Sunday 29th December

We continue Christmas celebrations this Sunday.

Come and join us.

Sunday 29th

Hi folks.  Hope you had a really great Christmas.  Please note that on 29th of December and the 5th of January there will only be morning services at HRBC.

Advance notice

Christmas Day

 

Christmas festivities continue with a family service at 10:30am on Christmas day 

Coming up Sunday 8th December

How about dressed as a character from the Christmas Story - to add to the fun !

and Sunday afternoon:

 

Beginning to think about Christmas

With Advent approaching, here is something to think about:

advent candles

Big day for HRBC

Sunday 24th November we are hosting

Stuart Murray-Williams

at our 11am service.

Stuart Murray Williams

Stuart spent 12 years as an urban church planter in Tower Hamlets (East London) and has continued to be involved in church planting since then as a trainer, mentor, writer, strategist and consultant.
For 9 years he was Oasis Director of Church Planting and Evangelism at Spurgeon’s College, London.
He is chair of the Anabaptist Network and has a PhD in Anabaptist hermeneutics.
Since September 2001, he has worked under the auspices of the Anabaptist Network as a trainer and consultant, with particular interest in urban mission, church planting and emerging forms of church.
He is the founder of Urban Expression, a pioneering urban church planting agency with teams in several cities in the UK and in The Netherlands.
He has written several books on church planting, urban mission, emerging church, the challenge of post-Christendom and the contribution of the Anabaptist tradition to contemporary missiology. Recent publications include Post-Christendom: Church and Mission in a Strange New World (Paternoster 2004), Church after Christendom (Paternoster 2005), Changing Mission (CTBI 2006), Planting Churches: A Framework for Practitioners (Paternoster 2008) and The Naked Anabaptist (Herald 2010).
He is married to Sian, who is a tutor at the Baptist College in Bristol where they live, and he has two grown up sons and two grandchildren.

In the evening he is speaking at

Stopsley Baptist Church:

'early warning' for Sunday November 10th

This is an early announcement.  Sunday 10th of November is 'Remembrance Sunday' so the service will start at 10.45am which is earlier than normal.

from David's message in the newsletter:

This year we’ve been considering how we might engage in the wider mission of God. As part of this we will welcome Andrew North on November 10^th at 10.45am. Andrew will be fresh off a plane from Guinea in W.  Africa. He has responsibility for all of BMS World Mission’s projects in sub Saharan Africa. He’ll speak on “Connecting with ‘The Mission of God’ across Africa”. I hope it will be the beginning of something new. If you’ve got a national dress then we’d love you to wear it to church on this day.

Newsletter

November/December newsletter now viewable via the 'Pages' link on the side panel.

Sunday 3rd November

David Skinner will be taking BOTH services this week - the 11:00am morning service and the 4:30pm afternoon service.

Watch out for special information 

about the service on 10th November.

Saturday Barn Dance

 Saturday 19th October

 We were royally entertained/tortured (depending on your opinion of dancing) by the 'Sow's Ear Barn Dance Band'.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and left with smiles on their faces at the end of the evening (if a trifle exhausted).  Connor continued to dance in the car ALL THE WAY HOME in his 'off tilt windmill' way.

 

Connor pointing out the band during a moments respite from being pushed around the various circle dances.

Hannah & Keith Lawrence leading the way, much the same as everyone else, in a slightly bemused 'are we peeling off left or right' sort of way.

Lucy and Penny 'in the swing' of things.

Mary had to put up with Eric but seemed to cope reasonably well.

The band were fantastic.

 ......and half way through the evening Keith couldn't refuse the invitation to sit out the prancing and let his fingers do the dancing by becoming the 'augmented fifth' player in the band.

So thanks 'Sow's Ear' for a thoroughly wonderful evening.

Sunday 22nd September

Harvest this weekend- Sunday services led by Phil & Rosemary Mader-Grayson.

What is F.A.M.M.?

FAMM is “For All Mankind Movement”. It is project that focuses of the needs of immigrant workers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and uses that opportunity to tell the gospel and train Christian workers to go to mission fields in their home countries.

more details visit: http://vimeo.com/45085608

 

An unexpected visitor.

Sunday morning we had an unexpected addition to the menu at morning worship.  Alan Saunders, complete with an eight foot long cross shared our service with us.  Visiting preacher Andrew Stockbridge shelved some of what he had prepared in order to interview Alan.  Alan is walking from Manchester to London (due to arrive on Tuesday) trailing the cross which has been giving him opportunities to share the Christian faith with folk along the way.    

to keep an eye on progress - and his future ventures 

this is the link to his blog:  Alan Saunders

(Lets hope Tuesday is less wet than Monday was !)

