Foundations

In 1879 John Edwin Austin, a deacon of Kingston Baptist (also known as Union Street Church), started a Sunday School with thirteen scholars in a rented room above a Draper and Milliner's shop in the High Street. The numbers gradually increased until the room became too small for the work, so in 1890 the Mission moved to the Assembly Rooms in Park Road. Here, in addition to the Sunday School, evening services were added, followed up in the summer by open-air meetings. Numbers continued to grow until by 1905 there were about 160 children on the register, with an average attendance of over 100, and the evening services were also well attended.

In 1902 Alderman William Hart, another deacon of Union Street, purchased the current site, of empty fields as it was then, on Upper Teddington Road for £225. Twelve Trustees were appointed to erect a church on the site, including John Austin, and many were also deacons of the mother Church. Their occupations included Stationer's Assistant, Railway Clerk, Grocer's Assistant, Corn & Coal Merchant, Auctioneer's Clerk & Post Office Clerk and suggest a working class composition of the Mission. The Trustees organised fund-raising events & donations and were able to buy the land back off William Hart for £240 in 1903.

Money continued to be raised, largely from and with the help of members and friends of Union Street, and the church building was started in 1905. A stone laying ceremony on 2^nd August 1905 was attended by a large number of people and raised over £100. Five inscribed stones were laid in the front wall by Rev. G Wright of Union Street, Alderman Hart, Rev. Stott of St John's Wood Church, Rev. Marnham of Addlestone and Mr Woodroffe of New Malden.

The building was completed in just a couple of months at a cost of £950 and the opening service was held on October 25^th 1905.

Early years

In 1906 a committee was formed to oversee the work at Hampton Wick Mission with John Austin as its superintendent. The committee was to include the Pastor & Treasurer of Union Street and 6 others elected annually, 3 from Union Street and 3 from the Mission.

Services were only held in the evening for the first 27 years, except on special occasions. They were conducted mainly by students from nearby Baptist theological colleges such as Spurgeon's or Regent's Park, with two services per quarter taken by the minister of Union Street. The Sunday School work also continued to be very popular.

The mortgage for the original building costs was eventually paid off in 1919. John Austin continued as superintendent until his death in 1923. Frank Rayner, the Sunday School superintendent, was then appointed to succeed him and continued in that position until 1936. He oversaw the start of Sunday morning services in 1932 and the building of the Sunday School Hall at the back of the church which was opened on 13^th February 1935. A petition by the Hampton Wick Committee for independence in 1933 was turned down by Union Street.

In October 1940 the Mission was closed because of financial hardship caused by the war and worshippers returned to Union Street until 1947. Between 1942 & 1945 the church buildings were requisitioned as an emergency Rest Centre for anyone made homeless by the war, and two brick-built air raid shelters were erected on two sides of the church hall.

Post-war Years

The first step to resurrecting the work of the Mission took place in 1946 with the reforming of the Hampton Wick Committee & the restarting of the Sunday School, with the restarting of Sunday evening services following in 1947.

In 1953 Sister Edna Black, a Deaconess of Union Street who had formally trained at the Baptist Women's Training College, was released by Union Street to concentrate on building up the work of the Mission. In 1955 she resigned as Deaconess of Union Street and declared she would continue at the Mission if it was separated from the mother church. This proposal was unanimously agreed by Union Street and 34 members resigned from Union Street becoming founder members of the new Hampton Wick Baptist Church in June 1955. Sunday morning services restarted a few months later.

Sister Edna became Rev Edna Black in November 1968 after passing qualifying ministerial examinations. She also became a major benefactor of the church: paying for a baptistry in 1953, an organ in 1961 and the building of an upstairs meeting room in memory of Mrs May Collett in 1972. Her house also became the de facto manse and after her death in 1982 the Trustees of her estate allowed the church continued use of a manse, finally formally giving it to the church in 2000.

Another important figure was Raymond Best. Originally Secretary of Union Street and on the Hampton Wick Committee before and after World War II, he became Moderator of Hampton Wick when it became independent in 1955. He continued in this post, chairing church and deacons meetings, until his death in 1980. After his death he left a bequest to the church of £36,000.

Recent Years

Church membership dropped sharply from 41 in 1980 to only 9 in 1992. The interest on Raymond Best's legacy played a vital part in keeping the church going - often forming more than 50% of the church's annual income. But spirits weren't dashed. The early 1990s saw a major redecoration & refurbishment of the main church building including a new roof, new carpets and new chairs instead of pews. The membership also started to increase again and now stands at 17.

The church continues to be indebted to faithful men & women who particularly after 1985 have led the church for little remuneration:
83-85 Paul Holifield (student minister at Spurgeon's)
86-87 Graham Heath (gaining experience before going as a missionary to Japan)
88-92 Rev. Dai Davies (first pastorate after serving with BMS as a missionary in Zaire)
94-97 Steve Langford (from Teddington Baptist - went on to train for the ministry in 1999)
97--- Sandra Kimber (a member of the church and founder of CHIME World-wide)

The church has been able to pass on some of this generosity by letting rooms at low rent to 2 fledgling Christian organisations - the CHIME World-wide charity (1995-2000) and the Hope in Heaven Korean church (1999 onwards).

In September 2000 we received a manse from the Edna Black Charitable Trust. This was a tremendous boost for us and a final fulfillment for us of the wishes of Edna Black, a previous minister.

In October 2000 we initiated a Building Project to redevelop almost all of the church buildings apart from the sanctuary area (which was refurbished in the early 1990s). There were a number of different phases to the work:
1) replacement of the hall roof
2) new kitchenette, toilets & meeting room
3) redevelopment of porch & forecourt area at the front of the church
4) refurbishing the hall (new windows, radiators & storage space)
5) new kitchen

We have raised over £173,000 so far. We are grateful to the following charities/trusts for their grants:
£3,400 from the Hampton Wick United Charity
£2,500 from the Beatrice Laing Trust
£1,000 from the Rank Foundation
£200    from the AllChurches Trust

We completed the hall roof replacement in December 2002, the new kitchenette, toilets & meeting room in March 2004, porch & forecourt area in October 2005, refurbished the hall in 2006 & the new kitchen was completed in summer 2007.

In November 2000 we started the popular Good Companions club, providing a meal, social time & short service for the over 55s on one Saturday afternoon a month, for anyone in the community who wants to come along.

In Autumn 2004 we ran a Faith Re-discovered course for the over 55s. A chance for them to look afresh at Christianity - something they probably learnt about at School or in Sunday School, but maybe had not thought a lot about since.

2005 was a special anniversary year for us:
125 years since the original Hampton Wick Mission started in 1879
100 years since the main Building was built - formally opened October 25th 1905
50 years since the Church became independent - the decision was made on May 10th 1955 at the Kingston-upon-Thames Baptist church meeting
25 years since the new vestibule was built - formally opened on June 14th 1980

In February 2006 we started opening the premises on the last Saturday morning of the month for a Drop In session, for anyone in the community who wants to come along for company and light refreshments.

In September 2007 we started Tiddlywinks, an activity-based group for under 5s every Wednesday morning during term-time.