Please 'phone the church office for more
information - 01525 371312
Latest news items:
Current Streams for September - December
Marriage Course deferred to January 2009
Senior Minister joins Baptist College in Israel
Delta House - a community resource
"The Treasury" bookshop opening hours
Streams for September - December
The new church year begins in September; we have three different streams for the first session (10.00-10.40 each Sunday).
Stream 1. Living Faith: Exploring the Essentials of Christianity (in the Sanctuary)
This new series is a lively and absorbing series of 10 studies on the Christian faith. Its primary focus, of course, is the bible but through this it also looks at
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The history of the church from first century to today |
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Important Christian doctrines and beliefs |
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How Christianity compares with other religions (including Hinduism, Buddhism and sects such as Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science) |
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Growing our faith through the discipline of prayer and study |
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Answers to common challenges to Christianity |
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How to share our faith and developing habits of godly living. |
The session will start with input via DVD from Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham, who was named recently by Christianity Today as one of the world's top five theologians. This will be followed by small group discussion, reflection and prayer. There is a short study guide (only 60 pages) that accompanies the series priced between £2.50 and £4.50 on Amazon. Please let Lynn in the office know if you would like a copy (recommended).
Stream 2. Christian life and the World (in Delta House)
Life in our contemporary culture seems to move at a faster rate than ever before. As Christians we find it difficult not to be conformed to our culture, let alone act effectively to transform it. Our culture is so much a part of who we are, we do not easily recognise which aspects affirm our faith, and which aspects are contrary to our Christian beliefs. We tend to make snap judgements of culture, rather than seek a deeper encounter with today’s world, for the sake of the gospel of Christ. This study will help us to:
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Identify those influences which might compromise the our discipleship |
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Understand the relationship between faith and contemporary culture |
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Engage contemporary culture in ways that start real transformation of today ’s world |
Stream 3. Baptismal Classes
A new series of Baptismal Classes begins on Sunday 26th October for those considering Believer's Baptism.
Schools Carol Competition
On Sunday 14th December we are delighted to be hosting a Schools Carol Competition. Six Lower Schools have agreed to take part, and will be bringing along their choirs, who will each sing two Christmas themed songs. With approximately 150 children taking part, and up to two guests per choir member, it is expected that the church sanctuary will be full when the event starts at 3.00pm. Church members are being asked to make themselves available on the day to help with stewarding and serving refreshments to choir members and visitors.
Marriage Course deferred to January 2009
For a combination of reasons we are sorry to have to say that the Marriage Course which was scheduled to begin on Friday 26th September 2008 has been deferred to start in January 2009. More details will be available from the church office and this website nearer the time.
Senior Minister joins Baptist College in Israel
Our former Senior Minister, Phil Hill, has left the church to follow a missionary call to serve at an Arab baptist college, the Nazareth Centre for Christian Studies, taking the role of senior lecturer. His wife, Angela, expects to leave the UK at the end of 2008 to join him and take on the role of bursar. They are going as missionaries with UFM UK. At the end of June 2008 they learned that sufficient funding was in place to allow them to go out to Israel, although more is needed to fully cover their costs. For more details of the work they plan to do see their leaflet - <CLICK HERE to view> - which includes details of how to become a funding partner for Phil & Angela.
The Nazareth Centre for Christian Studies and the Association of Baptist
Churches in Israel have teamed up to produce a newsletter which gives an
insight into their work - the first edition includes a letter from Phil Hill
and the second gives details of the association with Spurgeons College and
the development of the Masters degree that Phil hopes to be involved with
delivering. To download copies, click on the links below:
<Newsletter
no. 1>
<Newsletter
no. 2>
Further insight into Christianity in the Holy Land can be gained from a
topical website, www.comeandsee.com.
Delta House - a community resource
When Hockliffe Street Baptist Church bought the building next door to the church, known as Delta House, it was the intention that this would become a community resource. In the last year or so that we have begun to see it fulfilling its potential. For just over a year, it has been good to be able to offer office space to one of the organisations which operate from Bossard House while that building was being renovated. This in turn has led to a number of short training courses being run in Delta House by other agencies. The facility has now been discovered by both Beds. County Council and South Beds. District Council as a venue for training days and conferences. Most pleasing of all, however, has been the gradual development of the building as a centre for counselling services: there are now a number of different groups offering counselling at various times throughout the week, both for adults and children, for general counselling as well as specific help with addictions.
If you are interested in any of the counselling services, please phone: 01525 371312 for more information.
"The Treasury" - our bookshop is open for business
The bookshop opens currently on Sundays between the two sessions in the morning services (10.40am to 11.00am), and on Tuesdays from 11:45am to 1.00pm whilst the Open Door cafe is running. There is a stock of Bibles, cards, Christian literature and tapes, and Sophie is happy to take orders for any specific book wanted. It is located between the sanctuary and the church hall.