20th Century 

 

English Baptists in the Twentieth Century

In 1888 John Howard Shakespeare was appointed General Secretary of the Baptist Union. His period in office until 1924 saw the Baptist Union grow in influence and importance amongst English Baptists. He oversaw the creation of the Home Mission Fund, the national accreditation of Baptist ministry, the development of translocal ministry in the form of General Superintendents, and a headquarters fit for purpose in Baptist House in central London. In addition other separate elements of Baptist life soon found a home under the Union’s umbrella, like the order of deaconesses and the Baptist Women’s League. This growth in the structures of the Union saw some through the century fear a growing centralisation, so that by the end of the century some of that was reversed, as Regional Ministers moved to being paid for and appointed by new Regional Associations rather than the Union, although the finance still came largely from the Home Mission Fund. These changes were introduced in 2002 and were part of new desire by David Coffey, who was General Secretary from 1991 to 2006, to see the Union fit for the new millennium with a strong emphasis on mission.

The twentieth century was the great ecumenical century and Baptists were involved in the beginnings of the Free Church Federal Council, the British Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. In 1919 Shakespeare had argued for a new united church of England. This was too far for many Baptists to countenance, but they remained ecumenically engaged, none more so than Ernest Payne, General Secretary of the Baptist Union between 1951-67, who would be appointed a Vice President of the World Council Churches. Payne was an ardent ecumenist, but there were too many stumbling blocks for the whole Union to feel entirely comfortable. Tensions around attempts at greater unity were felt through the 1960s up to the 1990s. In 1989 the British Council of Churches was reformed as Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, and for the first time the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in England and Wales were members. Baptists overwhelming voted to join this new ecumenical structure, despite a vocal minority against. See more articles here.

From the 1970s Baptists were feeling the impact of the charismatic movement and newer broader activist evangelicalism. Part of this impact was from the house-church movement, which some Baptists embraced, but more generally its changes were felt in styles and practices of worship — the emergence of the guitar and the decline of the organ and the choir, new songs replacing older hymns.

While Baptist worship was changing, Baptist political power was lessening. This was mainly down to decline in numbers of the Free Churches and a wider range of political views compared to the late nineteenth century. Political issues didn’t disappear — in the first half of the twentieth century were focused on gambling and temperance, in the second half these broaden to include issues of race, nuclear weapons, Apartheid and asylum seekers — but the impact that Baptists could make was minimal. See articles in Baptist Quarterly here

Towards the end of the century also saw a changing Union in terms of slowly growing number of women in ministry, after the pioneering work of Violet Hedger, Edith Gates and Maria Living-Taylor in the 1920s. The first woman President of the Baptist Union was appointed in 1978, the first woman minister as president in 1987 and in 2013 the first woman General Secretary. Links to articles in Baptist Quarterly here. The Union was also slowly engaging in issues of diversity, especially with regards to the place of black and ethnic minorities.

In 1996 Fred George was the first Asian President of the Union, followed in 2006 by Kate Coleman as the first black president. In 2007 a significant moment happened as the Council of the Baptist Union offered an apology for its involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. On the edges of Baptist life, important work was done with regards disability, in an initiative called BUiLD, which helped churches and families be more inclusive and supportive to those with learning disabilities.

Baptist life was transformed in the twentieth century becoming more denominational and ecumenical, which mirrored stories in the other free churches. At the same time, concern about church attendance was a serious factor and led to numerous evangelistic and mission attempts in a radically changing society with regards diversity and technology.
 

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