Roomfield Baptist Church

Who are Baptists?

Baptist Churches differ from the other ‘Big Four’ denominations in Great Britain (Anglican Roman Catholic, Methodist and United Reformed) in three main ways. None of these have to do with our beliefs – we share the same core beliefs as Christians in Jesus Christ.

1. Our first difference is that the Baptist Union of Great Britain is not a ‘denomination’ but actually a voluntary union. Every Baptist Church is independent and entirely self governing.

2. So, Baptist Churches are effectively ‘owned’ by their members and the members are responsible for maintaining their buildings (if they have buildings) deciding how the church will operate and choosing for themselves who will be their minister or leaders.

3. And probably the best known difference is that in a Baptist Church, we do not baptise (christen) young children or babies. We baptise only adults or young people who are old enough to have made the choice fpor themselves to follow the Christian faith … and we baptise by full immersion (the old historic practice) usually in a big tank (called a Baptistry) in the church, but sometimes in a river or a lake or in the sea. Instead of an Infant Baptismal service we have a very similar service of dedication or thanksgiving for the birth of a baby and this may often include a ‘naming’ as well.

Most Baptist Churches have a Minister (sometimes called the ‘pastor’) who is usually someone who has been trained or accredited as suitably trained by the Baptist Union. He or she (we have had women as clergy since the 1920’s) may be an ordained minister (a ‘Revd) or a Lay Pastor.

Very often, small churches (being independent and self governing / self financing) cannot afford a full time ‘Revd’ especially if they have a building to maintain. They may then be led by a Lay Pastor – usually unpaid, or by a team of voluntary Deacons or Elders chosen by the members. But the Baptist Union does also have a scheme where bigger, more wealthy churches contribute to a fund from which grants may be given to help smaller churches with the costs of ministry.

Baptist Churches have a team of Deacons to lead the church. They are a bit like a Board of Directors who themselves are in turn responsible to the shareholders – the Church Members. They may be elected annually or on a rotational (e.g. three yearly) basis. It differs from church to church. At Roomfield we are a small church and at present have just four deacons. Each of them is a ‘Team Leader’ and as the church grows, there is provision on our constitution for the teams to divide and for more deacons to be appointed to lead new teams. There is also a provision that we my recognise some of those Deacons as ‘Elders.’ An Elder differs slightly from a Deacon in that they have a recognised role of Spiritual leadership and are involved with the teaching programme
of the church the church.