Welcome back - Sunday 22nd September 2010

During the year of our 370th Anniversary we are inviting past Ministers back to preach, and today Michael Grantham - Minister from 1977 to 1983 returned to take our service. 
It was lovely to see him and his wife Rosemary.  He took many of us, who had shared his ministry, here down memory lane, giving anecdotes of folks who are now no longer with us, but who had made such an impression upon him.  He shared with us the happenings in his life over the last 27 years and he preached on John 1 1-14. He used the two well known phrases - "Come in, make yourself at home" and "You're not at home now" to emphasize that we are all welcome in God's house and we are to feel absolutely "at home" there. BUT whilst being most welcome we must be aware of the "house rules" and our behaviour, attitude and how we live our lives must adhere to those rules in all that we do and say.

After the service refreshments were served and then at 12.45 over 40 folks sat down to share one of our now famous "Bring and Share" lunches.  Needless to say a good time of food and fellowship was had by all. 

Thank you Michael for being with us, for sharing your memories and for leading our worship.  Hopefully it will not be another 27 years before you return!

Birthday cake for Reg

Church Member Reg Rose celebrated his 80th Birthday this week and his church family celebrated with him after church this Sunday.  Gina (his wife) had provided a gorgeous chocolate cake for us all to share, after singing Happy Birthday to him.  Congratulations Reg - we look forward to many more birthdays with you in the future.

Alcester Churches Together - BBQ

Members of ACT put on a BBQ lunch today (Saturday 17th July) and though a little breezy with occasional spots of rain, the weather was kind (after the thunderstorms of yesterday!
Head chef was Chris, able assisted by Ann, Ruth and Margaret and we enjoyed Hot dogs, salad, dressings, melon and cups of tea or coffee.  One of ABC members - Stephen was celebrating his 90th birthday and though a busy day for him with a family party in the evening he still made time to come and share his day with us at the BBQ. Thank you to all who helped and all who attended.

Alcester Civiv Service

Members of our church - Chris and Ann Gough - are Alcester's Mayor and Mayoress this year and they held their civic service with us this morning.

Lord Hertford and the Dowager
Marchioness were amongst the guests as was the High Sherriff of Warwickshire, Chairman of the District Council, Mayors of surrounding towns, the deputy Mayor of Alcester and members of the council, the High Bailiff and other distinguished guests.

The service was lead by our Pastor, Alastair Aird, and he took as his theme Luke 14 verses 1, and 7-11.  Chris and Ann had chosen hymns which reflected their testimonies of their love of the Lord and to their promise to serve their Lord always, alongside serving their colleagues on the Council, fellow members of the church as well as the people of Alcester.

After the service everyone was invited to share refreshments in the Main Hall.

It was a time to meet old friends and make new ones.  It was an opportunity to chat , and thus get to know better, both those we knew slightly and those we know well. 

We wish Chris and Ann a happy and successful year in all that they strive to do

Charity Market Afternoon

The annual Street Charity Market was held on 13th June and as usual we served refreshments on our front lawns.  The Theme this year was The Wild West.  We also opened up the church for a concert by the Alcester Male Voice Choir.  Thousands of people flocked the streets to samply the delights of the Market which is run by the High Bailiff and the Court Leet.  All organisations and businesses in the town are invited to become stallholders for the afternoon, selling their wares and splitting the profits between their own organisation and the High Bailiff's charities.  A cloudy and unsettled start to the day gave cause for concern but the Market opened at one thirty with a fine proceesion containing lots of cowboys and indians - more people than ever dressing up and entering into the spirit of the occasion.  The rain held off for the duration of the Market but spoiled the early evening when bands take to the streets to entertain the remaining crowds.  

New (very!) to the congregation

Alison, Garath and Sam are very pleased that Ruth arrived safe and well on Wednesday 26th May (two weeks early and weighing 5lbs 4ozs).  We were all delighted that the whole family joined us for worship this morning.  Congratulations to you all.

Unfortunately we are having to act on advice from child protection agencies and are not showing the faces of either Ruth or Sam.

370th Celebration Weekend

What a weekend!!!

It had been decided that as we were celebrating 370 years, we would put on a Flower Festival entitled "Flowers Through the Ages".  Eleven "rooms" or areas were created and eras or events chosen throughout the 370 years.  Research was done by Brenda to discover just what flowers and foliage was around in each of the chosen eras or events and then arrangers were allocated. 

Armfuls of flowers and foliage and carloads of props were brought into church and it was just amazing to watch the transformation as it took place. What talent! What patience! What creativity! 

After all the setting up had been completed the weary arrangers had a nervous night's sleep wondering if anyone would come to see their efforts and if they did, whether it would be approved of! 

