In September 2005 the fellowship of Lode Chapel (with the help of a Home Mission Grant) called Simon Goddard as their ‘Minister-in-Training’ whilst he undertook three years of church-based theological study at Spurgeon’s College. Lode is situated about 8 miles north east of Cambridge city and the Chapel served five rural villages: Lode with Longmeadow, Stow-cum-Quy, Swaffham Bulbeck, Swaffham Prior and Bottisham. The membership of Lode Chapel had been declining, and in 2005 stood at around twenty members.
As a consequence of a recent mission consultancy, there was awareness amongst the fellowship that some sort of worshipping presence was needed in Bottisham, the largest of the local villages and the natural hub of the area. During the first half of 2006 the church held three ‘trial’ services in the hall at Bottisham Community Primary School – it was a space that local children and parents were familiar with, and was within walking distance for many of them. These first three services had a slightly more informal and interactive format than a Chapel service, but disappointingly for the fellowship, very few non-regulars attended these services, and the next step was unclear.
At the same time Lode Chapel was preparing for its . . . → Read More: 12 for 12 Week 12: The Story of RE:NEW
Ian Bunce had identified that there were several thousand Portuguese speaking migrant workers in the area of the fens, in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and into the East Midlands.
Tracy Morton at Bishop’s Stortford, who had worked in Brazil, recognised a similar trend in the vicinity of Stansted Airport. Ian gathered partners and Jorge and Hermalinda Damseceno were called, along with their children, to come and help churches to share the Gospel with the Portuguese speakers.
Five years on, churches have been planted, people have come to faith and been baptised, ministers have been called.
Home Mission is one of the partners that is supporting AMIGOS.
Jorge & Hermalinda take up the story…….
Within the EBA geographical boundaries it is becoming common in many cities and towns to meet with people, whether in the shops or markets, from other nationalities and ethnic backgrounds. In many churches of our region the presence and, sometimes the involvement of people other than English is becoming more frequent.
When the Amigos Project was set up, we specifically aimed at the Portuguese speaking migrants, by the way, some people think that they come just from Portugal, . . . → Read More: 12 for 12 Week 11: Amigos Project
In 2005 Harold Hill Baptist Church shut and Romford Baptist Church Main Road took on the buildings with the hope of planting a new work.
In 2009 Romford Baptist Church and Urban Expression formed a partnership to plant a new church. Those planting the church would be Urban expression team members. Which means that the church is being planted with the core values of Relationship-Creativity-Humility-Commitment ..
In the summer of 2009, Alison, Richard and their children moved to Harold Hill, Essex. Shorty after this they were joined by Steve and Lauren Tinning. Their aim was simple, plant a Baptist church.
Click here to see the whole story of what happened next
Elmswell Baptist Church is celebrating its’ 125th Anniversary in 2012. To be precise it is celebrating 125 years of the building as it didn’t become affiliated to the BU until 1930 something. The building is a tin tabernacle which we have modernised internally over the years – more needs doing!
We are one of the smallest churches in the Union with a membership of 9 and a congregation of 15 if we’re all there, apart from at our monthly All-Age Service at which their might be up to 8 extras. Stephen Spurgeon provides pastoral oversight and usually takes two services a month, including the All-Age Service.
We have a monthly Ladies Friendship Group which attracts around 15 ladies some of whom have no church connections. Speakers come to talk/demonstrate on a wide variety of subjects.
Also monthly is our Food ‘n’ Friends Club which is a lunch club for the older folk. This was started with help from Age UK and has (along with the church generally) benefited from a grant from Home Mission which enabled us to equip the kitchen which we had installed a couple of years ago and 4 round tables which provide a better atmosphere than . . . → Read More: 12 for 12 Week 9: Elmswell Baptist Church
Over a year ago we experienced two burglaries at Church within six months. This meant police visits, rectifying damage, making insurance claims and worst of all, as you probably know, the loss of a few special, more personal things and the sheer sick feeling in the stomach when you are committed to your local community and work with it day by day.
At the Sunday service, directly after the second break-in, we were completing a cloth collage. It involved making three cloths that depicted the story of Noah and on the third is a large rainbow, the symbol of God’s promised future protection against any further flood over the whole earth. In our Church prayers, we were praying for this to be true for us, too; that God would protect us from any further burglaries, at least for a significant period. The cloths now hang at the front of the Church and are admired by a lot of visitors.
On the Monday (just one day later) the Family Project Manager and I were in the office when a man was shown in by one of the Pre-School team. He wanted to talk to us and had a gift. He explained . . . → Read More: 12 for 12 Week 8: Fulmerston Baptist Church
As a church, and as a staff team, we have been very blessed by the work of our Home Mission funded Regional Association over the past year. As well as always being at the other end of the phone for all sorts of questions and queries, and offering us much encouragement and friendship, we have been particularly blessed in three ways:
FINDING A NEW LEAD PASTOR
Our Search for a new Senior Pastor began in September 2010 while our current Senior Pastor (due to retire in June 2011) was still with us. Having enjoyed 29 years of Jim Hamilton’s ministry none of the Leadership Team had experience of looking for a Senior Pastor using the settlement process alone.
