by Rev. Rob Howlett, Minister Burnham on Sea Baptist Church
I was struck by what a wise person once said to me, ‘If Burnham On Sea Baptist Church permanently closed and the local community did not notice, what does that say about the church and our faith?’ In other words, how are we sharing the love of Jesus with the community we live in and are we having an impact? Challenging words but a challenge we must take if we want to be Kingdom builders for God. What does our outreach/mission look like at Burnham On Sea Baptist Church? Sunday morning worship is great and really, really important but how does our worship continue throughout the rest of the week?
When I was called to be the minister of our church, I shared a vision. A vision of the town’s high street full of different people, full of life – a vibrant, busy high street in our town centre and I heard God say, ‘These are my people and I am their God.’ It was a powerful reminder that God loves us all and wants to be in a relationship with us all, even if we don’t know Him yet.
God is at work everywhere and we are called to join Him whenever and wherever. Since then, the church has been involved with so many community projects and initiatives and we have seen the church building being used so much more by our community - we have even seen numbers grow each Sunday morning – praise God.
The community projects and initiatives that we continue to support include Tiny Tots Toddler Group, The Meeting Place, warm spaces initiative, The Waffle Hub, Foodbank, The Food Pantry, exercise classes for over 60’s, a fibromyalgia support group, a dementia support group, Singing For The Memory, a carers’ support group, free community lunches, U3A table tennis, an independent farmers’ market, Somewhere House support group and coffee morning, etc, etc, etc…even Slimming World! All of these initiatives are opportunities for us to demonstrate the amazing love of God and share the resource of our building which we have been blessed with, with our community.
I love Burnham On and Sea. There, I said it!! The muddy walks along the beach; the ‘gentle’ breeze blowing all the time; the busyness of summer and the quietness of winter; the amazing sunsets; the carnival and parties in the park; the community and the people. And God loves it too. Please be encouraged; there is so much going on in our church and town that we can be a part of - lots of opportunities for outreach/mission and to share our faith and God’s love.
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