This month 40 years have passed since what was for many Strict Baptist ministers of the day, the memorable Leicester Conference. 'Before that date some of our leaders were deeply concerned about the low state of the churches and of the ministry in general. They called prayer conferences for serious discussion and earnest prayer. These prayer conferences were the forerunners of the present day Grace Baptist Assembly. At one of these early meetings, Charles Phillimore (Basildon) issued an impassioned appeal to the pastors of the churches to gather for a time of humiliation and repentance before the Lord. The call of God was recognised, and the result was Leicester 1965.' (Extract from Clifford Pond's 'Great Expectations', a GBM publication.)

The 1960s were to prove defining years for many churches then commonly known as Strict Baptist. It was a decade of progress. Careful, even cautious, progress; but above all progress that was steeped in united prayer to a degree quite unknown until that time. It had begun in the spring of 1962 with a group representative of Strict Baptist bodies meeting in London mainly for prayer. Inevitably discussion ensued. This recognised the need to reach all Strict Baptists, not only those in affiliated groupings, but many isolated and unattached. Two further conferences for prayer and the study of the Word of God followed in November that year and in April 1963. Sensitive to the fears of some about 'association', the latter meeting stressed that its desire 'was not to try to organise unity, but to pray for it'. On 26 April 1965 a National Assembly of Pastors and Deacons of Strict Baptist Churches was held in London. The chairman, Pastor J K Thorpe (Ipswich), introduced the subject of ‘Our Spiritual Condition and Possible Means of Recovery' and invited Charles B Phillimore to address the assembly. His heart-searching ‘Call to Repentance' (based on Joel 2:17) moved the whole gathering. The Lord was present in power.

It created the spirit in which those present supported the recommendation 'that as a first step, the pastors of the denomination should be invited to spend a whole weekend together...for the purpose of solemn heart-searching before God and to seek by prayer that a true spirit of humility and repentance be given to them and to the Churches. On the Lord's Day the churches would be very mindful of their pastors and of the reason for their absence and would likewise seek the same spirit of humility and repentance for themselves.'

Almost sixty ministers assembled at Digby Hall, Leicester, from Friday evening, 23 July, until dispersing after lunch on the following Monday. The weekend adhered faithfully to the call prayerfully to seek humbling and repentance. Three sessions addressed repentance - personal, church, denominational. As with the Assembly in April, the tone was set in the opening session by Charles Phillimore on 'Personal Repentance'. It was a moving appeal for brokenness before the Lord and before one another, based on 'he bowed his head' (John 19:30). Jesus bowed to his Father's plan and purpose in willing and complete obedience - 'It is finished'. Charles said the self in us does not want to die, but it is only by the death of self that resurrection to new life is known (Galatians 2:20). The atmosphere was one of heart-seaching and earnest discussion at a depth that is rarely experienced. The times of prayer were truly precious, uniting those present in the desire to experience the Lord's power in ourselves and in the churches.

The Leicester Covenant, as it was known, was the fruit of the gathering and best expresses the determination of those present to see the reviving of the work of the Lord in his people.

In looking back on those momentous days - and they were momentous - several facts need to be emphasised:

i) The Leicester Conference was not sudden inspiration of a handful of men. It can only be understood in the light of the shameful state of the churches at that time, the poor level of ministry, the petty divisions, the unthinking traditionalism and the sheer apathy. Over a period of several years this was a growing concern, as reflected in the prayer conferences. Leicester was the culmination of this concern.

ii) It brought together ministerial brothers in Christ who in the normal course of events would never have met; men distanced from each other, mostly by traditional stance and suspicion, only a few geographically. The discovery was that we had far more in common than the differences that kept us apart.

iii) This was not just a ministerial movement. Pastors had rightly taken a lead in seeking true spiritual unity. The aim was to involve churches. While their pastors were at Leicester the churches were encouraged to be unceasing in prayer. My own church planned 7am prayer meetings each morning in the preceding week. It followed the outline of Mr Phillimore's address in April, with a series of weekend meetings entitled Barrenness, Brokenness and Blessing. In consequence the pastor returned to an expectant people!

To quote Clifford Pond again: 'No programme was initiated or scheme devised, but gradually a new spirit of hopefulness and unity began to percolate through the churches, and for some of us at least, though the impact has lessened through the years, it has never entirely left us. It is my view that the Lord heard our cry and that if he had not, he would have discarded this group of churches long ago. It is also my view that something similar is needed again.'

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