Just Imagine
Baptist Assembly: Win Tickets!
London Olympics: A golden opportunity READ ONLINE AT WWW.BAPTIST.ORG.UK/BAPTISTLIFE
Opinion: David Shosanya
JAN - MAR ’12
Just Imagine by Jonathan Edwards - BUGB General Secretary
Our imagination is an amazing gift from God. At the beginning of this New Year I am sure that there are many sportsmen and sportswomen who are imagining that they will be mounting the podium to receive their hard won medal at the Olympic Games. Their vivid imagination will inspire them and help them to give their very best. But none of us should be left out! We all need to make good use of our imaginations. We may be imagining changes in our churches, our place of work, our families, our communities or our world. In our imagination we open our minds to a new way of seeing our world. It’s a good and helpful thing to do. As Christians we have every reason to want to use our imagination. It is good for us to imagine the miraculous things that God could do in our society, if only we gave him the chance. I was struck by a newspaper cutting from 1905 which told the story of a foundation stone laying service for a Baptist church in Plymouth. At the ceremony, the mayor pointed out that if the church did its work then there would be a need for fewer police and magistrates, and the consequence would be that the local council tax would go down! I love the way in which he was able to make a direct link between proclaiming the Good News and a changed society, right down to the detail about council tax! Look at your own community now and just imagine what it would look like with less crime, less family breakdown, less depression, less poverty.
As followers of Christ we can do a lot of imagining and through our giving we can often turn those imaginative thoughts into reality. I pray that this will be true in your local church, but as Christians we are continually urged to think beyond ourselves and our local communities. Through Home Mission we are able to do just that. Home Mission gives us an amazing opportunity to play our part in supporting the work of about 400 different people spread throughout the life of our Union – in local churches, chaplaincies, associations and at Baptist House in Didcot. This New Year will confront us with many challenges, and for many the financial challenges will be particularly sharp. This makes it all the more important that we seek to capture God’s vision for our churches, our society and our world. In our prayers we need to ask God to shape our imagination so that we will help to bring about the new world that he is seeking to create.
Credits: Baptist Life is edited by Chris Hall. Design by Flavour Design (James Stamp) Like the Baptist Union of Great Britain on Facebook www.facebook.com/baptistuniongb
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Just Imagine ...
Have you seen the latest Home Mission posters yet? The set of four ‘Just Imagine’ posters were sent to your Home Mission rep back in September and have proved very popular. Below two of the situations featured on the posters, Word on the Street and Jacob’s Well, express how your giving to Home Mission is allowing them to imagine and do exciting mission.
Just Imagine transforming the lives of young people...you are! Just Imagine helping to transform the lives of young people by giving to Home Mission you are!
just imagine if we didn’t...
Grant to support, equip and empower a Community Youth Worker through ‘Word on the Street’ (Gillingham, Kent)
At The Word on the Street we provide a parent & toddler group, after school clubs, youth club and a homework club to children and families on a housing estate in a highly deprived area of Gillingham, Kent. Staff offer personal support to a wide age range of children in need, encouraging personal development and achievement for each child and our activity programmes offer opportunities that would be otherwise inaccessible to most of them.
We have seen many deprived children and young people grow in confidence and self-esteem, or change from frustrated disaffected youths to maturing young adults. The feel and attitude throughout the estate has begun a transformation for the better and crime and anti-social behaviour has dropped sharply since our project has been running. Home Mission funding ensures that we can function as a missionary organisation and continue to transform the lives of children and young people in this community. Bill Clark, Community Youth Worker, Word on the Street (South Eastern Baptist Association) Home Mission supports, equips and empowers www.baptist.org.uk/home-mission
Just Imagine supporting new ways of being church...you are! Currently Jacob’s Well are developing a community garden in a high priority neighbourhood of Yate where we have held a cooking and tasting session, a BBQ with communion, a compost building and willow planting morning, and where we will make bread this winter. These are examples of us ‘being church’ for those who wouldn’t come ‘to church’ which is our vision. Those we connect with are quite unlikely to get involved in ‘church’ as we know it but already they have seen something life-giving in the abundant harvest from our garden which we have offered passersby, and it is clear that people are interested and intrigued. As we get to know folk and discover other ways of being involved in the community, our prayer is that through these life-giving activities, people will sense something of the grace and hope that comes from Christ. We are hugely grateful for the support we get from Home Mission to enable this to happen. Jenni Entrican, minister of Jacob’s Well, Yate (West of England Baptist Association) Just Imagine helping to support new ways of being church by giving to Home Mission you are!
