Our two hundred and seventy fourth Anniversary was in May 2003.  How much has changed in Waltham, in Britain, and in the world since 24 people met together to begin the Paradise Row Baptist Chapel in Waltham Abbey.  In fact there were non-conformists in Waltham Abbey for many years before 1729, but they met in the royal palace of Theobalds.  In 1650 the palace was controlled by the Parliamentary Trustees and administered by Colonel William Packer, one of Cromwell’s most trusted officers, and a Baptist. Large congregations of non-conformists met at Theobalds, and at first were unmolested, but life grew harder, and the Act of Uniformity in 1662 demanded complete acceptance of the Anglican Prayer Book. Then the Five Mile Act of 1665 made it illegal to hold meetings within 5 miles of a town. It appears that when times were especially difficult the congregation at Theobalds met in Epping Forest. When William and Mary came to the throne in 1688, things became easier for non-conformists with the passing of the Toleration Act of 1689, and in 1727 at the end of the reign of George I, it became possible to establish non-conformist churches.

And so, in our first written record dated 1729 we have these words:-

‘The Providence of God having opened a way for ye preaching of ye Gospel amongst us, and a place being built for His worship and service, the same was opened May 4th  1729’.

The first members were a group of 24 agricultural workers and tradesmen, we can only guess at the tremendous efforts they made to raise the money to build a Meeting House capable of seating between 300 and 400 people, and what excitement there must have been at the ‘Grand Opening’.

The original brick-built Meeting House was on the same site as the present Chapel, on what is now the front garden, and the entrance was at the southern end on Paradise Row.  The cost was about £400,  £200 of which was borrowed from Mrs Elizabeth Shakerley, and took eleven years to repay.

In its early days the church lead a hand-to-mouth existence, there were constant appeals and collections for the support of the Minister, for the hire of a horse, for beer for the workmen, for candles, for wine, for coal, and bread for the poor.   In addition to these general running expenses there were frequent gifts to poorer members of the church – usually of one shilling a week, and the response to appeals from other churches in far flung parts of the country. In March 1734 after the years accounts had been settled the amount in hand was 5d.

The first Minister, who stayed for 33 years, was Mr John Auther.  It is possible that he and his family lived in the Romeland.  There was apparently no baptistry in the first building, and candidates for baptism walked to the stream by the present Town Hall and were baptised there, until in 1765 a baptistry was built in the garden on the north side of the Chapel.  In 1769, when the Rev John Davis was the Minister, an appeal was organised to provide funds for building a Manse, and we have a document written on vellum that records  ’our Minister hath had a very unquiet and uncomfortable situation as to his Dwelling place, there being none belonging to the Church. And as Providence hath blessed us with the Donation of a considerable piece of ground adjoining to the Meeting House…. it is in our hearts to build a dwelling house for our Minister.’ There follows a list of subscribers and the sums donated. The Manse stood until 1961 when it, and six cottages belonging to the church were demolished to make way for flats.

By 1836 the Paradise Row Chapel was becoming delapidated and deemed to be unsafe. The sum estimated for a new building was £1,000, and the Rev James Hargreaves, made an appeal saying - ‘There appears to be no alternative but either to erect a new place, or in a short time discontinue the public worship of God.’ Churches all over the country made contributions for the erection of our present building which was opened on 20th October 1836.  The final cost was £1,314 3s 0d.

Derrick is the twenty-fifth Minister of the church here; there have been ten Sovereigns and eighty-two Prime Ministers since the founding of our church.  Captain James Cook, the great explorer was still in nappies when we began; Bach and Handel were busy composing, Haydn and Beethoven had not been born, and the Industrial Revolution was 100 years ahead.  What would the early members have thought of radio, television, text messaging, jet aircraft, space travel?  The world was certainly a simpler place in those days, but what hardships they must have endured. Many people have served the church here with great love and loyalty, often in difficult circumstances, but their faith in God has kept them going, and the fact that we are still here 274 years on shows it has all been worthwhile.