Our Church History

Small Beginnings

In 1901, a small group of Christian workers, under the leadership of Mr Oatley, conducted evangelical services on the beach at Clacton-on-Sea.  The town was growing rapidly, and several Free Churches had already formed, including Trinity Methodist Church, and Christchurch Congregational Chapel.

That autumn, about thirty of these workers met for prayer and fellowship at the home of Mr Horace Smith in Pier Avenue.  Towards the end of the meeting, someone asked whether they would be interested in further such gatherings.  A lady, (name unknown), then suggested that perhaps a Baptist Mission might be started in the town, as several of the group were Baptist by upbringing. 

From such small beginnings, history grows, and the seed of what became Pier Avenue Baptist Church was sown.  The meeting passed a resolution to form a committee to look into the possibility of starting a new ‘Baptist’ fellowship.

Further meetings were held that autumn.  By the end of 1901, it has been agreed to form a ‘mission’ in the town.  In January 1902, it was decided to establish a ‘Church’, and on 24th January 1902, four of the Church’s founder members were baptised in Christchurch’s baptistery (kindly lent for the occasion) by Rev. J E Martin of Erith.  Later that same day, Mr Martin officiated at the formation of the Church, when seventeen founder members committed themselves to the new cause.       BACK TO TOP

The First Chapel

Soon, a plot of land in Pier Avenue was purchased.  It was agreed to build a chapel as soon as possible so that regular worship could commence.  This would be a small brick building, which (it was envisaged) would be replaced by a larger one in due course.

On 20th March 1902, a stone-laying ceremony was held at the site, followed by a Public Meeting at the town hall in the evening.  The first chapel, seating 100, was completed by June.  The opening services were held on 4th June and were conducted by Rev Thomas Spurgeon (son of the famous Baptist preacher CH Spurgeon of the Metropolitan Tabernacle).  This original building is still in use as our ‘Fellowship Hall’ today.

For several months in the summer of 1902, the Church was served by Percy Clements, a young student minister from Spurgeon’s College in London.  Mr Clements was to become the Church’s first minister, and was formally inducted to the pastorate on 5th April 1903.

The Church’s minutes record that the cost of the building scheme, including the purchase of the site was £1,830.  This represents approximately £100,000 in today’s money – a tremendous step of faith for such a small fellowship!

Within months, however, the Church began to grow numerically, and the debt was soon reduced.  Baptisms were held regularly, and the membership grew under the enthusiastic ministry of Percy Clements.  During the summer months, when visitors flocked to the town, the Chapel was too small for Sunday services, and Evening worship was held at the Winter Gardens Hall in Wash Lane.      BACK TO TOP

Expansion & Growth

By 1906, it was becoming clear that a larger building was needed for Sunday worship.  A new building fund was started.  During the summer of 1907, work commenced on a new Church made of corrugate iron.  This ‘tin tabernacle’ (as many similar structures were known) could accommodate 350 people.  It opened for worship on 23rd July 1908.

After six years, the Church’s membership had increased, having received 97 members following believers’ baptism and 212 members by transfer from other churches.  There were 190 children in the Sunday School.  History does not record the difficulties which must have been experienced in hearing the preacher if ever there was a downpour during a Sunday service – one can only imagine the noise on such an iron roof!

The ministry of Percy Clements continued until 1914, when he accepted a call to the pastorate of Herne Hill Baptist Church.  His leadership was greatly appreciated by the Church and was influential for many years to come.  Writing in 1951, at the time of the Church’s 50th anniversary, EW Warner wrote:

“The active and devoted service of this young minister made a lasting impression on the Church.  It became a centre of evangelistic zeal.”

It is certainly true that by 1915, the Sunday School at Pier Avenue was the fourth largest of all the Baptist Churches in Essex, with 308 members – just one indication of the Church’s commitment to sharing the Christian Gospel with young people.

The First World War brought a period of great stress for Clacton and its churches.  Rev AE Calver accepted the call to the pastorate, and began his ministry in November 1915.  The Church continued its witness in the town, and was able to offer encouragement and spiritual care to the members of the armed forces who were stationed in the area, as well as to the local population.

At the Church’s Annual General Meeting in 1920, Mr Calver was able to announce that for the first time, the Church was completely free of all debts.

After a six-year ministry in Clacton, Mr Calver left the area to minister at Emsworth Baptist Church, near Portsmouth.

He was succeeded, in January 1922, by Rev Daniel Hayes, who came to Clacton following a ministry at Shoreditch Tabernacle in London.        BACK TO TOP

A Third Church Building

Over the next few years, a number of new initiatives were begun.  A Manse was purchased for the first time, to be used as a home by the Minister and his family – previous ministers had lived in rented accommodation.  An envelope system was introduced for Sunday offerings, to ensure a more stable flow of income (a similar system is still in use today, as an encouragement to worshippers to give, even when they are unable to be at Church).

