By Hayley Beckett on 24th November 2021
It was so encouraging to be able to meet together online and also onsite at Upminster Baptist Church for the induction service of Rev Claire Blatchford and Rev Gale Richards as Regional Ministers in the Eastern Baptist Association on Sunday 14th November 2021.
During the service, we heard from our team leader, Rev Beth Powney, Gale and Claire about how God has been at work leading us all to this point. The induction, which was conducted by the EBA moderator, Rev Fiona Heddle and Beth Powney, was followed by prayer for our new Regional ministers before Jeniya Gwendu, who was until recently the EBA moderator, prayed for the new EBA regional Team.
Rev Jane Day preached a sermon that was encouraging, uplifting and challenging. She spoke to the whole congregation but also offered personal encouragements to Claire and Gale and as a part of this, she also noted that Gale was ‘the first black baptist woman regional minister to be appointed in the Baptist Union of Great Britain’
We were so grateful to Upminster Baptist Church for hosting the service and for the welcome that Rev Mark Davison gave to us at the start of the service.
The whole service is available to watch online https://youtu.be/bvPxQrxdPTU but we have also produced two shorter videos:
The telling the story that led to this point, induction and prayer sections from the service https://youtu.be/Gnt6l62Zv9Q
The sermon. Rev Jane Day preaching from Mark 10.46-52 https://youtu.be/OLuqxuEveGI
If any churches would like mp4 copies of these videos for use in services then please get in touch.
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