13th August 2025

We have very recently moved to a retirement flat. We no longer live across the road from Holy Trinity Church, but opposite Christ Church. The back garden of the first house we bought, in the 1960s, backed onto the churchyard of St Nicholas Church.

Why do most Baptist churches have rather boring names – usually the street or town where they are situated? Tyndale is an exception. There was a ‘fashion’ around the time that Tyndale was founded to give new Baptist churches names associated with revered Christians of the past. Some went even further – we were married at the (Baptist) Church of the Redeemer (more like Holy Trinity or Christ Church than St Nicholas). But when a new church in a Birmingham suburb was established in the 1950s its name ‘Spurgeon Baptist Church’ was soon dropped as local people (and probably many of its members) had no idea who Spurgeon was!

Anglican churches named after saints usually celebrate a patronal festival on the appropriate saints’ day – often marking the anniversary of the saint’s birth or, more often, their death. So maybe Tyndale should do something similar. 6th October is the anniversary of the death of William Tyndale – a good opportunity to celebrate him.

David T Roberts