Soon, the Church launched another ‘Building Fund’, so that the ‘Iron Church’ could be replaced with a permanent structure.  By 1928, work on the new building had begun, and it was completed the following year at a cost of £8,643 – equivalent to £250,000 today.

The official opening of the third (and present) Church building was held on 12th June 1929.  Dame Margaret Lloyd George, the guest of honour, performed the opening ceremony.  It was proposed that the new Church would seat 850 – although a balcony was never added, reducing capacity to approximately 600.

The Rose window at the south end of the Church is named after Rev Hayes, whose energy and enthusiasm were largely responsible for the scheme being completed.  He retired from the pastorate in 1931 because of ill health, and sadly died the following year. 

The new Church was not without its problems.  It was soon discovered that the acoustics were very poor.  Special acoustic tiles had to be fitted throughout.            BACK TO TOP

Years of Struggle and Change

The next minister at Pier Avenue was Rev Samuel Morris, who moved to Clacton in 1932 from Liverpool.  He was a fine preacher, and the Church prospered during the first part of his ministry.

In 1933, Rev Morris preached a momentous sermon, during which he referred to the trend for allowing secular entertainment at the Town Hall on Sundays – which he strongly disapproved of.  A Church member sent a copy of the sermon to London, which was passed onto the ‘Evening Standard’, who published the headline: ‘MINISTER ATTACKS TOWN HALL SUNDAY ENTERTAINMENT DESIGNED TO APPEAL ONLY TO THE BASE IGNOBLE AND DEPRAVED TASTES’.

A few weeks later, Mr Morris was served with a writ suing him for slander, and the Evening Standard for libel.  This led to a trial which received national coverage and in 1935 Mr Morris was finally cleared of all charges.  He received support from all over the country and for a time became something of a celebrity.

In 1939, with the outbreak of the Second World War, a time of great struggle began for the Church.  Clacton’s population was drastically reduced by mass evacuation and only a few worshippers remained.  Mr Morris supported himself for a time by selling insurance but in 1943 he resigned from the pastorate and moved to Turret Green Baptist Church, Ipswich. 

He was succeeded by Rev Hugh McCullough, widely known as one of the ‘Essex Five’ – a group of preachers committed to evangelistic outreach in the county.  During the early days of his ministry, the Church began to revive as people returned to the town.  By 1948, the membership stood at 233, and the Sunday School register had 340 names.  Mr McCullough inaugurated a summer Bible Convention in Clacton which continued until the 1990s.  He was elected President of the Essex Baptist Association in 1948.

The following year, Mr McCullough died after a short illness.  The Church resolved to approach Dr Wilkinson Riddle, the former minister of Plymouth’s George Street Baptist Church, to consider him coming to Clacton during the summer in a largely preaching capacity.  He agreed, and the ‘temporary’ arrangement became permanent in January 1950.  During his pastorate in Clacton Dr Riddle was editor of the ‘Christian Herald’ newspaper.

In 1957, Dr Riddle was succeeded by Rev David Lewis, a Welshman who served at Pier Avenue for six years.  He is fondly remembered by the older generation as a man of great sensitivity and kindness.  During his pastorate, the front interior of the Church was much altered, with the removal of the old organ and choir stalls, and the installation of an electric organ, baptismal changing rooms and new choir seats.

The next minister, Rev David Mucklow, came to Clacton as a young minister and served for five years (1964-1969) at a time of great social change and upheaval.  Derek is still a good friend of the Church, and has served as guest speaker at our Church Houseparty in Eastbourne in recent years.  A highlight of his ministry was a baptismal service broadcast on Anglia Television.

Rev Ralph Stephens came to Clacton in 1970, following Mr Mucklow’s move to Winchmore Hill.  The Manse, which had been in Wellesley Road, was sold.  A link is maintained between the Church and Ralph Stephens to this day, since his daughter Janet continues in membership.

Following Mr Stephens’ move to Gloucestershire in 1977, there was a two-year interregnum, during which time the Church was ably led by Mr Kenneth Hoborough, who served as Moderator at least five times in the Church’s history.  He also gave outstanding service as Church Treasurer, Secretary, Deacon and in many other capacities. 

Rev Harry Whyte came to the Church in 1979, when a new manse was purchased for his use.  He was succeeded in 1982, by Rev Leslie Wright, whose ministry was cut short by his sudden death from a heart attack in 1990.            BACK TO TOP

Recent Years

During the 1970s and 1980s, Clacton changed from a leading holiday resort to a much quieter backwater, particularly following the closure of the Butlins Holiday Camp in 1983.  The town’s population became more elderly as the Tendring Peninsula attracted many who were looking for a quieter life.  The town’s industry was insufficient to retain the younger population, and the holiday trade became restricted to a few hotels and caravan parks, together with day-trippers from London and south-east.  Like many other seaside towns, Clacton had a lot of adjusting to do, with new problems to face as the guest houses and hotels moved away from providing holiday accommodation to offering permanent residencies.  All these factors affected and influenced the Church and its ministry.

