Our Story

Halling Baptist Church has been around for way over one hundred years. It has witnessed great times of joy with many turning to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith, but also times of great difficulty and testing, enduring through 2 World Wars and the Great Depression.

Rochester_news_Halling_Chapel_1

Halling Baptist Chapel was built, in 1897 by workers from the Halling Cement Works as an alternative place of worship for those who wished to attend a Nonconformist meeting place.

Twenty-two members and around 200 children attended the first-ever meeting at the newly built chapel. The “Chatham & Rochester News” of June 22, 1898, reported the celebration of the first anniversary of the formation of the church.

Initially, the church belonged to the Baptist Union. In the early 1980s, however, the church, in common with several other Baptist churches, withdrew from the Union, mainly due to an increasing accommodation to liberal theology which was contrary to the best interests of the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Following a time of decline, at the end of 2012, the Grace Baptist Partnership began to support the work through the Ministry of Barry King as a locum pastor, and in June 2013 the church appointed their current pastor Kevin Félix Hollington.

In 2018, the church purchased the unused Halling Fire Station and converted it into their new place of worship.

At present, and in conjunction with the Grace Baptist Partnership, the church is re-planting the Baptist Church in Ryarsh, Kent. Artur Piotrowski, who lives in the village, is serving as the church planter.

The church hopes in the years to come to be able to equip believers for the work of ministry to serve the Lord as church planters and missionaries to the glory of God.