Grant to support, equip and empower the minister of Jacob’s Well in Yate, (near Bristol)
just imagine if we didn’t...
Home Mission supports, equips and empowers www.baptist.org.uk/home-mission
Find out how you can give directly to Home Mission at www.baptist.org.uk/homemission Watch the new Just Imagine Home Mission video www.baptist.org.uk/baptistlife
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Derby
Graham Watkins
Wokingham
Helping the Homeless Bill Crooks of Wokingham Baptist Church (Southern Counties Baptist Association) wanted to do something more active with his house group and get involved in some social action. So four years ago he took a group to visit Seaford Court, a place in Wokingham where young people aged 18-26 stay, who cannot live with their families and would be otherwise homeless. They have been visiting Seaford Court once a week ever since.
WORKING WITH OTHERS
The group spends two hours every Tuesday night with the young people at Seaford Court. They have a programme of different activities including games, quizzes and film nights. They also arrange several outdoor activities such as raft racing, kayaking and trips to the local climbing wall.
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“We are there to mainly give them support, to befriend them, to be there for them, to be a consistent, affirming presence for them,” says Jackie Mouradian. “With all of them they have issues of self esteem, so I think the main thing we are trying to do is to make them feel valuable, that they are loved which will help them make some positive choices in the future.” “I think it is probably one of the places that I feel I am closest to God and I am always energised by that. I can see God in all of them and that is intensely rewarding.”
Jackie Mouradian
Osmaston Road Baptist Church in Derby (East Midland Baptist Association) also has a ministry helping the homeless. They host a grace meal called Storehouse every Thursday night with Community Church Derby which once a month becomes ‘The Big Feast’ with a quiz, prayer time and guest speaker. They also hold three sessions per week for those dealing with debt/welfare, homelessness and drug addiction. “The biggest thing we have learnt is that the most surprising people can change,” says minister, Graham Watkins. “We have had some people who were originally homeless alcoholics or heroin addicts who are now in housing, in a stable relationship with someone who has never had that lifestyle and are now volunteers with us.” Some that have attended the weekly homeless meetings are now going to the church and there have been a number of baptisms in recent years of people from homelessness and drug addiction backgrounds. Graham believes that being a welcoming church has been very important. “This is not just a small group of people that are doing something admirable which is often how church ministry works. It is also the whole church family who on a Sunday have learnt to be welcoming to everyone, no matter who comes through the door.”
Win tickets to the Baptist Assembly! The Baptist Assembly, the annual gathering of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and BMS World Mission, happens 4 to 6 May 2012 in London and you could be there! Baptist Life is giving away two free tickets for you and a friend or family member to attend the entire Assembly. All you need to do is to answer the questions below by looking on the Baptist Assembly website www.baptistassembly.org.uk. Email your entry to communications@ baptist.org.uk by 31 January stating the church that you attend. Entries will be marked and the winner will then be selected at random. 1 Why is the Assembly theme called ‘Beyond 400’? 2 What is the main venue for the Assembly this year? 3 What is happening at the Assembly during the day on Saturday? 4 What is happening on Saturday for those aged 11-18? 5 What is the hashtag (#...) that people use to discuss the Baptist Assembly on Twitter?
