Flinders Street Baptist Church Explained

Flinders Street Baptist Church
Country:Australia
Denomination:Baptist
Address:71-75 Flinders Street, Adelaide, South Australia
Status:Church
Dedicated Date:19 May 1863
Architect:Robert G. Thomas
Architectural Type:Church
Style:Gothic Revival
Years Built:18611863
Construction Cost:7,000
Materials:Bluestone; sandstone
Episcopalarea:Australia
Minister:Rev Scott Cadman
Embedded:
Embed:yes
Designation1:South Australian Heritage Register
Designation1 Offname:Flinders Street Baptist Church
Designation1 Type:State heritage
Designation1 Date:28 May 1981

Flinders Street Baptist Church is a heritage-listed Baptist church located at 71-75 Flinders Street, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The church is affiliated with the Australian Baptist Ministries.

History

In response to a call by George Fife Angas for a Baptist minister to found a new congregation in Adelaide, Rev. Silas Mead emigrated aboard Parisian, arriving in July 1861.[1] He began taking regular services at White's Rooms and soon his enthusiastic congregation decided to build a large church on Acre 273 in Flinders Street on the west corner of Divett Place.[2]

Robert G. Thomas, the architect who would later be responsible for the Stow Memorial Church (now Pilgrim Uniting Church), was selected to design the building, which is of Gothic revival style in bluestone and sandstone with elaborate capitals on the columns, a rose window and front entrance with three arches supported by pillars.

The building, which cost 7,000 and took English & Brown two years to build, was opened on 19 May 1863. The debt was cleared the following year, Mead Hall was erected in 1867–1870, and the manse was built in 1877.

The Australian Baptist Missionary Society was formed at the church under Rev Silas Mead in 1864, and the first missionary, Ellen Arnold, sent from there in 1882.[3]

Pastors

Heritage listing

On 28 May 1981, the church was listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.[4]

The manse, in which Mead dwelt and his successors dwelt for many years, is now known as the Baptist Church Office, also known as Flinders House.[5] Both the manse and Mead Hall were listed on 11 December 1997.[6] [7]

Notes and References

  1. News: The Baptists . . XXV . 4600 . South Australia . 15 July 1861 . 24 May 2018 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
  2. News: New Baptist Chapel . . IV . 1068 . South Australia . 19 December 1861 . 24 May 2018 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
  3. Book: Gooden, Rosalind M.. Interfaces Baptists and Others: International Baptist Studies. David Bebbington. Authentic Media Inc. The First Australasian Baptist Missionary: Ellen Arnold and the Bengalis, 1882-1931. 2014. 9781780783147.
  4. Web site: Flinders Street Baptist Church, 71-75 Flinders Street ADELAIDE . Heritage Places Database . South Australian Government . 5 June 2018 . 28 May 1981.
  5. Web site: 8 Heritage Buildings in Flinders Street, Adelaide . Weekend Notes . 21 December 2016 . 10 November 2022.
  6. Web site: The South Australia Heritage Places database . 65-69 Flinders Street ADELAIDE . 10 November 2022.
  7. Web site: The South Australia Heritage Places database . Rear 65 Flinders Street ADELAIDE . 10 November 2022.