In search of a city: a history of Lee Mount Baptist Church, Halifax 1846–1977

Miss J M Crabtree BA and Rev. M V Jackson BA

10 The future we face

The membership of the church is now 50, which to some is the borderline between being viable and not. However, the strength of Lee Mount certainly cannot be assessed solely by its membership. Many who, for different reasons, are not members, play their full part in its life and work.

Yet it cannot be said that the future is rosy, either for us or for any other Christian community. It would be facile to conclude this history with words to the effect that the future is full of golden promise for the icy winds of scepticism and atheism may well blow even harder in the days to come. Being a Christian may cost more than it ever has before and the Church may be forced to make radical decisions about its life in the search for authenticity, reality, and relevance. But we are by nature a ‘Pilgrim People,’ always on the move, like Abraham ‘not knowing where he was to go.’ So we travel by faith, into an unknown future. If we cannot always be fruitful, let us never be less than faithful to the Lord we love and serve, and let Dr H.E. Fosdick’s prayer be our prayer:–

“Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the living of these days.”