Baptist Times set to close
After over 150 years The Baptist Times will close
One of Britain’s most prominent religious publications is set to close down after more than 150 years. The Baptist Times will cease publication in December. The paper’s directors attributed the decision to ‘falling circulation and difficulties of selling advertising space’. Due to financial problems, the paper has relied for several years on a subsidy from the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB), from which it is editorially independent.
The weekly newspaper covers a range of religious, social and political issues. News of Quakers has frequently appeared in its pages. It was launched as The Freeman in 1855 and changed its name to The Baptist Times in 1899.
Mark Woods, editor of The Baptist Times, told the Friend he is ‘very sad’ about the paper’s closure. He said it had ‘provided a strong, editorially independent voice’. The BUGB includes over 2,000 churches with around 140,000 worshippers between them. Baptists emphasise the independence of local churches and the importance of voluntary commitment to Christ. In recent years they have added their voice to criticism of government cuts, nuclear weapons and the arms trade.