Terms and Conditions
1 This prize is only open to those aged 18 and above who attend a church that is a member of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. Employees of the BUGB (National Resource and associations) cannot enter. 2 The prize is for two free registrations to the 2012 Baptist Assembly (worth £95 each). Any additional costs such as transport to and from the venue, accommodation, food and other miscellaneous expenses, are not included. 3 The competition ends at midnight GMT on Tuesday 31 January. No entries will be accepted after this date. 4 Winners will be picked at random and notified within 14 days of selection by email. 5 The prize is non transferable and non refundable. 6 Only one entry per email address will be accepted.
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London Olympics: A golden opportunity for churches
For just over two weeks (27 July to 12 August) the whole world will be focused on London for the 2012 Summer Olympics. “When it comes, with the torch relay starting, it is really going to hit us,” says Martyn Groves, a minister at Gold Hill Baptist Church in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire (Central Baptist Association). “The moment Team GB walks out into the stadium on 27 July I think it is going to capture the nation and become this huge, huge, huge cultural icon.” Gold Hill are organising a number of events before and during the Olympics and Paralympics with St James, an Anglican church in nearby Gerards Cross. They were inspired by a presentation by More than Gold, a parachurch organisation coordinating the church’s response to the Olympics which has been endorsed by 20 denominations (including the Baptist Union of Great Britain) and 20 parachurch agencies like Scripture Union, Christians in Sport, Alpha and the Bible Society. So far over 1,700 churches have signed up to take part, 160 of which are Baptist. With more time for churches to sign up, it is already the biggest Christian response to an Olympic Games ever. Across the page you’ll see some of the things that Gold Hill and St James will be doing. However Martyn believes that every church, whatever its size, can do something. “We are very blessed to be two quite large churches that can muster some large resources for this but I think there is something that every church can do in their community. More than Gold are fantastic in the resources they have available and the support they can give local churches.
EVANGELISM
“I think if you look at Paul in the New Testament there is an aspect of what he is doing which is going into different cultures and communities, taking their cultural icons and using them to point to Jesus. That is really what we are doing here with the Olympics. We are taking this huge cultural event in the life of our nation and taking it and using it to point to Jesus.”
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Martyn Groves
Here are some of the things Gold Hill and St James will be doing before and after the Olympics. Could your church take this once in a lifetime opportunity and adapt one of these ideas for where you are? • Community sports quiz. Christians in Sport have produced an Olympics sports quiz churches can use as an evangelistic opportunity. • Opening and closing ceremonies will be on the big screen. “We want to create the central place in our community where if people want to watch the Olympics together they can just come along in a family friendly environment and do that.” • Carnival parade on opening day. • Children, youth and adult holiday club for two weeks of the Games. Adults will be able to watch the Olympics or attend advice talks on parenting. • Holding a community sports event including a triathlon in association with local leisure centre and sports clubs. • Taking part in the athlete family home stay programme, hosting families of overseas visitors taking part in the Olympics. • Holding an open air community service near Gold Hill followed by a Proms in the Park concert and then the closing ceremony on the big screen. • 75-100 people from Baptist churches in Texas that Gold Hill has links with coming over to help out. • Raising awareness of the human trafficking problems that the Olympics can often create. “What we are finding is that councils, if you had asked them about the Olympics two years ago, would have had big ambitions for what they could do. But with the current climate they are cutting back and they are looking for community organisations that they can support in doing events for the Olympics. We are finding our local council is incredibly supportive of what we are doing and really wants to encourage us in that.” Martyn Groves For more on More than Gold visit www.morethangold.org.uk For more on Gold Hill go to www.goldhill.org
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OPINION For over 10 years now the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) has followed Five Core Values, declarations about the sort of Christ-centred people we ought to be. The Opinion section of Baptist Life has been looking at these core values over the last few issues. David Shosanya looks at the final core value, what it means to be a missionary community.