Saturday dawned bright and sunny (the first nice day following many dull and cold days), some of our floral arrangers had another surprise for us - they had borrowed beautiful costumes to depict what a person would wear if they lived at the time of the era or event.  They looked fabulous. 

10.30am arrived and the first visitors came through the special archway which had been constructed over the gate.  We hope to use this archway on other special occasions and we are grateful to Jason for the hours and expertise he spent making it for us. 

Visitors, having been welcomed at the door, were given a plan of the "rooms" and were free to move through the ages.

If the trip became too tiring, guests were offered Tea,Coffee and Cookies to bolster them and if there were around over lunchtime then a ploughman's lunch was available too. 

One corner of the church had been set aside to show artefacts and information regarding the history of the church.  Jacqui, who wrote "The Alcester Baptist Story 1640-1990" for our 350th celebrations, once again provided a fascinating collection of memorabilia for visitors to see.  She was also on hand to answer questions.  Jacqui's book together with later additions had been turned into a Powerpoint presentation by Cath and this ran continuously during the day.  Visitors stopping to watch bits, or all or it as they worked their way around the church.

So many people came, the church and hall became filled to overflowing! The atmosphere was wonderful, everyone seemed enthralled with what they saw and they were kind enough to tell us so.  The Festival closed a little later than planned and we scurried home for a quick bite to eat (and maybe some had a rest) before coming back in the evening for a very special treat. 

The Reverend Doctor Derek Tidball had kindly accepted our invitation to speak on our special weekend.  Alastair introduced him, we sang some lovely hymns and then were treated to the first of two "sermons".  This was on "Faith" and we were, uplifted, encouraged, chastised, taught, and a whole lot more!  The time flew by and we had a cuppa and refreshments before being treated to a second "sermon", this time on "Love".  Once again being led through well known verses, we were given new insights, new interpretations and asked to sometimes think more deeply about what "Love" truly is, and how we should show Christian love.  We certainly came away with lots to think about and we thank Derek for giving us such a wonderful message.  Home again for a night's sleep! 

Up Sunday morning to have our Anniversary Service, led by our Pastor/Teacher Alastair.  What a wonderful turnout!  Lots of our own folk and a number of visitors.  We had lovely hymns and Alastair preached on Psalm 126.  He gave Praise and thanks for the Past, prayers for the Present and promises for the Future.  Once again we were guided to look more deeply into the words of the passage and we were helped to see the hope which is promised for the future.  

We had a birthday cake with candles (blown out by our oldest member attending - Dorothy - 98 last month) and we sang "Happy Anniversary".  After Service we had Coffee and Anniversary Cake.  This was followed later by one of our special Bring and Share lunches and the spread was incredible!  The talk and laughter was a joy to hear. 

The Flower Festival, due to open again at 2.0pm, started prematurely at 1.0pm by folks knocking on the door and asking if they could possible come and see the flowers a little early!  Lunches were hastily concluded, costumes donned and off we went again.   

Chis having just taken on the mantle of Mayor, together with Ann, had attended the High Bailiff's Service this morning and he invited many folk to come and visit the Festival before they set off home.  This resulted in visits from the High Sherrif of Warwickshire and his wife and other visiting dignitaries together with friends from various organisations in the town.

By 3.30pm there were some weary folk and after the Festival closed at 4.0pm it was decided that those left would sit down and relax over a final cuppa and some leftovers, before clearing up and going home. 

Hopefully this account and the pictures have gone some way towards showing you just what a wonderful weekend we have had. 

Hard work - yes, tiring - yes, worthwhile - yes, yes, yes! 

Worthy of God - we truly hope so. 

So 370 years have passed since those first Baptists broke away from the established church and there have been so many witnesses for the Lord, down through those years.  We are mindful that we are now the custodians of this place of worship, as well as witnesses for the Lord in this place in 2010. We pray that, supporting each other in our Faith, loving God and each other, and seeking God's grace, we can carry forward this witness into the years ahead. 

Easter 2010

We have had a busy weekend -

Good Friday saw us on the Alcester Churches Together "Walk of Witness" round the town.  The weather was kind to us - even though heavy rain had been forcast it only rained at the end of the walk whilst we were having our coffee and hot cross buns!

In the evening we shared worship with our friends at the Methodist Church.

Easter Saturday we held our Daffodil Cross Service on the hillside on the outskirts of Alcester.  The daffodils were not quite out and we got a trifle wet coming down the hill in the pouring rain.

     (2009 photo)           

Easter Sunday we celebrated! 

The "Sonrise" service was held at 5.45am and once again it was fine, though not very warm.  On our return to the farm we were able to see a newly born calf before sharing coffee and hot cross buns.

