I had the pleasure of going to the church two years ago and enjoyed the opportunity to open up the scriptures and it was lovely to be invited to speak at their Church Weekend at Ashburnham in Kent. A beautiful place; gardens and grounds designed by Capability Brown. The weekend signalled an end to Winter and a bursting forth of Spring and the promise of Summer. Almost the whole church attended the weekend; people of all ages, backgrounds, united in their love of Christ, many from different church traditions who were now part of the Baptist Church in Reigate. You know how it is when you meet somebody and with some you form a real bond. It was like that when I met John, their Senior Pastor. A lovely guy whose charismatic, evangelical spirituality reveals a real passion for Jesus and people. It was wonderful to hear in conversations with many people in the fellowship how they had found their ‘home’ in the church and whose respect for John was clearly evident. We had an absolute ball as I led them through issues of exploring what following Jesus and being part of his community might mean. We worshipped, laughed, cried, prayed, played sports, walked and talked, ate and drank - lovely people. On the Sunday morning they reduced a grown man to tears. I’d been encouraged to share a little bit about the new missional initiative in Glendale and during the coffee break the leaders of the church met and in the session that followed the idea was put to the church, which was carried unanimously, that they as a church would stand with us and support us in the exciting missional venture. This is a church that supports the Community already and several folk, taking interest in our relocating the Mother House, have offered their skills in a number of areas to help with such a move. Their generosity was overwhelming.
What I love about Baptist spirituality at its best is its ability to move quickly and easily in response to the Holy Spirit. Most other denominations, (though they each have their strengths) can rarely move with such ease and speed. It is that element of our spirituality that should help both the church and indeed our Community to move quickly in response to the initiatives of the Holy Spirit.
For me, the offer to partner with us in Glendale was very healing. I remember pioneering in Portrack (my first church) on Teesside back in the 1980’s and how I struggled with what seemed a massive North / South divide. Where many of the places in the South East prospered and moved, we were working on a Northern council housing estate where unemployment soared to over 50%. Communities wrecked and damaged indefinitely by the scars of a careless, free market economy, government policies that no doubt addressed the issues but so damaged whole communities, some of whom have never recovered from the experience. So the commitment and the partnering between two churches North and South was deeply healing for me and a sign of the kingdom of God. Here were people who were using their riches to bless others, a true sign of the redistribution of wealth that echoed the values of the kingdom of God. A great weekend!
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