Our History
Toxteth Tabernacle Baptist Church (A.K.A ‘The Tab’) was opened in 1871 by William P Lockhart. (That means we are nearly 150 years old!)
Lockhart was a lay preacher, who drew a large crowd, by plainly speaking the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Before the Tab was built, up to 1,000 people were attending Lockhart’s Sunday evening sermons. He also had 200 children enrolled in his weekly Sunday School. It became clear to Lockhart that a large building was needed, in order to host these weekly sermons and classes.
As a result, plans were drawn up for the creation of Toxteth Tabernacle Baptist Church. The proposed new building would seat 1,500 and have classrooms attached. It was the first church in Liverpool where all the benches were open to all, with no pews reserved for those who could afford to pay. This legacy is certainly one that we are proud of; we want the gospel to be free and easy to access for all.
On 7th September 1870, Reverend Charles Spurgeon was invited to lay the foundation stone at Toxteth Tabernacle. Crowds would flood to The Tab every Sunday, for many seasons. The building was often described as ‘full,’ with people queuing down neighbouring streets, excited to get into the building and worship Jesus. Sermons were short and spontaneous. The Tab was a place where remarkable singing took place, scarcely to be heard elsewhere in Liverpool, except on rare occasions.
Within 10 years of opening, the Tab had gained 745 members, as well as numerous other agencies connected with the church, actively engaged in Christian services of various kinds.
Lockhart had desired that Toxteth Tabernacle would become a centre of evangelistic work for the South End of Liverpool and he was passionate about spreading the gospel in Liverpool. He particularly cared for people that were affected by the effects of excessive alcohol consumption. In fact, he viewed drink as the root of society’s problems and set up a temperance society calling for restriction on sales of alcohol.