A brief History
From there to here.
Our journey from birth covers the period from 1888 right up to the present.
In August 1888 11 people met in a small, unlined hall near the Eastern end of Stewart Street in Formby (as Devonport was then named) and committed themselves to support a Sunday morning Baptist service.
The services were held in that same hall. Hard seats and a billiard table were the only furnishings but the fellowship was warm and the congregation grew.
In 1898 another hall was purchased and in 1904 a beautiful brick building was erected next door. This building now houses the Devonport Art Gallery. The young Church continued to grow, especially the number of children attending Sunday School and, despite having the use of a building across the street each Sunday morning the Church recognized it was impossible to expand further on the existing site.
In 1958 visionary leadership led to the purchase of two large blocks in William Street and in 1960 a large shed was erected, a brick making machine installed, and the entire Church family rolled up their sleeves and made all the 89,000 cement bricks used to construct the hall complex on our present site. The halls were opened in 1962 and the largest hall became the home of the Devonport Baptist Church until our present building was completed and opened in December 1972.
Since that time these fine facilities have housed a wide range of activities, not only on Sunday but during the week, enabling not only the Church family but also the wider Devonport Community to join in a variety of activities.
Though we have been describing the growth of Devonport Baptist Church by building development, we recognize that these are only symbolic of 121 years of vision and commitment by young people, women and men to share the love of Jesus in many ways. These people are the visible face of the Church.
We invite you to become a part of our journey into the future.