About Us

We’re a friendly group of Christians who meet together in Bromley to worship God. We’re a diverse bunch of people from many different backgrounds, and at different stages of life. We’re keen to see visitors and new members come to join us, as we seek to share God’s love with our community.

The Church is the people, not the building. Although we now meet in Hayes Lane in the south of Bromley, we trace our roots to a group of believers who started meeting in the north of the town in 1893. Our present building was opened in 1928 and has served us well over the years. The church has grown a lot during that period, and we have extended the building to accommodate our larger congregation and extensive youth work.

The first pastor was appointed in 1924, working part-time until 1951. Our first full-time pastor served from 1960 until 1979. There have been several others since then, with our new pastor, Dan, joining us in 2021. In recent years, we have also employed other church members on a part-time or full-time basis to serve the church so we currently have three paid staff.

There have, of course, been many changes over the years as the church has sought to worship God and serve the neighbourhood. However, we still believe and teach the same Biblical message of God’s goodness and love that was at the heart of the first congregation in 1928.

Hayes Lane is a ‘Grace Baptist Church’. Allow us to explain!

‘Grace’ is central to what we believe. Essentially, it’s a word that describes God’s love. We believe that God sent His Son, Jesus, as an outpouring of love for the world. Jesus lived a perfect life and died as a sacrifice in place of men and women who have rebelled against the Creator God. This rebellion is what the Bible calls ‘sin’.

Although we deserve punishment, instead God chose to save people, not because we deserve it, but all because of His loving grace.

Obviously as a ‘Baptist’ church, this is pretty central too! Baptism is a command from Jesus, for those that follow Him, to publicly identify as a Christian by being baptised — literally ‘dipped’ under water. The water is not special or holy, but this symbolises the washing away of our sins and our rising out of the water to a new life of following Jesus.

If you have any questions about what we believe, just send us a message, we’d love to chat. Or use the links below to explore more if you’re thinking of visiting us or want to listen to our teaching.

The Bible teaches that it is a good thing for Christians to give financially to the church they belong to: “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.” 1 Chronicles 29:14

If you’d like details about how to give to Hayes Lane Baptist Church, please contact our treasurer, here.