Weekly Prayer Focus

Foulsham is a small village in north Norfolk and for over 200 years has been home to Foulsham Baptist Church which is located on the main road right in the centre of the village. For the past four years the church has been led by minister Rev Nick Mitchell. Over half the congregation live within walking distance and the other half travel to the village from the surrounding areas.  There are also regular and returning holiday visitors to the church including those with weekend homes nearby. There are 30-40 gathering on Sundays in the church congregation. The membership is mainly older but there is a Sunday club for children on alternate weeks and a monthly informal café-style service which recently included an infant dedication. During…

Godmanchester is an expanding town near Huntingdon which retains a great community feel.  Godmanchester Baptist Church was founded in 1845 and has met at the heart of the community ever since – with one move of site in the 1990s and a complete redevelopment of the premises over the last ten years.  Daniel Beckett and Carolyn Keats are the pastors and they work with the Leadership Team and a large number of committed volunteers to head up the various congregations and activities. A snapshot of their recent summer activities, highlighting the way that there is something for everyone at GBC whatever age or stage of life, includes: A Children’s Holiday Club – three mornings of fun, excitement and being pirates! Looking at the life of…

The newly-made city of Southend is home to a number of Baptist churches.  One such fellowship is Avenue Baptist Church who are just a stone’s throw from the Cliffs Pavilion, in Westcliff-on-Sea. Rev Jane Guest has been the minister at Avenue for just over a year.  She joins the fellowship having been Chaplain at Fair Haven and Little Havens Hospice and, prior to that, she worked at Leigh Beck Baptist Church on Canvey Island. The church family at Avenue are working hard to reach out to their community.  Recently, the fellowship officially opened their revamped Courtyard Garden with a legacy in memory of one of their members. (see picture). Part of their vision is that “children are our ‘heritage’” and this seen in the growing…

There has been a lot in the news over these past few weeks about the mistreatment of women of all ages, social and ethnic backgrounds in our society. This has included local councils having to settle unequal pay claims made by women, to the alarming claims of harassment that women are facing working in the fire service, operating theatres in hospitals, and in the police service. It is in this kind of context and in recognition that God desires local churches to do the work of helping to build a more just world, so that there is equality, and diversity is valued, that Baptists Together developed the resource I Am Because You Are which is a video-based training course. Whilst this resource is aimed at Baptist ministers it…