‘An important way to serve our church family and the wider community’
Screenings, street parties, fun days, volunteering - Baptist churches engaged in a range of activities in their communities over the Coronation weekend
Whitley Bay Baptist Church in North Tyneside decided to screen the Coronation service and procession on Saturday (6 May), for both members and beyond.
'We were aware that there we a number of people in our church family and in the wider community who would appreciate being able to watch the Coronation in the company of others rather than at home alone,’ said minister Joel Mercer.
'We opened the church doors just after 10am on the day and watched as guests arrived at Westminster Abbey and the procession made its way along.
'Church members provided tea and cakes (lots of cakes) and about 40 of us settled in together to watch the service. The youngest among us was four years old and the oldest were adults when the last Coronation took place.
'With the doors open, signs up outside and the music from the Abbey playing from the speakers, we had a few passers by pop in and stay for various lengths of time (at least as long as it took to eat some cake).
'It was a great time of fellowship and felt like an important way in which we were able to serve our church family and the wider community.'
Many churches hosted parties or participated in community events during the weekend. These included Delves Baptist Community Church in Walsall which organised a Big Lunch on Sunday.
'We just put a great big long table down the car park, and invited people to bring their own royal picnics and join us,' said minister Esther Gladwish. The church offered refreshments and cup cakes as well as activities such as a bouncy castle and crafts for the children taken from the Coronation website.
It also arranged a photo booth with a life size cardboard cut out of King Charles and various royal family members and memorabilia, while the car park was decorated with flags and bunting.
The event featured in the Express and Star, the local newspaper, which used a drone to capture an impressive photo of the long table from above.
During the afternoon Esther and other congregation members gave out booklets featuring the Gospel of John. One lady has already come to the midweek service as a result, and another family expressed interest in joining the church's Sunday service.
'The sun shone and it was a really great time in the community,' said Esther. 'We had some really good conversations.'
Sunday saw many community events, such as in Whitehouse in Milton Keynes. Members of Whitehouse Church went along, as pastor Tony McGinley explains. 'After the service on Sunday, as many of us who were able joined in with the Whitehouse community picnic.
'This was organised by the local community council (parish council) and as well as creating space for the community to come together and celebrate the Coronation, they provided entertainment through live music, bouncy castles and face painting.
'There were local food vendors available for anyone who wasn’t prepared with their own picnic.
'It was a great afternoon of spending time together, meeting new neighbours and making connections with people we already knew through our messy church, pop-up larder and community football ministries. It was a welcome opportunity to just be present in our community.’
Monday was another busy day for
Esther, who is also the part-time minister of Wednesbury Baptist Church a few miles away from Delves in Sandwell. Nationally the Bank Holiday Monday (8 May) was recognised as the
Big Help Out, which aimed to inspire people to volunteer in their communities.
Esther encouraged the local community to participate in clean-up of the grounds of the church, an older building surrounded by a paved area full of weeds. Several rubble bags filled with rubbish from when the probation service did some work during Covid also needed removing.
Esther ordered a skip and the volunteers worked to clear the grounds throughout the morning, stopping for bacon sandwiches halfway through, and filling the entire skip by the end. The volunteers were a mix of locals, cadets who use the church building, and congregation members.
Church members also organised
an afternoon tea, when more of the local community came. In all they fed around 80 people.
‘It was just getting people together really,’ said Esther. ‘Lots of cake, scones and sandwiches.
‘It's just great to take opportunities like this, to reach out into our communities to show them we are there, and just bless them. We didn't charge for anything over the weekend. It was about reaching out to people, having some really positive connections and sharing the gospel in love and kindness.'
Also busy volunteering on Monday were around 40 members from
Rugby Baptist Church, who gave up most of their bank holiday to work in the grounds of nearby Northlands Primary School.
The school is only a few minutes walk away and in the past there had been a reasonable relationship between it and the church. However, with relatively recent changes in leadership at both, there was a sense of this relationship needing to be rebuilt, explained minister David Fleming. ‘So when I heard about the Big Help Out, I thought if we can get a few people to share in some work at the school, that could help build bridges.’
One of the Rugby’s deacons works at the school, and was able to arrange access. Another deacon then liaised with the school over possible jobs.
Come Monday David was anticipating around eight to ten forming a small working party, particularly as the church had held a Coronation lunch the previous day. As it happened well over 40 people joined in, while several more prepared a lunch for everybody back in the church.
‘I thought this was astonishing,’ said David, ‘and we got far more done than I think even the school had imagined we would.’
The group cleared hedges, laid turf, removed self-seeded trees and generally tidied up the grounds, putting in collectively around 120 hours work. The headteacher sent a note saying how amazed staff were when they came in the next morning.
‘It really just came about from the dovetailing of us looking for an opportunity to build some bridges with the school, and the Big Help Out,’ added David.
‘Working together on a project like that bonds the church as well. Afterwards we had a soup and buffet lunch, sat down and chatted. It was a really lovely day.’
Meanwhile
Pinner Baptist Church in Harrow, Greater London, opened its doors to the local community on Monday 8 May for a Coronation community fun day. Invitations had been sent to homes in roads around the church, as well as the nursery families and groups using the church premises, resulting in more than 200 people coming along.
The church had been transformed into a café, decorated with Union Jack bunting, serving cream teas, fruit kebabs and an amazing array of decorated cakes, made by members of the congregation, with the worship group providing live music in the background.
There was also face-painting for children, and even some adults. In the church hall the bouncy castle was popular the whole time, plus the balloon- modelling table. Children could colour and make a Coronation badge, decorate a Crown, make a Union Jack windmill, colour in pictures of the Coronation coach or the Horse-guards in their red tunics and bearskin hats. There were games to play – table football, Jenga, Jacob’s ladder and an inflatable cheese game!
There was also the opportunity for children and adults alike to have a go at making a flower decoration, helped by some talented flower- arrangers from the church.
‘The church held a similar event in 2022 for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which was so successful we wanted to do it again,’ said
minister Manoj Raithatha.
‘Nearly 40 members of the church were involved in helping to make the day work. There was a happy family atmosphere and the opportunity to get to know people, as we met and chatted with the families who came.
‘Leaflets explaining a bit about the church were given out and a welcome extended to all the other things the church has to offer.
'Having also given out Gospel tracts, it is our hope that in the days to come, our new friends will feel comfortable in attending a Sunday service or mid-week activity.’
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Baptist Times, 12/05/2023