About
This site contains historical information on Bethel Strict Baptist Chapel, Wimbledon, LONDON.
This photo was taken before the building was bombed during World War II
This Strict Baptist Christian Church “Bethel” Is Based Upon The Doctrines of Free & Sovereign Grace
1. God; Trinity & Unity
2. The Divinity & Perfect Humanity of The Lord Jesus Christ
3. The Divinity & Personality of God The Holy Spirit
4. The Fall of Man (Total Depravity)
5. Unconditional Election To Salvation
6. Particular Redemption As Opposed To Universal Salvation
7. Effectual Calling of the Elect Sinner By God The Holy Spirit
8 . Final Perseverance, Preservation, & Glorification of All the Elect Church of God in All Ages.
9. Justification of The Elect of God By The Atoning Work of Christ.
Articles of Faith
This Strict Baptist Christian Church observes
The Ordinances of Believers Baptism By
Immersion & Also The Ordinance of The Lord’s Table
Which Is Administered To Members Of The
Same Faith & Order Only. In A Word It Holds To
Strict Communion. It Holds That Faith,
Repentance, & Baptism Are Necessary To Admission To The Table of The Lord.
Article of Faith 2
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Trust Deed and Duties of Trustees
Is your church being true to its original articles of faith? Do the current pastor and members of the church know its history? Do they respect their predecessors’ sacrifice of time and money in establishing the church and their struggle to ensure its survival and spiritual prosperity?
Churches should from time to time examine their Trust Deed. A Trust Deed is a document that relates to the original foundation of the church and sets out the reasons why the church was first set up. It is not always readily available and some, which are over 100 years old, are handwritten on parchment and very difficult to read. They can run to several sheets, each measuring about 3 feet by 2 feet.
A deed is a written and signed document which sets out the things that have to be done or recognitions of the parties towards a certain object. Under older common law, a deed had to be sealed; that is, accompanied not only by a signature but also with an impression on wax onto the document. The word “deed” is also most commonly used in the context of real estate because these transactions must usually be signed and in writing.
A typical Trust Deed written about one hundred years ago of a “Strict and Particular” Baptist Church would be worded as follows: Clause 1 “The doctrines preached or otherwise set forth by all Ministers or other persons officiating in the services or giving any religious instruction upon the Trust Property shall be founded upon the sole authority of the Holy Scriptures and that interpretation of them which is held by the aforesaid denomination called Particular or Calvinistic Baptists and which is usually called Evangelical as distinguished from Rationalistic or Unitarian views on the one hand and from Sacerdotal or Romanist views on the other hand.” Part of another clause states, “Every such permanent Minister shall be a Member of the Denomination of Calvinistic or Particular Baptists holding to the Doctrines referred to in Clause1 and shall maintain and practise the Ordinance of Believer’s Baptism by immersion …”
A trustee is a person who holds property rights for the benefit of another through the legal mechanism of the trust. A trustee usually has full management and administration rights over the property but these rights must always be exercised to the full advantage of the beneficiary. All profits from the property go to the beneficiary although the trustee is entitled to reimbursement for administrative costs. There is no legal impediment for a trustee to also be a beneficiary of the same property.
The following information is taken from The Baptist Corporation Limited Guidelines B.1 (04/2005) Church Trusts, Model Trusts and Property Trustees:
”Most churches have a building or other premises as their place of worship from which they reach out in mission to their community. If the question is asked, ‘Who owns the church building?’ the answer will probably be that the church does. In many ways that is true but there are legal implications of property ownership which need to be considered in more detail. Legally, the ownership of the church premises (what lawyers call the title) will be in the name of trustees. The trustees may be private individuals who are, or were, connected with the church. More usually the trustees will be a Baptist Trust Corporation, such as the Baptist Union Corporation. The trustees ‘hold’ the property for the church. The purposes for which the property is held are in a legal document and are called ‘trusts’.
TRUSTEES
The earliest ownership of Baptist chapels and meeting houses – or plots of land for building them – would have occurred soon after the first Baptist churches were founded in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It would not have been possible for a church to own land or buildings so trustees would have been appointed. These would have been men – never women in those days – of standing in the church or, perhaps, in a neighbouring church. The number of trustees varied but there were usually between nine and twelve. It was important for the trustees, and the church, to be clear about the conditions – or trusts – which applied to their ownership.
CHURCH TRUSTS
Often these trusts would be set out in the legal document which passed ownership of the premises
to the trustees or in a separate trust deed. We call these the foundation trusts. If a church has occupied a chapel, or other premises, for many years the trusts which apply to the church will often still be set out in the document prepared at the time of the original purchase. The earliest foundation trusts were quite short, simply stating that the premises were to be used ‘as a place of worship for a congregation of Protestant Dissenters called Baptists’ or something similar. As Baptist life developed so the foundation trusts became more detailed containing things such as:
α doctrinal statement; rules for the appointment of a Minister; the qualifications for church membership; rules for the calling of Church Members’ Meetings; powers of the trustees to borrow money for the construction of buildings and their right to sell the premises, perhaps in exchange for other property; how new trustees were to be appointed – usually including how many there must be; instructions about what would happen if the church closed and who would benefit from the proceeds of sale if the premises were sold (this is known as the ultimate trust).
FOUNDATION TRUST DEEDS
Foundation Trust Deeds make fascinating reading but they are not merely a historical curiosity. The diaconate, (Church leaders) as Managing Trustees, ought to know what they contain because they often still apply to church life today.”
There were and still are practical difficulties in churches appointing and keeping trustees especially for those with few members. For this reason corporations were set up to act as trustees.
In order to honour and respect the original Trust Deeds, the pastor, elders, deacons and members of the church along with the trustees ought to periodically monitor the situation and in particular take seriously any allegations made against a church concerning a breach of the Trust Deed. It is the duty of the trustees to investigate and take any necessary action to uphold the Trust Deed.
If it is found that pastors and church officers have broken the Trust Deed they ought to resign or be dismissed and replaced with persons who would be willing to adhere to the legal document. Alternatively, the building could be sold, perhaps to the occupiers, who may then honourably run the church how they like and set up a new Trust Deed that will reflect their true position.
It is unfortunate that in recent years, pastors and missionaries who are supported financially from overseas, have come to the UK and taken advantage of small struggling churches. Faced with a choice of survival or death of a church, a few remaining and perhaps elderly members are too hasty to appoint a pastor whose doctrinal position is not the same as theirs. Once the elderly members have died, the link with the past is broken.
These small churches are vulnerable to being taken over by well-financed missionaries from abroad. The description “independent” when applied to non-conformist churches is really an illusion if they are in reality dependent on external income in order to support a pastor? If this external income is coming from a source that is opposed to the original Trust Deed then there is bound to be conflict.
This is where the stronger like-minded churches, affiliations of churches such as the FIEC, Grace Baptists, Gospel Standard Baptists and organizations such as Bible Colleges, Trust Corporations and Missionary Societies which are sympathetic to the Trust Deed should help the weaker struggling churches. Therefore, there is an advantage in belonging to a fellowship of churches with the same articles of faith.
