The memorial stones were laid on November 2nd 1881 by the minister, also by a previous minister of Dagnall St. Baptist Church, Rev. T. Watts and others by Alderman Hurlock, and Mrs H. Marshall whose husband was later to become Lord Mayor of London.  The opening Dedication Services were held before the building was completed on 22nd July 1882.  Temporary seating had to be improvised among the builders materials and many of the congregation had to stand through the service which was led by a choir and string orchestra.  It is believed that the total cost of the building was £2000 the major part of which was obtained from loans from many prominent people including C. H. Spurgeon.  Six years after the opening, over half the amount was still outstanding and indeed it was many years before the church was completely free from debt.

Right from that very first Sunday in July 1880 a Sunday School had been held, meeting in the home of Mr. Charles Gentle in French Row, a prayer meeting was also held there each Monday evening.  As soon as the Tabernacle was opened these meetings transferred to the Chapel.  A meeting was held on 18th August 1882 to organise a full Sunday School, the minutes of these Sunday School meetings are in fact the earliest records we have of the work at Tabernacle.  There were nine teachers on the staff of the school which grew in leaps and bounds such that by January 1883 the teachers decided that the minimum qualification for an attendance prize was 48 whole attendances, i.e. morning and afternoon attendance.  By July 1883 the numbers were such that the Senior Bible class was being asked to find other accommodation.

In 1884 the teachers meeting had agreed to present prizes only to those scholars who had attended the maximum 52 full attendances, even so the total prize bill amounted to £l-l2-ld (£1-60p), first prizes costing 2/- (10p), second prizes 9d to 1/- (4-5p).  By the end of the year the afternoon sessions were staggered,. the Sunday School meeting at 2:30 so that the Bible Class could follow on at 3:30.

With this kind of pressure it was evident that a schoolroom was essential.  A piece of land at the back of the Chapel fronting New Kent Road was bought for £120 and on 14th July 1886 stones were laid for the new schoolroom.  Four days later the teachers' meeting decided that in addition to the proposed treat for all Sunday School scholars to be given by Mr. Maple to mark the opening of Clarence Park, they would provide the usual treat for Tabernacle scholars on Wednesday 28th July at 12:45.  Each teacher was to provide tea for their class, the small children would be taken by van to the meadow by the Ver.  The Secretary was asked to obtain a man, horse and van at the best possible price.  In the winter further ‘treats’ for the children were given, usually lectures with "dissolving views" which seem to have been very popular, admission being charged at ld (0.5p) for Sunday School scholars 2d (1p) for others and 3d (1.5p) or 6d (2.5p) for adults.

The Church was also growing in numbers during this time and there was good attendance at Saturday evening prayer meetings as well as the Sunday services. For the first eighteen years of the Church’s life the minister also acted as Secretary. Whilst he did keep some records of the early days no formal minutes of Church business meetings were kept until 1890.  An Annual meeting of Church and congregation was held on March 19th 1890 with tea provided at which accounts were presented.  There were evidently five funds each with its own treasurer who had to be one of the deacons.

The Incidental fund for which quarterly collections were made raised £30 of which £10 went to the caretaker, a full time job, with the remaining going on fuel, gas and water.

Offerings made at the Communion Services amounting to £12 were distributed, half to poor members, and the rest to charities including the City Hospital.  The Ministers Fund showed that he received £112 that year.  This was a similar amount to that paid to the Chief Constable of the City’s police force of 13 constables. The constables themselves got between £1-2-9d (£1.13p) and £l-11-6d (£1.57p) for a seven day week at this time.

The receipts for the Building Fund were only £29 though the loan repayments and interest totalled £53.  The total amount still outstanding on the building was £891 of which £600 was owed to an insurance company, £70 was owed to the Smith Marten Bank in the High St. (now Barclays), £46 to the Treasurer and the remainder to Mr. Spurgeon.  Last of all the Sunday School building account showed a deficit on the year of £10 which had been made up by the minister.

In 1891 the Church became a member of the Hertfordshire Union of Baptist Churches despite the fact that one of the Church’s main benefactors, Spurgeon, was withdrawing from the Baptist Union following his initiation of what became known as the Down Grade Controversy.  Spurgeon died in 1892, no reference is made to this in the church records although £100 was still owing to him from the Building Fund.

1892 was also the year in which Mrs. Taylor died, and it would appear that Mr. Taylor himself was ill and spent some months convalescing in travel in Russia. The local paper of the time records that he gave a number of lectures on Russia on his return.

The Church had a Choir at this time and during the period 1890 to 1895 took part in a number of Choir Festivals which were held at the Alexandra Palace in North London.

Music has been an important part of the life in the latter day Non-Conformist churches.  Apart from the choir activities musical evenings and concerts were held on Good Friday and at the regular bazaars which were held at the Town Hall.

Mention is made in one of the minutes of a deacons meeting of the loan of a polyphon and a gramophone to provide musical background to one sale of work.

A particular feature were the musical and elocution items that were often given following the Annual Church and congregation meetings by friends from as far away as Welwyn.