Changing Spiritual Identity: St Andrew’s Street Baptist Church, Cambridge, from the 1730s to the 1920s

Abstract

The story of St Andrew’s Street Baptist Church, Cambridge, from the 1730s to the 1920s illuminates the place of those in the ‘Dissenting’ tradition in the context of a university setting in which for much of that time they were outsiders. The spiritual identity of this strategic church did not remain fixed over time, although there was clear continuity. This study focuses on the influence of those who were pastors of the church over the course of two centuries. It is not that the pastors shaped everything that characterised the church’s life. However, those examined in this article each brought a distinctive emphasis, often addressed to the context of the period in which they served. The main emphases considered are freedom, spiritual improvement, a commitment to spreading the gospel, Christian work issuing from God’s blessing, and witness to a growing university population. Although elements of all of these aspects were present throughout the period, I argue here that the church’s spiritual identity underwent significant change.