MISSIONARY The Revd David Shosanya is the regional minister responsible for mission in the London Baptist Association. Why has sharing our faith and leading people to Christ become an event rather than a lifestyle? Have our expectations of God working through us been minimised or lost? Or, as we are currently exploring in the Mission Forum, have we have lost a spirituality that inspires mission? Whatever the reality, believing that God is able and longing to bring individuals across our paths that are reaching out for his love should be a fundamental component of our evangelistic worldview. Sadly, I think we have lost sight of this perspective! Let me tell you a story. I was travelling on the London Underground on my way to deliver a Bible study on Mark’s gospel. A young lady boarded the train and sat opposite me and my friend. After a few stops I was convicted that God wanted me to speak with her about Christ! The train was crowded and I was keen not to be perceived to be chatting the young lady up. I shared what I was feeling with my friend and we both started praying. When the young lady stood up to leave the train we followed, tentatively, and took a few steps before introducing ourselves and sharing what we felt that God had laid on our heart for her. Without missing a heartbeat she began to cry, shared her story and told us she had prayed for God to send help to her. We were privileged to share the gospel with her and had the joy of leading her to Christ on a bench at Blackhorse Road Underground Station and referring her to a local church. We didn’t have a copy of The Four Spirituals Laws, a 60 second crash course in Christianity Explored, an abridged version of Essence or any other evangelistic tool- just the presence and power of the Holy Spirit!!! Yep, that’s all we needed!!!! Perhaps that is what we lack today and what we need to recover! The various resources available to us are great! However, they require individuals to gather at a predetermined location and for an invitation to be issued for them to attend. The vast majority of people we encounter come across our paths as we go about our everyday business of work and play. We must be ready to connect with those individuals in meaningful ways through the power of the Holy Spirit and share Christ with them.
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For more on Five Core Values visit: www.baptist.org.uk/baptist_life/what_is_a_baptist/five_core_values.html
BUGB Communications will be announcing our yearly awards in May 2012 at the Baptist Assembly. For more information on this year’s awards and how you can nominate your church visit www.baptist.org.uk/commsawards2012 from 16 January 2012.
D u lc e a’s D ia r y Ent ry Nu mb er 808 Dear Diar y e take n over my ntly. Too much prob ably. It’s like you’v I have been writ ing to you a lot rece liste ns to me now. I ly real who seem to be the only one life. But apart from God and Jesus, you on page just help s neve r get bore d. Seei ng my thoughts can pour my heart out to you and you ly agai n. But s me feel better. I gues s I’m feeli ng lone to get things out of my head and help on with living. get to it was a dream but he told me Bert ram spok e to me last nigh t. I know to give to love much So . got so much love to give Not to be afra id any more . He said I have the church from ins Jenk Mr at. ing gett I know what he’s some one else. I know he’s righ t and been he’s I know y and he is a genu inely nice man and So has been taki ng a lot of inte rest latel ly. real pod a in peas ly do get along so well . Like t wo e lone ly sinc e he lost his wife . We real writ to tend do I too. it for go Lord seems to be sayi ng I have been pray ing abou t it and the e, love d littl a lived I if be May too. me to likes liste ning less afte r spen ding time with Tom. He you so much so much . Good nigh t diar y and than k quite you to e writ to have agai n, I wou ldn’t for liste ning .
That was the last Dulcea’s Diary entry in Baptist Life. Our thanks to ‘Dulcea’ for sharing her diary with us.
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ayer Prayer
Guide Teach us to Pray
Lord, teach us to pray. Through prayer, lead us into a deeper communion with you and nuture within us a greater concern for the world. In silence and prayer, help us to find you and to be found by you, that we might be remade in the likeness of Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.
Taken from Gathering for Worship (Code BU318) available from BUGB Publications www.baptist.org.uk/resources/bugb-online-store.html
Welcome to the first quarter of the 2012 Prayer Guide – your opportunity to pray for the Baptist family over the next three months.
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If you would like more prayer resources, contact your Baptist association or go to www.baptist.org.uk/prayer.html where you will find a range of materials including monthly prayers of intercession.
January 1-7 January Church Leaders As we commence a new year, pray for voluntary leaders of your church and Baptist churches across the Union. Pray for church secretaries, treasurers, deacons, youth, children and house group leaders as they serve the church and juggle responsibilities at work and home too. Ask for God’s strength and guidance for them.
