Church Anniversary

November 2016 marks the 152nd anniversary of the foundation of our church building here in Lower Lydbrook. There had been a Baptist presence in Lydbrook since 1823, apparently under the support of Edward Goffs charity, but the initiative for the foundation of the current ministry dates from 1857 when 12 members left Leys Hill Baptist Church near Ross-on-Wye to start a church in what later became public reading rooms.
By 1863 the church was thriving to the extent of having its own minister, and work was started on the present church and schoolroom in 1864, and completed by 1875.

There are some early photographs of the church community reproduced below, with notes.

This was the local Baptist Association Assembly, taken in 1912

I presume this is a group photograph of the minister and deacons. The minister has been identified as Mostyn Jones, who served in the 1910s to 1920s, and one of the other gentleman as the grandfather of the late Mrs. Joyce Powell.

This photograph has a note on the back saying 'Baptist Bible Class, Lydbrook.

This one has a note on the back saying 'Helpers at Gloucestershire and Herefordshire Association meetings 1912. Presumably this was the occasion commemorated in the second photograph from the top. The Gloucestershire and Herefordshire Association no longer exists, and Gloucestershire is now part of the West of England Baptist Association, and Herefordshire is now part of the Heart of England Baptist Association.

An old photograph of the interior before re-ordering in the 1990s(?). The pews had to be removed because of woodworm, and parts of the pulpit also no longer exist, presumably due to the same cause. The railings in front of the communion table have also disappeared.

A lovely picture of the Harvest Display in 1939, which must have been rather poignant as the Second World War continued, and rationing became the order of the day. Look at those impressive piles of fruit and vegetables, and beautiful vases of roses.

I am told this is another local Baptist Association gathering, and I would guess this is post Second World War.

Finally, a rare shot of the Upper Schoolroom, which was used until relatively recently for church meals. It certainly looks a more relaxed and informal occasion.

A Busy Month - Harvest memories

  
Our main event in October is our Harvest Festival. Despite one or two people being away or otherwise engaged we had a wonderful celebration. We managed to decorate our church, despite being without Peggy, the expert on these things, this year.

 The sight of so much produce certainly reminded us of how much we had to be thankful for, and how blessed we all are. The fresh produce was either used in the preparation of our Harvest Supper or auctioned off afterwards. The auction and donations for the meal raised over £100 for our Harvest Appeal, for the work of BMS in assisting Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

 We also had many generous donations of canned and packaged produce, which went to the Forest Foodbank, providing emergency food parcels for people in need in the local area. Apparently due to the generosity of local churches and schools the foodbank is currently snowed under with food.

Another project we are currently involved in is the WEBox project run by our local Baptist Association, wrapping and filling shoeboxes for underprivileged children in Albania. At our September winter warmer we spent time wrapping (not as easy as it seems when you are chatting at the same time!) and filling our shoeboxes. These will then be dropped off at a collection point to be taken over to Albania closer to Christmas time. For more information follow the link below:

http://www.webassoc.org.uk/mission/webox-appeal/

Below is a video documenting the delivery of WEBoxes in 2015.

Three things we can learn from Job

An edited version of today's sermon.

 Job is about the suffering of a good man, but it never solves the great problem of why suffering occurs. However, I believe it is a book that we can still learn from. I believe that from the way Job responds to his suffering, and the things he learns in the process there are valuable lessons that may help us live our own lives, and to cope with suffering.

