Affiliated to the Baptist Union and the Evangelical Alliance
Very early in their history, however, Baptists separated into the “General” and the “Particular” Baptists. General Baptists believed that salvation is available to all, but the Particular Baptist maintained that it is God’s will to save only the “elect”. Both groups existed in Wisbech from the end of the 17th century.
The earliest record of Baptists in Wisbech is in 1655, when elders from the General Baptist church in nearby Fenstanton visited the town and set up a Baptist Church in that year. Their numbers were increased by amalgamating with another church in 1697, when they erected their first chapel. Numbers increased towards the end of the 18th century and the church took the decision to join the “New Connexion of General Baptists” in 1785.
This “Connexion” had set up an “Academy” (or college) for training Baptist ministers in 1798. Originally in London, it moved to Wisbech in 1814 to be under the tutorship of Rev William Jarrom, whose ministry in the town had been particularly successful and whose scholarship was greatly admired. Re-named the “Midland Baptist College”, it continued its work first in Wisbech then in Nottingham through until World War I.
Meanwhile the General Baptist church flourished in the 19th century, enjoying large numbers in its Sunday Schools, and sending various missionaries out with the General Baptist Missionary Society.
