Our History

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We are a people who seek to hear God’s Word, live according to God’s Word and aim to do His will in our community”

Hinckley Baptist Church (HBC) has been part of the community of Hinckley since 1766 and in 2016 we celebrated the 250th anniversary of the founding of the church. To commemorate this we published a book charting the church’s journey from the 1950’s to the present day (a book had previously been produced charting our history before this point).

The present building was built in 1807 and is located in the centre of the Town on Baptist Walk.

The birth of Hinckley Baptist Church began back in the mid 1700’s when there was a Christian revival in a small village called Barton in the Beans, approximately 10 miles north of Hinckley. The first Meeting House was built in Barton in 1745, and had living accommodation above for its single members of the community. The congregation described themselves as “independent”, but by the 1750’s had adopted General Baptist practises. In 1760 the Society split into five separate churches; Barton in the Beans, Kegworth, Loughborough, Kirkby Woodhouse (Nottinghamshire) and Melbourne (Derbyshire).

These congregations also later divided, so when the 150th anniversary of the Barton chapel was celebrated in 1895, more than 40 Baptist churches in the Midlands claimed direct descent from the Barton congregation, of which Hinckley is one.

The earliest meetings in Hinckley were held in the house of a Mr Dagley in Castle Street until in 1766 when a Meeting House was built in Wood Street. On separating from the Longford church in 1773 the membership was recorded as 38, and by 1782 this had increased to 80. William Smith had been appointed to lead the church in 1773 and when he died in 1797 the membership had increased to 180.

The continuing increase made the enlargement of the Meeting House essential. The erection of a gallery was considered but it was finally decided to erect a new building and the site of the present building was purchased. The current church was opened in February 1807 costing between £1700 and £1800 to build. Further buildings were added in 1894, 1920 and 1938. The 1894 Halls were to accommodate the increase in Sunday School numbers which had grown to over 500!!

The vestibule at the front of the church was added in 1920 as a Memorial and Thanksgiving at the cessation of the hostilities of World War 1 and in 1938 a Primary Room was added to the Sunday School Halls. In 2008 the 1894 halls and the 1938 Primary Rooms were extensively re-modelled and refurbished into our Pathways Centre which is now a great space for our community work.

Over the years the work and witness of the church has been maintained. Sunday School Young People’s activities have changed with the times and technology changes within our society today, but again, have never ceased. Similarly meetings of various kinds for adults have always had their rightful place in our church programme.

Dedicated men and women continue to worship and serve the Lord Jesus Christ in this church fellowship in and around Hinckley, and we look forward to continuing the church (hi)-story In His name.

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

A Warm Hello

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit for the first time, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning when you visit us.

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Where and When

We meet at the Church Building (details here) for our Sunday Service starting at 10:45am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and then find somewhere you are comfortable to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you will be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team who will be wearing a Welcome lanyard.
Tea and coffee is served from 10.15am
There is limited parking available on the site, plus public car parks close by on each side of Stockwell Head (near to the Concordia Theatre) which are free of charge on Sundays.

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Accessibility: We have wheelchair access and disabled toilets in our newly re-furbished foyer.

Our Service

The main service begins at 10.45am with a warm welcome from one of our Members. We have a short family time together. After the children go to their classes, we have a time of sung worship, usually led by our band. We have 2 or 3 songs. On the first Sunday of the month we share Communion together. Sometimes a person might pray out loud or read a small passage from the bible. Sometimes people share things that they believe God is saying to the whole church family. This might seem strange the first time you hear it but it’s all part of our connecting with God. One of our leaders or a visiting Preacher/Minister will give a sermon/talk that is bible based, explaining how we can apply that message and teaching to our everyday lives. We usually finish with a final worship song and a prayer. There is an opportunity to receive personal prayer at the end of the service, in a quiet place. Just ask one of the Welcome Team to guide you to the right person and place...........

What about my kids?

We have a great programme lined up for kids of all ages:

Creche (under school age children). We don’t currently run a crèche, but children are welcome to play at the back of the church with toys and books we have for them.

S.A.L.T Sharing And Learning Together.
Older school age children go out into our children’s groups which we currently run on the 1st and 4th Sundays of each month (from Sept-June):-

4-10 year olds (Reception to year 6)
11-14 year olds (years 6 to 8)
15-17 year olds (years 9 to 11)18+ stay in church for our service. We offer mentoring outside of service times.

Children stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service. We really value worshipping God all together as a family for the first part of our service. When it’s time for the children to go out to their various groups, Leaders take them up to our Pathways centre for their activities and teaching. The kids group activities vary depending on the age. There is a friendly welcome, bible stories, sharing time, praying, music, craft, drama, fun games and free play. Please go along to collect your children once the service finishes, and then re-join us for our coffee and chat time.

On the 2nd Sunday of the month we have our Parade Service where Girls Brigade and Boys Brigade children and parents join us for a family friendly fun service. We serve breakfast for our Brigade families from 10am prior to the service starting at 10.45.

On the 3rd Sunday of the month, alongside our normal morning service, we run Messy Church in the Pathways Centre. This is "alternative" church, which we run in the afternoon from 3pm-5pm. This is open to everyone, not just children and parents/carers. See our Messy Church page for what goes on here.

Please contact families@hinckleybaptist.com if you would like more details about our Families groups.

Getting Connected

Life Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, worship God, listen to good Bible teaching and catch up over coffee/tea, it is in smaller groups that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our Life Groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week. Check out Life Groups and see if you would like to join a group? We can put you in touch with a Life Group Leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to try their group.

Serving and Volunteering

If you would like to get involved in the life of the church and help us make Sundays run smoothly, please speak to one of our Welcome Team or if you would like to volunteer at one of our community based groups in Pathways, please contact admin@hinckleybaptist.com and someone will get back to you to chat about opportunities and current vacancies.

Other Groups (Ministries):-

Children's Ministry - Messy Church and Girls Brigade and Boys Brigade - check out their pages.
Women's Ministries (FAB Breakfast)
Men's Ministry - we are currently planning something new - watch this space!!
Foodbank

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome!
Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Name:

Telephone:

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Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

We currently don't have a full time Minister. The church is run and managed day to day by elected members of our Leadership Team.

We hope that you will feel at home at Hinckley Baptist Church, and we look forward to meeting you.

Best Wishes
the leadership (1)