History of UBC – William Thomas Shepherd
An important crisis took place following the resignation of Mr Dunckley. Despite having paid off its huge debt, the Church found itself with no funds to pay for pulpit supplies. The closure of the Church appeared to be inevitable. The crisis was averted however by asking the pew holders to pay their rents in advance and, at the same time, the Church applied to the Particular Baptist Fund for financial help to supplement the funds provided by the pew rents and the rents of the cottages owned by the church.
In December 1894 during the Pastorate of William Thomas Shepherd (1894-1896), Upton Baptist Church celebrated its Bi-centenary on a Sunday and the three following days. On the Sunday, special services were held with an additional Children’s Service at 2.30 p.m. On the Monday a Service of Song was held at 7 p.m. and a Praise and Thanksgiving Meeting was held on Tuesday at 7p.m. On the Wednesday, to round off the celebrations, a Tea and Public Meeting were held at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. respectively.
The choice of the date 1894 seems rather strange, as the Church was two hundred years old in 1853. Perhaps the due date had gone by unnoticed or, more likely, there was some uncertainty at the time regarding the true date of the founding of the Church. It is possible that Samuel Trevor’s account of the history of Upton Baptist Church gave rise to the impression that William Hankins was the first Minister of the Church and that his arrival in 1863 marked the founding of the Church. More recent research by Rev. H W Cox and others has shown that William Hankins was the second, not the first, Minister of the Church and the true date of its founding was 1653.
So the 19th Century drew to a close on a positive and happy note with the fellowship praising and thanking God for all that He had achieved in over 200 years of the Church’s existence.
To be continued…