By 1990, the Church was very different and was now serving a much-altered community.  The challenges of this past decade have continued to shape our ministry, but we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to all the many servants of God who have played their part in this story of God’s work among us.

In 1991, Rev. Stephen Biddall was called to the pastorate at Pier Avenue, having served for nine years at Hainault Baptist Church, London.  The following year a new project was agreed by Church, which entailed the removal of several pews from the back of the Church, and the construction of a coffee lounge in place of the old vestibule.  This work, together with the inclusion of a new crèche and kitchen area, was undertaken by the Church fellowship.  The resulting room called as the ‘Friendship Lounge’ has become, in many ways, the heart of the Church as it is used for many activities – in particular the ‘Open Door’ (coffee morning) project, twice a week.

Over the next few years, several changes occurred to Church life and its regular activities: ‘Afternoon Fellowship’ for men and women replaced the Women’s Own and the Baptist Women’s League meetings, the ‘Piglets’ toddler group was started in 1992.  The Church Choir was disbanded in 1993, to be replaced by a ‘worship group’ of singers and musicians and a youth group, initially known as Saturday Night Youth Fellowship (SNYF), attracted many youngsters.  successful first Christmas bazaar was held in 1994.  The first Church Houseparty was occurred at Overstrand, Norfolk in 1995, the first of many such weekends which have been so helpful at deepening friendships and fellowship.  In the same year, the Church’s windows were re-leaded as a result of corrosion to the iron frames. 

In 1996, the Church Playgroup, started by members under the leadership of Rev Stephens’ wife, celebrated its 25th Anniversary.  Sadly, the Playgroup was disbanded the following year because of changes in Local Authority registration procedures.  Additionally, work began to tarmac the Church car park, providing space for twelve cars – a project first proposed in the 1930’s!

In 1997 the Girls’ Brigade Company celebrated its 75th anniversary with a reunion and party.  Our church also hosted the Civic Service, as Rev. Stephen Biddall served as Chaplain to the Chairman of Tendring District Council, Mr. Frank Baker.  Stephen Biddall was also elected President of the Essex Baptist Association, which held its annual meetings in Clacton for the first time in many years.

The following year, further refurbishment involved moving the choir stalls from the side of the Church to create a ‘worship’ area.  A new cover was made for the baptistery, and the Sanctuary was re-carpeted.  Major work was also done to the manse.

By 1999, the Church had developed close links with Holland and Thorpe-le-Soken Baptist Churches.  This deepening relationship was formally recognised as a ‘cluster’ and has led to greater mutual support and cooperation in mission between the three churches.  We were able to become more closely involved in ‘Churches Together in Clacton’ with our then Church Secretary, Duncan Wood, who served as Vice-Chairman for several years.

In 2000, we launched our ‘Centenary Building Project’, in 2001 we were named as ‘Church of the Year 2001′ by the Essex Baptist Association and in 2002 celebrated our centenary.  There were many events in the Church celebrating 100 years of worship at Pier Avenue.  We were happy to look back and reflect on what the Church and its officers and members had been able to do and as we celebrated and we also looked forward to how we might serve our Church, its organisations, and the wider community of our town in the years ahead.

In 2006 Stephen Biddall felt the call to serve at Cecil Square Baptist Church in Margate.  Stephen had been instrumental in ensuring that the Welcome Centre project come to fruition, and as we said goodbye to him and Nicky in August 2006, construction had already started and building was well under way in this new phase of Pier Avenue’s history. 

In 2006-07 construction of Phase 1 of the Centenary Building Project (now re-named The Welcome Centre) took place.  This new hall replaced the Iron Hall, a corrugated iron structure that had done magnificent ‘temporary’ service for 78 years!  It was impossible to bring the old Iron Hall up to modern day health & safety and disabled access standards, and so it was demolished to make way for The Welcome Centre.  This has now given us a modern space that we believe will benefit our organisations and the local community.  We were pleased to welcome Stephen Biddall back to lead us in our celebrations at the Thanksgiving Service and Opening Ceremony in July 2007.

Throughout the Autumn of 2006 and the Spring & Summer of 2007, the Church prayerfully sought the person that God wanted to lead PABC in this next stage of its life and at the beginning of 2008 we were delighted to welcome the Rev Sean Fountain as our new Minister.

One of Sean’s earliest tasks was the happy one of informing the fellowship that the atrium, Phase 3 of the Welcome Centre project, should be built within two years, thanks to a magnificent gift from a member of the Church Fellowship.  We give great thanks to God for His generous provision as our facilitator, provider and friend.  The fellowship will add to this gift so that with further giving of our own and further requests for grants, we can build a new shower and toilet block.  When all this is complete, we will have magnificent premises that can be enjoyed and appreciated by all our users.

This brief historical outline does not do justice to the dedication and loyalty of all who have played in their part – and still play their part – in the life of Pier Avenue Baptist Church.  We thank God for the past, we celebrate the present and we look forward to the future with confidence and joy.           BACK TO TOP