'Stuff' coming up in church life:

  

 Celebrate with us

Harvest Services:

 Sunday 22nd September at 11am & 6pm 

both services led by

Phil & Rosemary Mader-Grayson

................and the new venture this Autumn:

Sept 8th

We're getting back into the swing of things with the return of evening services this week.  

Sunday morning 11am service will be taken by Andy Stockbridge.  

Andy has had many hats including working for 'Toy Box', Scripture Union and BMS World Mission.

Sunday evening 6pm service will be led by Ant Wilson of Stanton Rd. & Hadrian Fellowship.

Sunday 18th August - morning service.

This morning we welcome Martin Shorey  to HRBC.

I'll let him introduce himself:

Hi, I’m Martin and I’m the minister/pastor of Ramridge Baptist Church.  Before moving to Luton I lived in South London for 3 years where I did my ministerial training at Spurgeon’s College.  Prior to that I was a teacher in a High School in Ipswich, teaching Design and Technology (which I loved).
I am married to Jen (a nurse), and we have a daughter Ellie, who at the time of writing this is almost 9 months old.  We also have two dogs, Pepper and Whisky.
I have to admit that my first impressions of Luton weren’t great.  For a start I didn’t know where Luton was (I thought it was in the midlands), and when Jen and I first came to the church is was a grey, cold, and damp November afternoon.  However the people we met were amazing and we knew straight away that this was where God wanted us.
We have been here almost 2 years now, and we are so glad we came.  We have been blessed enormously by God and the church, and we are excited about all that is going on here, and the journey God is taking us all on.

Church diary

The church diary (link at right of page) has been updated with information currently available.  Some of the events are yet to be confirmed and some will be added as new information comes my way.    

Keith

*****************************

For those who missed the pictures, on Sunday, of Connor receiving the Chiltern School 'Millenium Award' 2012/13 I've dropped a montage below:

Connor loved seeing his picture at church on the big screen.

Church barbecue

Sunday 30th June  2013

HRBC's very own barbecue posse - looks like Eric is giving culinery tips

and yes this IS England and that IS blue sky

 

Hmm looks like the 'kiddies' tent ! C'mon you lot the sun is out

 

the littlies are enjoying themselves - note to teenagers they are NOT in a tent !

Coming immediately & soon

Coming up this Thursday night  - regardless of the weather - bring a brolly 'just in case'.  

If you are unable to stand for 45minutes bring something to sit on.

 

 

 And on Sunday - reagrdless of the weather too:

 a barbecue after morning service to bring your friends to.

And on July 7th instead of evening service:

 

those of you with longer memories will remember that 

Steve Gaukroger was minister at Stopsley Baptist church.

Afternoon service 9th June

Our next AFTERNOON service will be this coming Sunday.

 

Though it's entitled with an enticing 'Maybe'....... 

........it does not refer to whether of not the service will happen !

New role for Jonathan Edwards (Baptist Times article)

New role for Jonathan Edwards (General Secretary of the Baptist Union)

The Revd Jonathan Edwards has been appointed as the first Executive Ambassador for the charity Prospects.

Prospects is a Christian organisation that works with people with learning disabilities. Mr Edwards, who will leave his current role as General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain in July, has served as one of Prospects’ Ambassadors for the past couple of years.

This is a new role, beginning in September, and will include helping to give spiritual oversight to the fast growing ministry of Prospects and working to enhance the profile of the organisation.

Jonathan said, ‘Ever since I first heard of Prospects about 20 years ago, I have been thrilled to hear of its vital ministry. ‘Anyone who loves the Gospel must love the work of Prospects, as we seek to show the love of Christ to those with learning disabilities. It will be an absolute pleasure to work for Prospects.’

Paul Ashton, Prospects’ CEO, added, ‘We are excited about this new appointment. Jonathan’s ministry has involved him in working with people from all denominational backgrounds, and I am convinced that his gifts and experience will help us as we seek to take the ministry of Prospects forward.’

Prospects was founded in 1976 by the Revd David Potter and his wife Madeleine, and has grown markedly since then. It now has 900 staff and a turnover of £10m. David was awarded an M.B.E. in 2005 for lifelong services to people with learning disabilities. There are an estimated 1.5m people in the UK with learning disabilities.

For more information about Prospects’ work visit http://www.prospects.org.uk

Newsletter for June & July

The newsletter for June and July can be accessed by the link on the right for 'June/July Newsletter'.

The Revd Lynn Green has been appointed as General Secretary of The Baptist Union

The Baptist Union is delighted to announce that the Revd Lynn Green has been appointed as General Secretary, taking up the new role in September 2013.