8-14 January Regional Ministers Pray for Home Mission funded regional ministers as they support churches in their associations pastorally and practically. Pray for good relationships and discernment in managing their time and workload wisely. Pray for Geoff Andrews and Graham Ensor as they start as team leaders of the LBA and YBA (see p14).
15-21 January Week of Prayer for Christian Unity The theme for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is ‘We will all be changed’. Pray that we with other church denominations will be changed, transformed and conformed to the likeness of Christ. Pray that we will be united in serving God and our neighbour according to the example of Christ. www.ctbi.org.uk/569
22-28 January More than Gold Pray for the More than Gold team and churches that will be organising events and helping overseas visitors during the Olympics and Paralmypics this summer. Pray for Gold Hill’s Olympic project (see pages 6-7) and for the LBA Olympic Coordinator David Pile as he encourages London Baptist churches to get involved. www.morethangold.org.uk
29 January - 4 February Poverty and Homelessness Action Week Pray for those in our communities that are struggling to make ends meet, who are living in poverty and those that are homeless. Pray for the work Baptists are doing with the homeless in places like Wokingham and Derby (see page 4). Pray for churches who are offering food parcels through Foodbanks. www.actionweek.org.uk
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February 5-11 February National Marriage Week National Marriage Week begins on 7 February. Pray for the work Baptist churches are doing to support those getting married through marriage preparation courses. Pray for churches leading marriage courses and for the Baptist group Connexion as it supports Baptist ministers and their spouses in the challenges that can face their marriages. www.marriage-week.org.uk
12-18 February Ministers’ Conferences Every association holds an annual ministers’ conference which allows Baptist ministers to have a mini retreat where they can be refreshed and encouraged in their ministry. Many are happening at this time. Pray that God will encourage and challenge all those attending these www.mainstream-uk.com conferences as they serve the local church in 2012.
19-25 February Lent Pray that the coming weeks will be a time when we will be closer to God reflecting on our relationship with him individually and as a www.ctbi.org.uk/511 church. Pray for churches that are using Lent to pray for their future, that they will know God’s presence and vision for them.
26 February - 3 March Baptist College Staff Pray for the staff at the eight Baptist colleges serving BUGB. Pray for their involvement in local church life, congregational training, ministerial formation, and University teaching. Thank God for good working relationships between principals and tutors in our colleges. With many changes affecting higher education, pray that God will grant them the wisdom they need.
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March 4-10 March Men in Church Pray for the Baptist Men’s Movement as they seek to help churches bring men to Christ and cultivate friendship and fellowship among men. Pray for their conference next weekend (16-18 March). Pray for all that Baptist churches are doing, from monthly breakfasts to weekends away, to engage with men and build them up in their Christian faith. www.baptistmen.org.uk
11-17 March Baptist Union Council Pray for those attending Baptist Union Council from 12 to 14 March at Swanwick. Pray that there will be grace in the discussions and prayerful consideration of important issues that are facing the Baptist Union at this time. Pray for the departments and committees that will www.mainstream-uk.com have to act on recommendations and decisions made this week.
18-24 March Crossingplaces crossingplaces are those occasions when Christians engage with the community to demonstrate and share the gospel. Pray that all www.ctbi.org.uk/511 Baptists will be seeking the crossingplaces to which God is calling them, as individuals or as a church. Pray for courage to share the good news with those we meet each day.
www.baptist.org.uk/crossingplaces.html
25-31 March National Settlement Team (NST) NST (regional ministers and Ministry Department) facilitates the settlement process, enabling churches looking for ministers to be put in touch with ministers and ministerial students seeking settlement. Pray for NST as they meet this week, for wisdom in commending ministers and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit for every minister and church in the process.
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INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE FROM ACROSS THE BAPTIST UNION OF GREAT BRITAIN.
