The church writes:
“In 1984 Rehoboth Baptist Church and Grove Hill Baptist Church (just round the corner from each other), recognising that they held identical theological positions, merged to become Pantiles Baptist Church. It was decided to move the new church to a new site since neither chapel occupied by the former churches was in the best location and a few years later, a new premises was acquired near a housing estate – the site of a former school. Some classrooms were demolished to make way for the new worship hall, the school house became the manse, the playground became the car park and the school hall became the church hall.
However, the school hall had not been built to modern day standards and we knew that we would eventually have problems. Regrettably, at a time when our church was in some financial difficulties owing to a decline in the number of wage-earners in the membership, we discovered that the floor was in danger of collapsing owing to inadequate sub-floor ventilation.
We are most grateful to the Grace Baptist Trust Corporation for a grant and a loan that enabled us to replace the rotten joists and floorboards, install sufficient air bricks, and lay a new carpet. We would not have been able to attend to this urgent remedial work without the help of the Corporation.”
