. . . "51.461666666666666 -0.30388888888888893" . . . . . . "Duke Street Church"@en . . . . "1962"^^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "Duke Street Church is an FIEC-affiliated conservative evangelical church in Duke Street, Richmond, South West London with a historical baptist tradition. Efforts from 1868 by a student pastor Frederick Brotherton Meyer started to gain traction*, and in 1869 he wrote to the Charles Spurgeon, then President of the London Baptist Association asking for his help to establish something more permanent. Other early Baptist Groups in Richmond Recent Senior Ministers All Senior Ministers - Duke Street: Church Affiliations and Inclusivity Notable Members and Associates Notes:"@en . . . . "180"^^ . . "POINT(-0.30388888716698 51.461666107178)"^^ . . . . "Duke Street Church is an FIEC-affiliated conservative evangelical church in Duke Street, Richmond, South West London with a historical baptist tradition. Efforts from 1868 by a student pastor Frederick Brotherton Meyer started to gain traction*, and in 1869 he wrote to the Charles Spurgeon, then President of the London Baptist Association asking for his help to establish something more permanent. It initially met with forty-seven members in 1870 as Parkshot Church in an iron tabernacle, located off Park Lane. Due to a desire to be nearer the town centre, in 1878 the original church and land were sold to a group who went on to found Christ Church, Richmond. This location now corresponds to The Gateways building on Park Lane. In 1881 the first Duke Street building was completed, octagonal-shaped and built in stone in the early French Gothic style. It was listed in its trust deeds as Duke Street Baptist Chapel, a 'particular' or Calvinistic chapel. Despite struggling initially, by 1946 it had become too small to accommodate its congregation, and Sunday evening services were being transferred to Richmond Theatre. In 1950 the adjoining Victorian dance hall (Princes Hall) was bought, and in 1962 Sir Cyril Black opened the current building as Duke Street Baptist Church with a large auditorium able to seat over 600. In the early 2000s it was again renamed to the current Duke Street Church. Subsequent works have included a cafe area, meeting rooms and offices in 2010 followed by a major renovation of the auditorium completed in 2022. Other early Baptist Groups in Richmond Despite asserting in \"The Duke Street Story 1870-1970\" by Harry Young that \"The first attempt to found a Baptist cause in Richmond was made in 1862\", there is clear evidence around 1715-1730 of a Baptist church existing in Richmond, under Thomas Flood. In addition, by the 1850s a Strict Baptist group had formed, Rehoboth Chapel on Kew Foot Road. A disagreement in 1861 within Rehoboth Chapel led to a split, and thirteen members left to start Salem Baptist Chapel in Richmond. They met initially in rooms on Church Walk, then in 1863-1887 met in the building now known as the Dome Building on the Quadrant, but known at the time as the Mechanics Institute (from 1843), the Public Baths or the Baths (1855), and the Royal Assembly Rooms (1868). In his history of this building, A. Barkas, Borough Librarian noted being used as a Baptist Chapel after being the Royal Assembly Rooms. In1888 Salem Baptist Chapel relocated to Parkshot Road, then finally moved to Kew in 1973, becoming Kew Baptist Church before closing in 2021. Recent Senior Ministers The current Senior Minister, John Samuel, started in 2013. Before joining Duke Street, he was pastor at Grosvenor Road Baptist Church in Dublin, publishing a notable article in the Irish Times that was heavily pro-life regarding abortion. A recent 2017 review of his preaching at Grace Church Brockley noted about his style as being \"a slightly unusual preacher. He had about him the air of a columnist for either The Times or The Guardian\". In February 2022, Senior Minister John Samuel on behalf of Duke Street, signed a response to the UK Government requesting that Conversion therapy for LGBTQ people should not be banned. His predecessor between 2000-2012 was Dr. Liam Goligher. Soon after leaving Duke Street, in a 2013 interview Goligher gave his view that \"expository preaching in the UK has been reduced to what's described very often as a Bible talk, it's like a Bible class talk, with one main point, an opening illustration, a closing moral application, and this is among the most conservative groups in England\" Goligher subsequently went on to become widely known in the United States by challenging recent teachings on the Doctrine of the Trinity which triggered the Great Trinitarian Debate. A widely-read evangelical magazine and website Christianity Today featured Liam Goligher and the Debate in a lengthy article, raising his profile even further. All Senior Ministers - Duke Street: Church Affiliations and Inclusivity Duke Street is currently affiliated with the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), the Evangelical Alliance and the Affinity and South East Gospel Partnership. Towards the end of 2018 Duke Street Church cut its links with the Baptist Union, to affiliate with the FIEC in early 2019. Reasons given for Duke Street's affiliation with the FIEC were \"1. Partnership in a national association of churches with a clear doctrinal basis; 2. Mutual encouragement to persevere in faithful gospel witness local, nationally and in an increasingly hostile environment.