  (2009 photos)

Our morning worship was packed with wonderful hymns and we had a number of visitors.  Christ is risen! Alleluiah.

Unfortunately because I had a heavy cold I missed it all (except the morning worship) so only a few new photos available kindly taken on the walk by hubby Keith. 

Sunday 7th March

At our recent Annual Church Meeting two Deacons were re-elected to serve for a further three years.  These were Brenda Kirkman and Catherine Tomlinson. Just prior to celebrating the Lord's Supper a re-dedication service was held for them and the continuing members of the Diaconate. 

New Baby for our Link Missionaries:-

News of our link Missionaries, Harland, Gill and Igny via an email news letter.  This is what they say:-

We plan to spend Christmas in our new home in Iquitos then will leave for Lima on 4 January, staying there for around 1 month to sort out our residency. We hope to have the baby in Lima sometime around mid to late January before returning to Iquitos early February. This will also give Harland the opportunity to facilitate another workshop with the Peruvian Baptist Convention in early January.

Open House at the Manse

On Friday 11th December we were all invited to Open House at the Manse and we were welcomed throughout the day being served with Coffee or Tea and delicious goodies, all topped with good helping of informal chat amongst us all.  Thank you Ruth and Alastair for a lovely day.

Cafe Style Service - 13th December

On Sunday 13th December we tried something different!  We had a Cafe Style Service.  The church had been set out with tables covered with cloths and laid with water, glasses and bowls of nibbles!  Also on each table there were different items of the Nativity, some had animals, some shepherds, some kings, and one had Mary, Joseph and another had baby Jesus.  Around each table were chairs and as we arrived we were asked to sit at one of the tables and to help ourselves to the drinks and nibbles.  Folks were quite intrigued and there was a hub-bub of conversation, so much so that when Ann wanted to start the service she had difficulty being heard!!!! 

However, she did eventually get silence and she welcomed everyone and said how thrilled she was that so many folk had come along.  She then explained how the service was going to run and started the service with a prayer.  She and Lynne took turns to introduce the sections of the service and we started by being treated to a Song by Grace which was beautifully sung and this was followed by the lighting of the third advent candle.  Next Olivier danced for us and again it was beautiful.  (Apologies for no pictures of either of these as it is our policy not to use pictures of young people on our site).  Then as we sang carols and listened to the familiar story of the birth of our Lord, we were asked to bring up to the Stable, the various characters which had been placed on our tables. By the close of the service our Nativity Scene was built.  We ended by watching a DVD of "The Bethlehem Challenge", which was very amusing but carried a message for us all.  At the close of the service we were served Coffe/Tea and Mince Pies.  What a lovely service.  Thank you, Ann and Lynne and all those who took part in any way to make this so special.  Roll on the next opportunity to have a Cafe Style Service.

Getting ready for a busy Sunday

On Friday 4th December we had our usual TIME-OUT prayer meeting with our Christmas Tree laid out lengthways down the centre aisle!  But soon afterwards Keith got to work fixing the lights and decorations on to the top half of the tree.

Then the heavy gang came in to lift it into place and he and Ruth completed the decoration.

Toy/Gift Service -
This morning we celebrated our Toy/Gift Service where gifts were given, to be distributed later to Gilgal Women's Refuge, Birmingham: Birmingham City Mission Toy-Link: and Genesis Shop on the Manor Estate, Sheffield.  The church was full with many folk having to go up into the Balcony so we were delighted. 

The Service was attended by
The High Bailiff and members of the Court Leet, The Mayor and members of the Town Council.  Gwen Rowe our oldest member of the congregation having just celebrated her 100th birthday, also came along with her daughter. The service was very meaningful, taking the title of "Christmas Unwrapped" and guiding us all, this Christmas, to truly recognise and open "The most wonderful gift of all". 

After the service we shared coffee/tea and mince pies together.

      

St Nicholas Market 
On then to the next part of our busy day.  Alcester High Street was closed for traffic and set up with all manner of stalls and entertainments. We sold Christmas decorations and hot chocolate and coffee (very welcome on this cold afternoon!) Thanks to Darren for providing the wonderful stall frontage.  The market closed at 6.30pm with a magnificent firework display.  The stall was taken down and folks went home for a "well-earned" rest after a hectic but rewarding day.

Quarterly Church Meeting - 19th November

A special part of the meeting was to receive into membership two couples who have moved into the area and "settled" into our fellowship.

Janet and David Ireland have moved into Oversley Green and join us from their previous church in Woking.  Welcome to you both.

Reg and Gina are joining us from Yorkshire, though Reg was a member of our church 30 years ago before moving to Yorkshire.  Welcome to Gina and welcome back to Reg.

Both couples will be welcomed officially into membership at morning worship on 29th November.

