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
In September two members, along with two of the congregation, at Laindon Baptist Church ran the Baptist Union Wellsprings course. Wellsprings is an eight week course for women which combines some ‘me time’ with an opportunity to look at issues which affect women today from a Christian perspective. It was written by Leisa Barton, one of the ministers at Chelmsford Baptist Church and is published by the Mission Department.
Laindon Baptist is a small church with limited finance so an application was made for a BU Mission Grant. The grant meant that we were able to buy covers for the sofas we had been given and sew cushions to make the room we were going to use more comfortable and less like a waiting room with chairs around the walls. We were also able to buy some equipment, including a simple coffee machine so we could serve proper coffee easily. People from the church were asked to make home made cakes to serve at Wellsprings.
We chose to run the course fortnightly, as it made practical arrangements with children and partners easier for those who attended. Each . . . → Read More: 12 for 12 Week 2: Laindon Baptist Church
History
In 1926, Winter Gardens Mission was begun as a church plant from a local Baptist church, but for the first 83 years of its’ existence, the congregation had no stipendiary leadership. Through the years, several lay pastors and moderators gave time voluntarily to support the work of the mission.
However, by the commitment of the small but determined fellowship, and with the guidance and support of a moderator, a reserve was built up over several years. Together with a Home Mission grant, the church was able to call a Minister-in Training from Spurgeon’s college in 2009. At that time, the Sunday morning congregation numbered 12-17, and there had been one baptism in the previous twenty-five years.
We are thankful to God that two years on, our numbers have doubled and we have had the joy of three baptisms in 2011.
Schools
Strong links have been forged with the two primary schools immediately opposite the church. In October, all the children from one school attended harvest services in the church, together with about 100 adults. In December we held two carol services in the school at which 450 people were present. The school choir sang at our ‘Carols by Candlelight’ . . . → Read More: Winter Gardens Baptist Church – Canvey Island
Mission Project grants give funding for mission initiatives in churches where the lack of funds would otherwise prevent these missional ideas from getting off the ground. The application has to come from the church meeting, via the Association. The Church accounts must accompany the application. Some will be projects that are directly evangelistic, others will be bridge building projects that will enable evangelism to develop in the church. Areas of social deprivation will take priority when there are insufficient funds to meet all the applications
Grants are not normally awarded for building work or for audio visual equipment
2012
Hawkwell Baptist Church have invited local schools to the church for 5 years now to experience the Christmas story through a “labrynth” during Advent. 2000 children have gone through their doors with as many parents and school staff.
They wanted to use this successful model to share more of the Easter story with the contacts they have built up over these 5 years. This telling of the Easter story will link in with the school Key Stage groups. The community will also be invited to this Easter Labrynth so that more people will engage with the meaning of Easter.
A . . . → Read More: Mission Project Grants awarded recently to EBA churches
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 Focus Edition 21 (Autumn 2011) is now in churches and here
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