 Lynn, 48, is well known to many within the Union and is currently a Regional Minister with the Southern Counties Baptist Association team. Previously she served as Minister at Wokingham Baptist Church and was Team Leader there for 11 years. During this time Lynn has been able to mentor a number of leaders as well as being mentored herself. She has also served our Union in many ways over the years, particularly as Moderator of the Staffing committee and the Mission Executive. Seven years ago she herself was the Moderator of the General Secretary Nominating Group. She also served as Secretary of Mainstream (now Fresh Streams) for a number of years. Lynn began her working life commuting to London as a Marketing Manager with Royal Mail Parcels International and subsequently was the Corporate Identity Manager for Royal Mail. Most of her working life has been bi-vocational, combining the calling to ministry with her vocation as a wife and mother. She has been married for 26 years to Stuart, who is Head of Audit with The Garden Centre Group. They have two children and also care for two children as Friends and Family Foster Carers.

 Lynn is excited by God’s call to this ministry and as she looks forward to serving our Union in this new role of General Secretary, she outlines her vision.
 “My vision is to see our vision and values become reality. Through the ‘Futures’ process we have clarified our vision to be “Growing healthy churches in relationship for mission”. I want to harness the energy generated by the ‘Futures’ discussions and turn it into action!
 Our 5 Core Values - being prophetic, inclusive, sacrificial, missionary and worshipping communities – must be reflected in our life together. I am committed to holding us all accountable to these values in our life together and in our engagement with the world.
 I also believe that we need a humble confidence that God is at work in us and through us! There are so many amazing stories of what the Lord is doing out there; God has certainly not finished with us yet! Alongside pioneering new ways of being church, I long to see many more local churches being encouraged and supported to transition beyond inherited patterns of church into vibrant mission communities. In doing this, I hope that we will be adventurous, take more risks and above all, be Kingdom possibility thinkers!
 In a tribal world I want us to be known for our profound and rich diversity in unity - diverse yet integrated. As Baptists we can celebrate that we are a people gathered from many nations; we have so much to learn from each other in our journey to become Christ centred communities.
 I am committed to the priesthood of all believers, where women and men, young and old, rich and poor, are encouraged and released to serve the Lord , each one differently abled and unique. And I pray that we will be known as a deeply loving people. As Scripture says, “..if I have not love, I am nothing”. As I see it we are not so much an organisation, as a radical movement of Jesus’ followers who experience and share God’s incredible, sacrificial love for all.
 When it comes to putting this into practice I see our priorities at this time to be:
Listening to the Lord, to one another and to our communities; at heart there must be an utter dependence on God. Our Declaration of Principle states clearly that our sole authority in all matters of faith and practice is our Lord Jesus Christ, as revealed in Scripture. For me keeping Jesus at the centre and allowing our lives to be shaped by His Word is essential. I also want to build on Jonathan Edwards’ focus on the centrality of prayer.
Truly becoming a team; this is my deepest longing for us as a Union. By working together in trusting partnerships I believe that we can maximise our Kingdom potential. WE are the Union.
Turning our talk into action! We have done LOTS of talking and now I feel strongly that we really need to get on with the job!

 Jonathan Edwards, the present General Secretary, says
“I am thrilled that the Baptist Union has recognised Lynn Green as General Secretary.  Lynn has been an effective local minister for many years and her gifts have been well used as a regional minister in the Southern Counties Baptist Association over the past two years.  She has served on Baptist Union Council and moderated the Staffing Committee for a number of years during which time we have recognised her sharp mind and gracious spirit.  I feel a deep peace and great excitement for the Union as Lynn becomes our General Secretary.  I urge the Baptist family to pray for Lynn and to give her all the love and support that I have been privileged to experience for the past seven years.”

Sunday 5th May

Sunday 28th April

The young people of the church will be leading morning service on Sunday April 28th at 11am.  

The speaker will be Ruth Bennett of   L.C.E.T.

Elders election.

I am delighted to announce that Eric Gurney has been re-elected as an elder of the church. Thank you to all who came especially to the church meeting and to all members who took part in the election when it was finally held on Sunday.

 

Our grateful thanks go to Keith Wallis, who has faithfully served the church over 34 years, and is stepping down for a break from serving on the leadership team.

 

David Skinner

Easter Services:

Celebrate EASTER with us

in a SPECIAL way.

New Newsletter

A new Easter newsletter is now viewable using the link at the side. Information on our Easter week services included.

Civic Service 3rd March 2013

 The Mayor greeting Father Jimmy

I don't think I've ever seen so much bling in one place ! 

Mayors from all over the immediate community

Rather gave David's story of a metal detectorist a wry twist :-)