\u201D While Duke Street Church considers itself a family, made up of people of all ages, stages and backgrounds with groups for 20s and 30s, men, women and internationals plus children and youth, Duke Street's doctrinal basis blesses only marriages between a man and a women, with no known LGBTQ+ group or inclusivity statement. From 2014 the Baptist Union has upheld freedom-of-conscience on single-sex marriage i.e. \"the liberty of a local church to determine its own mind on this matter, in accordance with our Declaration of Principle, we also recognise the freedom of a minister to respond to the wishes of their church, where their conscience permits\" In contrast, FIEC doctrine considers \"Marriage is, by definition, heterosexual\".Notable Members and Associates Notable Members and Associates From 2019 Duke Street has hosted speaker Professor Richard Buggs on a number of occasions. Dr. Buggs is an evolutionary biologist and Senior Research Leader at Kew Gardens, who in his professional role has appeared on the BBC and written various articles in the Guardian. Alongside that he is also an advocate of Intelligent Design, has given religious sermons at Duke Street, and has participated in theological debates and apologetics regarding the Muslim faith. His non-sermon talks at Duke Street include coverage of intelligent design (God vs. Evolution/Darwin) and 'Does Environmentalism need God'. Unusually for a senior scientist, Dr. Buggs attempts to bridge faith and science, postulating in his blog whether \u201CAdam and Eve\u201D can support a scientific and genomic hypothesis \"that the human lineage has passed through short, sharp bottleneck of two at some point in its history\" However he admitted in early 2021 that \"Much research has still to be done\". Senior High Court judge Sir Paul Coleridge, was a long-time member and in 2013 was both a member and a Trustee. During this time he was disciplined by the Judicial Conduct and Investigations Office (JCIO) after giving interviews and writing an article on his traditional views on marriage. He had previously courted controversy with views on single-sex marriage. In 2014 he retired from the judiciary, since then he has appeared on Premier Christian Radio discussing subjects like divorce culture. His wife, Lady Lisa Coleridge (full name Judith Elizabeth Coleridge) remained a Director of Duke Street until March 2022. Sir Eric Richardson (died 2006) was a long-time member and deacon at Duke Street, receiving a C.B.E. in 1962 and knighted for his work in higher education in 1968. He was an exponent of polytechnic education who headed three institutions that have developed into universities - Salford, City and Westminster, and was a leader of 20th-century evangelical Christianity. Notes: * John Bird died unexpectedly in an operation on May 7, 1978. ** Documentary evidence of the Senior Minister between 1978-1986 remains unclear. [needs more investigation] From George Beasely-Murray's biography, Chapter 10 we know he worked as a Church Moderator (interim for pastoral vacancies) between 1980-1986 at three churches. In order they were (1) Beckenham (2) Woodmansterne and (3) Duke Street Baptist Church. \"When my father was moderator of Duke Street Baptist Church situated in Richmond, south west London, very close to the River Thames. Duke Street, for many years a very strong and staunchly evangelical church, had lost its previous minister in the unhappiest of circumstances. Relationships within the church were at rock-bottom. It was an extraordinarily difficult situation.\" From this it seems likely the church was without a Senior Minister for a number of years after 1978, with George Beasely-Murray arriving around (est.)1982 to serve as an interim until retiring in 1986 once Robert G.M. Amess.was appointed."@en . "9074757"^^ . . . . . "Duke Street Church"@en . . . "-0.3038888871669769"^^ . "23137"^^ . . . . . . . . "51.46166610717773"^^ . . "Duke Street Church, Richmond"@en . . "England, United Kingdom"@en . "1870"^^ . . "John Samuel ;"@en . . . . . . . . . . . "1112537465"^^ . . "Frederick Brotherton Meyer"@en . . . . . . . "Conservative Evangelicalism"@en . . . . . . . . . . . . "The front of the church building in 2018"@en . . . . . . . . . . . "Duke Street, Richmond TW9 1DH"@en . "Simon Pethick"@en . . . .