Foreword to the first edition
You are holding in your hands a unique account of God’s work in Chichester – and no-one is better qualified to write about it than Peter Thatcher. Peter writes from a wealth of painstaking research as well as his own personal experience for, unlike many historians, he is part of the story. As church secretary for 44 years the latter part of the book represents a personal account of the formation and development of Chichester Baptist Church. Ministers (like me) have come and gone but he has stayed the course!
He charts the high and low points of Baptist work here with dignity and warmth. From the earliest days of the seventeenth century when ‘Baptist’ was a nickname for a growing grass-roots movement of the Holy Spirit to the thriving church as it stands today, both the events and the atmosphere are faithfully recorded.
If only all history books were like this one! In it Peter documents the unfolding drama in characteristically meticulous detail as he charts the ebb and flow of Baptist work in the city – and he does so with what I can best describe as glow. There is warmth that emerges from these pages as you read them. He sets out not only to inform you about distant generations past, but to excite you with the thrill of being part of the newly-formed and growing church of today.
I warmly commend this book to you – and if by reading it you catch a larger vision of God’s on-going work in the city of Chichester then I know Peter will be quietly satisfied that his work has found its target and, more importantly, so will the Lord.
Ian White
Minister of Chichester Baptist Church
Chichester, February 1995