The Story So far
In 1926 the Coventry Council of Baptist Churches decided to found a church in the Radford area of Coventry. In July 1931 builder W H Jones commenced construction on 2500sq yards of land purchsed from Coventry Corporation, and the total building cost was £1,263 6s 9d.
Originally called Radford Baptist Church, its name was changed to Lawrence Saunders Baptist Church, as visiting speakers often had problems finding the church which is right on the edge of the Radford/Coundon area.
Incendiary Bomb
We might never have known about LSR Baptist, if an Incendiary Bomb, one of a huge shower of bombs to fall on the area in the early months of 1940, and which penetrated the church roof behind the pulpit, had exploded . But God had his hand of protection on the building and it survived.
After the war the congregation never regained its former size, and for many years the church continued with only a small number attending. During the 60s and 70s there were discussions about erecting a new building but the task seemed out of reach and plans were shelved.
The Decision to build . .
This was confirmed by the fact that regulations regarding the payment of VAT on new church buildings altered favourably and that a local building society granted a mortgage which was unprecedented for this type of building. However there were obstacles along the way. Rising interest rates were considerably increasing the estimated loan repayments and high inflation was pushing up the cost of the building.
At times the fellowship had to struggle with the question whether the project was one of faith or foolhardiness. When the initial decision to build was taken in 1987 the figures clearly demonstrated the church's dependence on God to supply our needs, as the current income was less than half the projected repayments.
God honours step of faith. .
However church members remained dedicated to the project and pledged to give. God honoured this step of faith and greatly blessed the church. Gifts of £17,000 received during the first week of of construction, along with other gifts, enabled us to reduce the amount we needed to borrow.
The mortgage taken out in 1990 was to last many years but was actually paid off in less than 10 years, and in 2001, the original church building, now 70 years old, was demolished to make way for a new hall and classrooms facility, which we are able to use to bless the community. The facilities are used by different groups from the community such as Slimming World, Memory Lane Cafe and other groups. On a Sunday afternoon and evening our church and hall are used by a Romanian speaking church and an Eritrean Church.