A CHURCH which started out as wooden hut on a patch of grass in Acomb is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month.

The celebrations at Acomb Baptist Church began on Sunday with a gathering of members and ministers past and present.

The church was founded in the late 1950s when ministers at York Baptist Church in Priory Street realised the need for a presence in the then rapidly expanding suburb of Acomb.

On the site of the current church in Ridgeway, originally stood a building known as the wooden hut, which was opened in 1960 and saw baptisms conducted outside in the open.

Following modest extensions, the decision was made to press ahead with a larger, permanent structure and the funds were raised for the building which currently stands on the site. It was opened in 1969.

The celebrations on Sunday were attended by a number of special guests, including former member and retired missionary Hazel Couldridge and the church’s first minister from 1961, the Rev Alan Hellawell.

Current minister the Rev John Billingham said he had become an “acclimatised Yorkshireman” since moving to the area from the south of England seven-and-a-half years ago. “We had two services on Sunday, one in the morning then we had lunch together with about 160 of us,” he said. “Then we had a more informal gathering in the afternoon where people shared their memories of starting the new church. It was an inspiration for a lot of people.

“Many who took part were legends from the church’s history and there they were in the flesh.”

Acomb Baptist Church has produced a small book detailing its history from its founding in the late 1950s and containing pictures from the past 50 years. For more information, phone 01904 784020.