Bierton Particular Baptists A Gospel Standard Cause

74 3 BIERTON PARTICULAR BAPTISTS ARTICLES OF RELIGION, 1831 Bierton articles of 1831. 2 This confession sights the resurrection and judgment to be at the end of time rather than at the coming Christ at day of vengeance and judgment of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The eschatology of this confession is Historicism

Bierton Particular Baptists A Gospel Standard Cause

Our church at Bierton decided to become a Gospel Standard listed church, in January 1981. And the church unanimously agreed and subscribed to the Gospel Standard Article of Religion498 .

This move caused some opposition from various quarters. To site just one, we had a visiting preacher, Mr Dix, the director of The Strict Baptists Historic Society, A Trinitarian Bible Society representative and Pastor of the Dunstable Baptist church came to preach at our week night evening meeting. After the meeting at my home, he expressed his surprise and regret over our Bierton church becoming a Gospel Standard cause. He felt is was wrong and illegal. As a result I wrote to Mr Hill, the pastor of Luton Ebenezer, Gospel Standard church explaining what had happened. The following is a transcript of my letter to Mr Hill:

October 1981

Dear Mr Hill,

Proverbs 210-12 .

Trusting it is with a live and tender conscience, as opposed to a dead and carnal reasoning mind, I am moved to seek your help and advice, in connection with our cause at Bierton.

In conversation with Mr Dix, after our Wednesday night preaching service, he charged us as a church at Bierton in acting illegally and immorally because of our actions in becoming a Gospel Standard cause.

The charge being that we had broken the covenant as set out in our own trust deed; that had we wished to become a Standard church we should have formed another church in another building. Our actions being illegal and immoral for no man can dis-annul or add to any rule or regulation or term set out in the operative deed of trust and we as a church must be bound by those articles of religion and rules of practice, set our in that deed alone. This being so since the founder members and trustees in titles covenanted together to maintain support and preserve those articles set out in that indenture.

This matter has caused me some concern in the past and seeking to resolve this issue as a matter of conscience I wrote to Mr Secretary the