Rishangles Baptist Church

 

Finding Us

Rishangles Baptist Church is situated beside the B1077 at the centre of the main part of the village of Rishangles. If visiting, then both our car-park and main entrance are situated at what appears to be the rear of the Church. If you are using satnav then the Church postcode is IP23 7JZ.

 

Church History

It has been said that everyone and everything has a story. For Rishangles Baptist Church the story goes back to the late 1700's when preachers would sometimes visit the village of Rishangles and hold open air services. In time this led to other meetings to study the Bible in peoples homes. During the early 1800's some of those who were part of these Bible study groups started to meet together on Sunday's to worship God.

 

With more and mre people attending Sunday meetings it was decided to start meeting in a building which once stood where the current Church stands. However due to the building only measuring 20 feet wide, by 30 feet in length, the Church soon outgrew the building.

 

During the 1840's those who were meeting together each Sunday decided to officially become a Church. It was during the 1840's that three further steps were taken. The first of these was that the Church became recognised as a Baptist Church. Secondly a number of Christians from Grundisburgh Baptist Church transferred to the new Rishangles Baptist Church to help support the new Church. While thirdly in 1848 the Church appointed it's first pastor.

 

During the 1850's the Church continued to grow in numbers, and as a result plans were made to build a new larger Church building on the site of the existing building. So it was that building work was indertaken which was completed in 1862. The new Rishangles Baptist Church building, which was at the time officially known as Zion Baptist Church, provided a place for folks to worship at Rishangles in greater numbers. This was especially important since despite the small size of the village of Rishangles, it is believed that during the 1860's over 200 people attended the Church each Sunday, and some special occassions over 1000 people are though to have attended.

 

Although some internal changes took place within the Church, externally much remained the same until 1993. It was then that because of the vision and enthusiasm of those then attending the Church, that an extension was completed, adding to the then Church building.  Whilst adding more space tothe Church, it also added more modern facilities such as a kitchen, toilets and new meeting rooms. 

 

If you would like to attend one of our Services or meetings, then you would be most welcome.

 

Below is a short slide show, showing some of the changes to the Church over the years.