Around 400 years ago Thomas Helwys left Britain with a group of ordinary people and travelled to Amsterdam where they were no longer constrained by the religious persecution that existed at the time.  After a few years they returned to Britain and campaigned for religious freedom, forming the first Baptist church at Spitalfields in London.  They were not a part of the Church of England, believing in the authority of the Bible, not church hierarchy, and as a consequence were ostracised.

Baptists believe that it is important for individuals to declare a personal faith in God and then choose to be baptised.  People are immersed fully in water as a sign of the new start they are making with Jesus.  It is because of this practice that Baptists are so named.

Baptists were called 'Non-Conformists' because they believed in the authority of the Bible over and above the rules laid down by parliament in the Act of Uniformity in 1539. This act said that everyone had to worship in his or her local parish church and use the Book of Common Prayer.  The non-conformists refused to do this and worshipped in what eventually became known as 'Free' churches, though at first they were also known as 'Separatists' because they were separate from the established church. Its own members governed each church, as they obeyed the teaching of Jesus in the Bible.  After the Act of Toleration in 1689 things very slowly began to improve for Baptists, but full toleration was not realised until the time of Queen Victoria.

Today there are Baptist Christians and churches all over the world. Blackheath and Charlton Baptist Church has existed since 1863, and although we are independent, the church is linked with other churches in many ways. The church is part of the South East Thames group of churches in the London Baptist Association and the Baptist Union of Great Britain. BCBC is part of Churches Together in Greenwich, the Evangelical Alliance and have informal links with Christians and churches in different parts of the world.