Church History

THE BAPTISTS trace their origins back to the Reformation and its Anabaptist movement, which surfaced in Saxony around 1520 AD. By 1535 Anabaptists of varying stripe had spread to Holland, Switzerland and England.

THE ENGLISH BAPTISTS date their beginnings at the early 1600s and the leadership of John Smyth, a clergyman who broke with the English Church and later wrote their first "Confession of Faith."

Differences of opinion, often strongly expressed, soon emerged, commonly through the adoption of "open" or "closed" positions on such issues as salvation, membership and communion. The two major camps of General and Particular Baptists were evident by 1633, and as they did not unite in England until 1891, Baptist emigrants to South Australia in the colony's first fifty years or so brought their arguments with them.

BAPTISTS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA first met informally for prayer and bible study in 1837 at the home of William Finlayson in Rundle Street. In July 1838, he and David McLaren formed a Baptist Church and worship services began in the Trinity schoolroom on North Terrace on 2 September 1838.

A separate group of Baptists started meetings in North Adelaide in 1842 under the guidance of James Allen, and when attendances reached fifty or so, they bought land in Bower Street, now Brougham Court, and in 1843, Ebenezer Chapel was erected, the first purpose-built Baptist Church in South Australia. It seated about 150, and it stands today, in use as a private dwelling.

Rev'd George Stonehouse

James Allen returned to England in 1845 and in 1847, the Ebenezer fellowship invited Rev'd George Stonehouse to conduct services for a few months with a view to the pastorate. When voted upon, a sizeable minority opposed the appointment and his commitment to an open communion, so Stonehouse felt obliged to decline the position. Twenty one of the Ebenezer members felt strongly enough about the matter to secede and they invited Rev'd and Mrs Stonehouse to join them in forming an open communion fellowship that was to become the NORTH ADELAIDE BAPTIST CHURCH. It was formally constituted on 8 May 1848, and while first meeting for worship in both the city (Hindley Street) and North Adelaide, they settled upon the latter and acquired land on Lefevre Terrace in 1849. In April 1850, a chapel seating 350 was completed, and the foundation stone from that building has been set at the entrance to the present church in Tynte Street.

Membership had grown from 21 to 88 over the twenty years to 1868, and it was apparent the Church needed a more central location if it were to play an active and influential part in the life of the North Adelaide community, which was then approaching 5,000 in number.

Rev'd J. Langdon Parsons

In July 1869, a young (32) and talented preacher in J. Langdon Parsons was called to the North Adelaide Baptist pastorate and in December of that year, with membership at 143, worship services were transferred to the Rechabite Hall in Tynte Street while a new Baptist Church was being built nearby on town acre 863. Membership was 200 when the new building was opened in November 1870; almost 400 by 1882, and over 500 at the turn of the century.

When the Sunday School numbers and those of other Church clubs and associations were included, about 20% - or one in five - North Adelaide residents had some contact with the North Adelaide Baptist Church at the time of Australia's Federation.

THE TYNTE STREET CHURCH BUILDING was described as "Venetian in style" in the Adelaide Register of July 1870, and architects Morgan and Gilbert (in Early Adelaide Architecture 1836 - 1886) called it "an example of the non-conformist preference for the classic style, against the Anglican for the Gothic." At least one commentator has described it as "ugly", another has noted its "curious, sarcophagus form", while others have merely praised its functionality.

The architect, James Cumming, practised for some 40 years in Adelaide, and more than half his c.v. was church buildings. The Cumming family were active Church members, and James was a Deacon, Church Secretary and Sunday School Superintendent in the 1860s.

The Tynte Street church, 1870

Cumming and Langdon Parsons met in Adelaide when the latter first arrived from England in 1863, and both had visited Spurgeon's Tabernacle in London's Southwark, which seated 6,000 on completion of its third enlargement in 1861. Both men and most of the Diaconate wanted a similar preacher's auditorium for North Adelaide, and with equal prominence for choir and organ, that describes the Church today.

The Church's plan dimensions of some 75 feet by 46 are in the "golden section" or ratio, where length is to width, as length plus width is to length. The golden ratio was used by the Egyptians and later the Greeks, is a common theme in the natural world, and many believe it makes for a fine acoustic.

The elevation from front to back is 8 feet, giving a gradient of about 1 in 7, which has caught some unawares and hastened an otherwise dignified entrance. When opened in 1870, the Church seated 600, and all of them had an unimpeded view of the preacher. A fine organ and stained glass has been added over the years, and worship at North Adelaide Baptist Church is still characterised by good liturgy, good music, spirited singing and intelligent preaching.