William and Kate are welcome any time

Andrew Stammers of Radstock Baptist Church sent us this wonderful photo taken when the church opened its doors to show the Royal Wedding:

 We put on a free continental breakfast and lunch. The numbers that attended from the community and fellowship exceeded our expectations. The church was packed with people watching the wedding and the back room with children playing games and doing crafts.

This was another great event to build relationships as well as celebrating that fact that William and Kate were being united before God.

One lovely memory: When the announcement was made that William and Kate were shortly to make an appearance on the balcony, a young lad who was playing in the backroom thought, this meant they were coming to our church so we could see them on our balcony. They are of course welcome any time!

Jigsaw's Home Mission Mat

Andrew Stammers of Radstock Baptist Church sent us this lovely photo showing where a little bit of your Home Mission giving went this year:

The children attending JIGSAW, the toddler group at Radstock Baptist Church,  have a giant new play mat to use thanks to a Project Mission grant from the Baptist Union of Great Britain. This is the first stage in an extensive refurbishment of the Church school room and kitchen which the church hope to complete by the end of Spring.

JIGSAW meets on Tuesday mornings 10:00 - 11:30 at Radstock Baptist Church for play, crafts and songs whilst parents and carers have the opportunity to socialise and support one another. The group continues to grow; 52 children are now registered with 30-35 regularly attending each week. Excellent relationships are being formed and monthly 'seeker services' are now being started to help 'bridge the gap' to Sunday worship.

It is fantastic to see so many children happily playing at the group and we are keen to continue to improve facilities for our community so as to continue to build relationship.

Andrew Stammers

A big free gift 4 U

Thanks to Andrew Stammers , who has sent us this account of Christmas at Radstock Baptist Church in Somerset:

Our theme this Christmas in our outreach events was "A big free gift 4U".

We started by giving away free hot chocolate and mince pies at the turning on of the Christmas lights in the town. Each cup had a Christmas message printed on it. A great opportunity to meet the community and share the joy of Christ's birth.

At our Nativity service a giant Christmas pudding was made the traditional way with 13 separate ingredients (most of the ingredients landed up on the floor!)  which traditional represented Christ and the 12 disciples. No silver six pence was added as the gift of Christ at Christmas is not hidden. Everybody took home a Christmas pudding as a gift and the children had a bag of chocolate coins. Hopefully this will help them remember the meaning of Christmas although when asked why we have Christmas puddings at Christmas one young lad very confidently and seriously said "because that was what Jesus ate at the last Supper"!

On Christmas day Father Christmas appeared from within a giant 10 foot present (to the shock of the congregation!) with presents to named individuals plus, puzzling to him, a small baby (doll!) with a gift tag "4U". We discovered that it was for everybody - even those who had not behaved well, which Father Christmas found hard to accept.
 

Blessings
Andrew

Radstock Baptist Church

Thinking Big at Radstock

"We're a small church but we realise we've got to think big and expect big!" said Andrew Stammers, Minister in Training at Radstock Baptist Church in Somerset. In the run up to the World Cup the church went all out to let the community know that they were showing matches on their big screen. They had 1,000 flyers professionally designed and printed; they festooned the church with flags and inflatable footballs, and also got attention from the local newspaper.

"You've got to think like companies think" says Andrew, " find ways of attracting attention - I don't see anything wrong with that. The press are interested in why a church would show football in its main sanctuary - we've got to take advantage of that. The amount of people who say, yes, you're the church who showed football. It's been a big profile builder, if nothing else."

The matches themselves presented lots of opportunities for bonding, as older church members debated team formation with teenagers. The popularity of the matches tailed off after the England team came home, but the challenge, says Andrew, is to build on the community links they have begun to build.

The church have secured a Home Mission 'Mission through Project' grant to build a new kitchen.
"Our mission strategy is pretty much orientated around food" says Andrew. They already run 'jam' sessions for local musicians on Tuesdays evenings and on Sunday mornings, when a full fry up is included, and there are plans to use the 'Table Talk' resource as a way to invite people in for good food and discussion. (www.table-talk.org)

Andrew Stammers' energy is infectious when it comes to mission. "Give it a go!" he urges. "What's the worst that can happen? Tens of thousands of people don't know Christ, that's what."