1. Do not blame anyone else for your suffering. Job does not.
   We live in a culture where blame seems to be part of the furniture. We seek out someone to blame, we are encouraged to try to get compensation for any accidents that befall us (most of us have received phone calls or texts asking if we have been in an accident – because it is never our fault!). If we are always seeking someone to blame we can fall into unforgiveness and bitterness, and sometimes we never face the fact that some things are our fault.
   Not only does Job refuse to blame people, he also refuses to blame God. For many people the stumbling block with faith is suffering 'why did God not stop this happening?' 'What sort of God allows these sort of things to happen?' The result is that either they blame God, and hate the very idea of him, or they refuse to believe he can exist at all in view of our sinful world. Like Job and his friends we may struggle with understanding why good people suffer, and if the book of Job tells us anything it is how futile attempting to work that one out is, unless we take the cross into account. Jesus suffered for us on the cross, but through that suffering came redemption for all who believe.
2. Secondly, we can learn from Job how to be honest about our feelings. For example in the depths of despair he curses the day. We need to be honest with God too. We Brits are not good at admitting how we feel. 'How are you?' 'Fine – fine – the cat just got run over, someone has stolen my purse and a passing stranger just told me how fat I am, but I'm fine!'. Job is honest about how he feels when he is going through the most appalling grief. Being honest about his feelings helps him move through the grieving process to hope and a positive outlook on the future. His honesty has paved the way to recovery and healing. We need to be honest with God to allow him to heal us.
3. Thirdly, Job is prepared to learn, and what he has to learn is that he is not the centre of the universe. When God speaks he shows Job an awesome universe that is not human centred, which cannot be controlled by people and with which they hardly interact. It goes without saying that God is the centre of the universe. When we think it is focused on us, or when we act as though it is, by breaking the rules, that is often when accidents happen, suffering occurs and we fall into sin. We cannot go through life believing it is all about us. If we do not acknowledge the sovereignty of God, and if we do not show real love for others, I believe we are falling short of what God wants us to be.

Church memories

One of the more interesting aspects of taking over some of the admin of a small Baptist church is the insight one obtains on that church's history. I had no idea there was a 'church for or of the year,' whereby churches in the association would give a donation to one church each year to enable them to complete some church improvements. I have to say I feel the money was put to good use in our establishment, and the internal redecoration, although showing its age, still attracts positive comments.

Below are a few of the documents that may be found in our archives.

Easter in a small church

Back in 2007 we had no minister/pastor, so Easter services were somewhat restricted, and of necessity shared with Ruardean Hill church (who also had no pastor at the time). This is the leaflet that was distributed in the village at the time.

We don't distribute leaflets any more (I am unconvinced they are worth the cost and effort unless accompanied by some kind of interaction with the people we are trying to encourage to come), but I did put up one or two posters, which I reproduce below.

Sometimes in our church people go to great lengths to tell you how wonderful things were long ago: reminiscing at length on the baptisms when the church was packed, the wonderful singing there used to be, the massive Sunday school. But here I have evidence that while we have been very blessed throughout the years with wonderful ministry and teaching, we have as great a sense of community as ever, and that although small and with an aging congregation our church is still a lively, friendly and enjoyable place to worship. 

Delayed baptism photos

I seem to have been in some sort of time lapse, but at last I am writing up the baptism. I had spoken to so many people who were seriously frightened of being totally immersed, that I was pleasantly surprised by the whole experience. A bit of me wanted to stay in the pool a bit longer.

It was immeasurably more pleasant than the horrific experience of first entering Guildford Crescent Baths as an eight or nine year old, and being completely submerged for the first time in my life. And you have to imagine the amount of chlorine in the water - your skin stank for days afterwards (this was the primitive 60s when you only had one bath a week, and when you went straight from the water into the changing room).

The most trying bit was getting the water heated up. You just do not imagine this sort of thing could cause so much trouble, but it turned out that the only baptismal pool heater (yes, that is a thing!) in the Forest of Dean was owned by Coleford Baptist Church. It is no longer allowed to be loaned out, and may soon be replaced, but I managed to secure a loan. However, I had a lot of trouble getting it to work, in fact I couldn't (a complex saga involving a trip switch). However, we did manage to warm the pool up enough to be bearable, which was all I asked.

It was an awesome day, and lovely to have so many friends and family there, and to be baptised by Marigold and Geraint, from Parkend and Coleford respectively, who are great friends.

The photos below (taken by my sister-in-law) are the whole of the baptism in sequence, followed by assorted church leaders etc. praying for me afterwards.

It was totally awesome - if you are thinking of being baptised by immersion go for it, it's not scary.