Geo ff
THE BAPTIST UNION OF GREAT BRITAIN. INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE FROM ACROSS Geoff Andrews is the new Regional Minister Team Leader for the London Baptist Association. Favourite Bible verse: 2 Timothy 1:7: ‘For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline.’ Favourite hymn or chorus: Jesus, lover of my soul Favourite place to think and be close to God: A comfortable chair in the study. What do you love about living in London? Its vibrancy and diversity.
Can you describe in 160 characters (size of a text message) how you became a Christian? First steps to commitment on a school Christian Union trip to hear Billy Graham. What are you looking forward to this year? Settling into a new home and a new job as Regional Minister Team Leader for London. What is your hope for the LBA in 2012? That we have a year of growth in our knowledge and participation in God’s mission to London.
Graham Ensor is the new Regional Minister Team Leader for the Yorkshire Baptist Association. Favourite Bible verse: Philippians 2.6-7:‘Christ Jesus, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness’. It reminds me about the true nature of Christian greatness. Favourite hymn or chorus: Great is your faithfulness Favourite place to think and be close to God: Most likely my study, first thing in a morning when the house is quiet and there’s space to ‘think’ and ‘be’ before the rush hour begins!!!
G ra h a m
What do you love about living in Yorkshire? The people, which may seem a little strange answer living in such a beautiful part of the country. But for me, people and community are the fabric of life and place always comes second to people who enrich and encourage you in life. Can you describe in 160 characters (size of a text message) how you became a Christian? At the age of 14 on a youth weekend with friends Christ changed my life.
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What are you looking forward to this year? The first thing that comes to mind are the new and exciting opportunities that will come from moving into Regional Ministry. I’m also looking forward to celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary…and finally I’m anticipating watching Derby County play football in the Premier League next season, though that hope currently seems some way from becoming reality! What is your hope for the YBA in 2012? That we will be adventurous and intentional and missionary minded.
Events
Notable Christian events, awareness days and mission opportunities from January to June
Jan ua ry
6 18-25 27 28 - 5 Feb
feb� ru� ary
5 7-14 13 21 22 27 - 11 Mar
Mar ch Apr il MAY ju ne
Epiphany Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Holocaust Memorial Day Poverty and Homelessness Action Week
Education Sunday National Marriage Week BMS World Mission Day of Prayer Shrove Tuesday Ash Wednesday and start of Lent Fair Trade Fortnight
2 Women’s World Day of Prayer 18 Mothering Sunday 31 Spring Harvest begins
1-7 Holy Week 8 Easter Sunday
4-6 8-11 13-19 17 18 – 27 27
Baptist Assembly, Central Westminster Hall, London Christian Resources Exhibition, Sandown Christian Aid Week Ascension Day Pentecost Festival, London Pentecost
2-5 Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations 3 Environment Sunday 8 June - 1 July Euro 2012 football championships, Poland and Ukraine 15-16 All Wales Baptist Assembly 17 Father’s Day 18-24 Refugee Week
For website links to some of these events visit www.baptist.org.uk/events
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Events
Notable Christian events, awareness days and mission opportunities from July to December
Ju ly
14 Keswick Convention begins in Cumbria 21 New Wine begins at Royal Bath and West Showground 27 Soul Survivor begins at Royal Bath and West Showground 27 – 12 Aug London 2012 Olympics
aug ust
23 – 27 Gorsley Festival, Herefordshire 24 – 27 Greenbelt Festival, Cheltenham Racecourse 29 – 12 Sept London 2012 Paralympics
sep tem ber oct ob er
9 21 23 29
Racial Justice Sunday International Day of Prayer for Peace The Big Welcome Global Day of Prayer
21 Micah Sunday 28 Bible Sunday 25 - 27 Baptist Assembly in Scotland, Dundee
nov emb er
4 International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (tbc) 5 Baptist Women’s World Day of Prayer 11 Remembrance Sunday
dec em ber
1 2 10 24 25
World AIDS Day Advent Sunday Human Rights Day Christmas Eve Christmas Day
For website links to some of these events visit www.baptist.org.uk/events