QUIET BAPTIST MIRACLE ON GEORGE STREET
By County Press Reporter - Friday, September 3, 2004
A LOCAL broadcaster recently aired his informed opinion about the kind of people that went to church.
They were, he declared with the authoritative voice of one who didn't overburden any place of worship with his own presence, mostly old biddies who went only because their life expectancy was short and thus thought that they had better keep on good terms with the Almighty.
No doubt that earned him a few sniggers from the irreligious majority that is modern Britain. And it may have provoked disapproval from people who view church congregations as something rather sweet and precious that should be preserved like the exhibits in a heritage museum. Former prime minister John Major, in a saccharine description of his perfect England, wrote of "old maids bicycling to holy communion through the morning mist".
Elderly churchgoers, it seems, are there to be either insulted or patronised. They are certainly not to be taken seriously. Tea making, knitting and meandering through the woolly procedures of church committee meetings is what these pensioners do when they're not peering short-sightedly at the Book of Common Prayer.
The congregation of Ryde Baptist church are, for the most part, elderly and scant in number. So shall we just pop in and see how the knitting and the meandering have been coming along?
Every day, hundreds of people pass the building that used to be the Ryde Baptist Church. These people are usually on their way to Somerfield's, which is, of course, a very popular temple for the numerous disciples of Mammon who flock to its aisles on a Sunday and, indeed, on every other day of the week.
The Ryde Baptist Church, on the other hand, is not a very popular temple. From the outside, it looks vast and Victorian, with its dingy brickwork and its architecture that stems from a judgmental age when impiety led to eternal damnation.
If they are aware of anything at all, the people who pass by may perhaps have noticed that there has been some building work going on. They may remember that nine years ago there was a fire that severely damaged the church. Presumably, therefore, the dear old Ryde Baptists are doing a few home repairs so that they can resume their preaching and praying in the old premises.
In fact, the building is no longer the Ryde Baptist Church. When it opens its doors to the public in a fortnight's time, it will be The George Street Centre. This project will be revolutionary in terms of local community welfare. And its launch will represent the completion of an undertaking that will completely overturn the public perception of elderly churchgoers.
The Ryde Baptist Church was built 150 years ago. Structurally, it is a monster of a building. The members of its original congregations must have felt like tiny insects as they gazed up at its towering walls, waiting, no doubt, for God to crush them underfoot at the first sign of transgression.
But as fire and brimstone became less fashionable, congregations dwindled and the church became something of an unwanted monolith around the necks of its members. When Somerfield, still in the process of planning its new building in Ryde, made overtures towards acquiring the church site, the Baptists were naturally keenly interested.
"The supermarket wanted the church so it could put its own development there and rehouse us on another site," explains Brian Cheshire, project support member of the Ryde Baptist Church and the man whose vision has sustained the hard work that has created the George Street Centre. "And so we started to examine what our new building should be like to meet the needs of the 21st century."
And during the period of discussion and negotiation, an incident occurred which proved to be a turning-point in the future of Ryde Baptist Church. "A man walked into our service one Sunday morning and asked if he could talk to us. He had been 48 hours without electricity, heating or food. Our deacons went round and sorted his problems out." The Ryde Baptists were unused to coming into close contact with the people who lived in their neighbourhood.
"There are a lot of buildings which have been made into flats or bedsits. We would go and ring on an intercom bell and say we were from the Baptist church and, of course, people didn't want to know. But then we realised that if we were the ones opening doors, people would come to us."
And so this congregation, dominated by pensioners and numbering no more than around 50 on the occasions when they all managed to get to church, decided they would welcome Ryde, with all its flaws and deprivations and assortment of conditions, to their doors.
"We wanted to be open and welcoming and to express the love of Christ in the community," says Brian. "And our very traditional congregation rose to the challenge."
And they did not rise to the challenge by dithering and making tea and bedsocks. They approached the future with businesslike acumen and with Christian compassion. That was certainly a rare combination and they were also an unlikely consortium to put together a major initiative. The average tycoon would have dismissed them out of hand and you'd have been considered a pretty daft investor to have staked your money with this unpromising bunch of Bible-bashers.
But then things began to happen in a way that convinces you that there just has to be a God. Somerfield withdrew its offer. Then the interior of the church was destroyed by fire. Bad news all round, really. But did the congregation give up? Did they retire to a cupboard and spend the rest of their days fumbling through their Bibles? Did they heck.
In the nine years since the fire, the vision of the Ryde Baptist Church has produced an architectural change in their old building that is nothing short of miraculous. The George Street Centre is housed within that daunting Victorian exterior. But inside, there is light and artistry and an atmosphere of welcome and professionalism and a sense of optimism that is there for every single person who comes within the community of Ryde.
Jane Kingsnorth has been the church's minister for 18 months. She is highly intelligent and refreshingly energetic and in her time in Ryde, has gained a perceptive knowledge of the needs of the town.
"There are areas of high depression and the vision here was to give practical care out of Christian love." There is no dithering about Jane Kingsnorth and nor is there any dithering about the new centre. It has been built on two storeys and although it is radically different from the original building, much of the essential architecture has been sympathetically incorporated into the new design.
Its multi-purpose facilities include a cafe and welcome area, a bookshop, a shower room, laundry facilities, seminar and consulting rooms, an upstairs hall that can be used for functions and arts events, kitchens and teaching rooms.
Funded by a grant from the single regeneration budget and by a loan from the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the £500,000 development will offer facilities to the whole community. Cheap, nutritious meals and areas of relaxation for the needy, rooms where groups and organisations can hold their meetings, a function room that will be available for parties and performances, quiet rooms where the desperate and the lonely can be cared for.
"I love the way it will be there for the whole person, for their physical and spiritual needs," says the Rev Hugh Wright, vicar at St John's Church, Oakfield, one of the most deprived areas on the Island.
Jane Kingsnorth is adamant that while the Ryde Baptists have no doubts about their commitment to Christian love, there will be no proseleytizing at the centre. "If anybody tries to stand with a Bible on the doorstep, we will hoick them in pretty smartish. You have to meet people where they are at, not where you want them to go."
The centre has already taken bookings from a number of organisations, including Relate, Sure-Start and the Women's Institute. But haven't they forgotten something in all this excitement? What about the church itself?
"We are the George Street Centre, home of the Ryde Baptist Church," says Jane. "We will have our church services upstairs." The area that will be used (which will also double as a function hall) contains a new baptismal pool and is flanked by the soaring arches of ecclesiastical windows. And as the light streams in through those windows on to the first services held by the Ryde Baptists in their new premises, the congregation should feel jolly pleased at the way they have cocked a snook at the preconceptions of bumptious broadcasters and patronising politicians.
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