Baptism when you choose it, a church that governs itself, a plain room, and the Bible in everybody's hands.
Seventeenth-century separatists who held that baptism belongs to people who can answer for themselves, and that each congregation answers directly to Christ rather than to a bishop or council.
Read the storyA service
Songs and hymns, an opening prayer, notices that genuinely matter to a self-governing church.
Extempore prayer — often several people — and a Bible reading.
The main event, usually the longest part, expecting people to follow in their own Bibles.
A closing song, sometimes an invitation to respond, and the Lord's Supper on set Sundays.
The room
A pool set into the platform, usually under a removable cover, for baptism by full immersion.
Going under and coming up acts out dying and rising with Christ. It happens after someone believes, in front of everyone, because it is a public promise.
Seen in · The heart of a Baptist church
A central pulpit, a plain platform, and very little ornament by conviction.
No altar, no vestments, no colours — not out of poverty but out of principle. Nothing should stand between a person and the text.
Seen in · Sunday worship
Bread and small individual cups, passed along the rows and taken together.
Held as a memorial — 'do this in remembrance of me'. Everyone eats at the same moment, because the church acts as one body.
Seen in · Monthly, in most churches
Words
Father, we have the book open. Speak plainly to us, and give us the courage to do what we hear. Amen.
Lord Jesus, I can't save myself and I've stopped trying. Thank you for going to the cross for me. I turn to you today and I'm yours. Amen.
Lord, we are a small people trying to be faithful. Hold us together, keep us honest, and use us in this town. Amen.
Language
Baptism after a personal profession of faith, never in infancy.
The members gathering to decide things together — the church governs itself.
An elected member serving the practical life of the church.
Telling the story of how you came to faith, often before baptism.
Blessing and giving thanks for a baby, instead of baptising them.
The word many Baptists prefer to 'sacrament' for baptism and the Supper.
The year
Little formal calendar. Christmas, Easter, harvest and often a Sunday for mission — otherwise the year is shaped by the preaching series and the life of the congregation.
Illustrations are artist's impressions, drawn to show the usual pattern. Every church varies.