Ladies Day - Saturday 31st October

What a wonderful day - we had been given personal invitations, and we came along to be greeted by a welcoming handshake, a warm church, friendly faces, a cup of coffee or tea and plates full of chocolate biscuits!

Ann greeting
June.

Folks getting settled.

At 10.30am Lynne led us in a time of worship, during which candles were lit and beautiful sentences read.

Then at just before 11.0am Ruth introduced Grace to us.  (Some of us had attended a previous day with her in 2008 so we knew we were in for a wonderful time!).

Grace talked to us about the Holy Spirit and how God's willingness to fill us to overflowing, was there waiting for us, if we were just willing to ask him to fill us. 

She gave many wonderful illustrations of how people had come to be filled with the spirit during her various ministries.  She said that like a good human father who wants only the best for his sons and daughters, God wants only the best for all of us.  Just as human sons and daughters we all have different needs and react differently to situations, God also knows that we will receive him in different ways and will therefore he will "come to us" individually - for some it may be a noisy, jubilant filling and for others a quiet, serene but none the less jubilant filling.  But she assured us the offer to be fillied was there for us all.

Next we went into the Main Hall where a most delicious lunch had been set out for us. 

We had some wonderful help in the kitchen and thanks must be recorded here to Alastair, Chris, John and Grace's husband for the preparation, washing up and clearing away that they did.  (They were not too keen to be photographed but I did sneek a picture of them.)  Thanks all of you.

Then it was back into church for our next session, when Grace helped us to understand what we needed to do to be filled by the Holy Spirit.  She conclueded with a time of prayer in which those who wished her to pray over them individually raised their hand.  It was a moving and uplifting time together.

Ruth concluded the day by offering us all the opportunity to partake in the Lord's Supper and again during the final prayer, Grace offered prayer to individuals.

Everyone was then handed a bookmark containing a bible verse together with a beautifully wrapped candle as a momento of the day.

No-one could have left without feeling sure of what God wants us to have in such abundance.  We were also made to feel, cherished and very very special, not only by him but by our Alcester Baptist church family too.

Thank you Ruth, Lynne, Ann, Sarah and Grace for truly being God's hands and feet on earth and making us feel all these things.

Sunday 28th September - Back to Church Sunday

Prayers had been said each week, personal invitations had been given out and we were able to welcome some new folk, some folk who come occasionally and some who were coming back after long absences.  It was a beautiful and uplifting service.  We gathered for tea/coffee and lots of chat afterwards and a good time was had by all. 

Friday, Saturday and Sunday 18-20th September

On Friday the Church was busy with people coming and going - some brought much needed produce and flowers, others stayed and concocted beautiful displays in all sorts of areas of the Church - windows, baptistry, porch, steps, you name it, it was decorated!

The windows had been allotted different colours and the arrangers worked within that particular colour scheme.  Produce was eagerly sought to match in with schemes but thankfully there was enough to share so there were no arguments!

On Saturday we opened the doors and invited folks to come and see the results.

Proceeds were for Home Mission and BMS with envelope donations going to our Harvest appeal - Seeds of Hope.

We were thrilled with the number of folk who came along and had coffee, or ploughmans lunch, or tea and cakes.

Not only were there flowers to see, books and cards to buy for there was also an exhibition of artefacts from the 150 years of our present Church building.  Many folk were delighted to see pictures of themselves taken many years earlier!

What a Sunday!

Firstly we had the dedication of our new lectern copy of the NIV Bible. The McCowen family had given this bible in memory of John McCowen who had been a member of ABC for over twenty years. 

On the left John's wife June together with the family

On the right the bible and it's inscription

During his time in the church, John often read the morning scripture and many of us have fond memories of listening to him, bringing the scriptures alive in his own inimitable way.  Now these memories will be strengthened as we read from his memorial bible each Sunday.  Thank you the McCowen family for giving us this lovely present.

But it didn't stop there!!!  Next we had a Baptism

Stephen Jones had requested to have a Believers Baptism and to become a member of the Church. 

It was wonderful to learn at a recent Church Meeting that Stephen was a man "truly on the move for God".  It was reported that his zeal for the Lord was tremendous and certainly those of us lucky enough be alongside him can actually "feel it". 

It was such a delight to witness his "rebirth in Christ" this morning and because of the new projector equipment everyone in the church had the chance to actually watch his baptism on the screen even though the full church prevented them seeing into the actual baptistry. 

Just prior to partaking of the Lord's Supper we had the pleasure of seeing Alastair welcome Stephen into Church Membership.

At the close of the service refreshments were served and we had a chance to chat. 

Then 26 of us concluded our busy but wonderful morning by sharing a "Faith Lunch".