Sheila Martin, our Regional Minister, had agreed to meet with the Leadership Team to talk us through the settlement process and to give us the benefit of her experience and to support us as we discerned the best way forward in our particular situation. After this initial meeting and our subsequent decision to start a search prior to our Senior Pastor retiring (with his blessing) we invited Sheila to come to our June church meeting to speak about the changes that we . . . → Read More: 12 for 12 Week 7: Shoeburyness & Thorpe Bay Baptist Church
 At our Christmas Eve service, we had over 100 people attend; there was literally standing room only. Of these, probably two-thirds were guests who rarely if ever venture into a church. Let us tell you some of the stories (names have been changed)…
Elizabeth was there with her grandchildren Sam and Mark. We first got to know Elizabeth (the Mum of an ex-Cambridge United player) when she was diagnosed with Cancer. Stuart (our Minister) began to visit her and as a Church we prayed for her during this time. When her daughter had the first grandchild, they looked to have him christened but weren’t made to feel welcome at another church so they got in touch with us to see if we could help. Stuart put together a service of Infant Blessing. Soon after this, Elizabeth’s daughter Ruth began attending the Church. When Mark was born we held another service of blessing. Ruth has come through to faith, is now a regular in Church and attends a small group. Stuart will have the privilege of marrying Ruth and her fiancé Stephen this coming summer.
Adam and Sue were there. Adam . . . → Read More: 12 for 12 Week 6: Barnwell Baptist Church
Just imagine… what could happen if there was the opportunity to start all over again? This rare privilege has been the experience of Beacon Community Church in coastal NE Norfolk.
For over 150 years a Baptist Church was based in the current buildings. Sadly, over the years, a gradual decline led to the church becoming untenable. In conjunction with the Eastern Baptist Association a decision was made to close the existing church and plant another. Whilst many considered this to be a resurrection of an older work, in reality it was something completely new.
I was asked to lead this new work that started in March 2009. The obvious downside to a new venture was that there is no-one else to blame for our mistakes but ourselves! The considerable upside was that we could build firm Word and Spirit foundations, establish a new culture of expectation, and be open to all that God had for us.
Starting from scratch had implications in many areas including finance. We are in receipt of Home Mission funding that has been a key part of our financial provision for the past two years and, we trust, for the immediate future. Mission Project grants have also enabled . . . → Read More: 12 for 12 Week 5: Beacon Community Church, Bacton
Gunton Baptist Church is set in the middle of a housing estate in north Lowestoft, an area that has been identified as having many and varied needs. The previous Minister, Rev Colin Napper was in post here at Gunton for over 30 years and he was instrumental in inspiring the church to reach out and serve the community, this was done in many diverse ways.
When Colin retired in 2010, this big hearted church decided that they wanted to continue the wonderful community work that was being done, and so working as part of the Gunton Community Partnership, an organisation that had been co-founded by Rev Napper, and also with ‘Signpost’ the outreach wing of the Church that has grown to become a charitable organisation in its own right, the Church continued to reach out and serve the community of Gunton.
In August 2011, after being without a minister for just over a year, the church called me, June Love, to be their ‘Minister in training’. This means that I spend my time split half and half between my Ministerial studies at Spurgeon’s College, and the other half here as Minister of Gunton Baptist Church. This small Church, consisting of . . . → Read More: 12 for 12 Week 4: Gunton Baptist Church
Safeguarding
As part of our commitment to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, each Baptist church is expected to follow safeguarding procedures and good practice. These are set out in the BU publications “Safe From Harm” and “Safe To Grow”. The latest edition of “Safe To Grow”, published in 2011, is acclaimed as the best yet, showing clearly which aspects of safeguarding are statutory requirements, which are good practice and which would be good if possible. Both safeguarding publications can be obtained from the BUGB website or, free of postage at an Eastern Baptist Association (EBA) Safeguarding training.
The EBA run Safe To Grow or Safeguarding training sessions several times through the year and these are normally led by Richard Lewis or by Sheila Martin. Running from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm the training is held at venues across the region. It is delivered free of charge. The cost of the training is covered by the EBA from your Home Mission Giving and the host church provides the venue and hospitality. The average attendance is in the region of 50 people at each training. It is recommended that each person in a leadership role or with direct contact with children in . . . → Read More: 12 for 12 Week 3: Child Protection
|
 Focus Edition 23 (Spring 2012) is now in churches and here
|
