Oakridge Baptist Church has occupied the site on the corner of Oakridge/Jubilee Roads and provided services, both religious and social, since 1902. The original building was opened as a Sunday school for 250 children, as an extension of Union Baptist Church. A building fund for a new Church was first set up in 1912; this was interrupted by World War I, during part of which the military took over the building for all but Sundays, and in 1920 Union Baptist Church took the bold decision to build a new Church in order to complete the original scheme.
Eighteen years later, in March 1938, plans for this new Church were eventually passed, and work carried on despite the outbreak of World War II, with a grand opening on Saturday 17th February, 1940. Before then, in 1939, part of the School premises were taken over for the education of children evacuated from London (until 1943), and from September 1940 refugees from London were housed in the Church.
Today
Alongside our regular worship services, we have a long and proud history of extensive community involvement. We are an approved centre for the collection and distribution of surplus good quality food via the FareShare charity network which fights hunger by tackling food poverty and waste.
We are pleased to support the Community Friendly Fridge which runs parallel to our existing food
outreach programme; providing bags of food, hygiene products and hot meals from our premises on a twice-weekly basis throughout the year. Seasonal community meals, NHS health checks, art classes and allotment initiatives also link into the Community Friendly Fridge.
We also host weekly FoodCycle meals and share the FoodCycle charity's vision to make food poverty, food waste and loneliness a thing of the past by creating welcoming spaces for people from all walks of life to meet, eat and have conversations, in order to promote health and mental wellbeing.
The need for these food services has increased dramatically since the COVID 19 pandemic and the current cost of living crisis has exacerbated the problem. We are a widely known and a familiar venue for our food outreach initiatives and considered a safe space to help those most in need within our community.
Our twice monthly Coffee and Chat for more senior folk; and the 2nd High Wycombe Boys’ Brigade with Girls’ Association which meets weekly during term time for children and young people aged 5-18; are indicative of the varied demographic we embrace as a fellowship. Further information available here or contact Calvin Hanks: thebbandga@gmail.com
We are also home to Tamil and Bulgarian Churches who meet weekly on Sundays.