Andrew, Rachael and Philip. David brought a new dimension to the worship and teaching of the fellowship. From a personal point of view and I am sure others shared it at that time, who had grown up in a traditional church during the 30’s and 40’s , very little importance was attributed to the working of the Holy Spirit, in my experience is was said to be, and I quote ‘not relevant to these times it was for the New Testament Christians’. But all that changed through the ministry and witness of David Gardner – at Kingswood we had a ‘new awakening!’, a new appreciation of God’s Holy Spirit and His working in our lives. By David’s teaching and his love of music we were enriched and the Church grew. David had a special gift too for young children, later we saw this in his gift of music with a message from a length of hose pipe! His magic tricks and balloons. David left us in 1992 and moved to Burwell church in Cambridgeshire.
Many people will remember more recent times – so just to complete the time scale to the present! –
In September 1994 Rev RIchard Ellingham came to us from Spurgeons college with his family, Pam, his wife and 3 girls, Lisa, Becky and Sarah. The fellowship continued in growth under his leadership, during his continued studies with Spurgeons College passing his final qualifications for ministry. After about five years Richard felt a call to take on a chaplaincy in The Royal Navy so he left us in 1999 – where several of our members keep in touch and we hear of the blessings he has in his Ministry at sea.
We come to May 2002, nearer to the present time, when Rev Stuart Woodward came to us with his family, Betty, his wife, and son David, and daughter Rachael – the results of his ministry, leadership and teaching, now with a team ministry and the assistance of Stuart Elmes and Adele since October 2006, is obvious for all to see – increasing membership, attendance at services, we have already demolished the wall separating the hall from the side room and the platform with the baptistery was removed to give space for the Music Group, the Baptistry has been replaced with a corner setting which remains uncovered. Plans for extension and or new building to accommodate this increase are in hand and by the Grace of God will be fulfilled in the future.
Thanks be to God for all His blessings of 50 years !!!
John Watson, Founder Member KBC