The
recent application for SBC to receive certification as a
registered Fairtrade church was successful – thank you to all
who support Fairtrade in the church, at our Fairtrade stalls,
and in your homes! To achieve this status, SBC has committed
itself to using and promoting Fairtrade. This means that the
tea, coffee and sugar used in church meetings and gatherings
will have been fairly traded, and we will seek to extend the
range of Fairtrade food and drinks to offer to our congregation
as we have opportunity.
Proverbs 13.23 says “The fields of the poor may produce
abundant food but injustice sweeps it away”. By our choosing to
buy Fairtrade, as a church and as individuals, we are taking
steps to halt the injustices suffered by many poor and
disadvantaged people whose insufficiently rewarded labours
provide us with foods and drinks which we take for granted each
day.
On Sunday 22 November, we had the joy of
seeing three baptisms in the morning service at
Addington Road
. Andy and Nicci Eyles, and Hayley Threader - all of them
parents of young families - testified to their faith in Jesus by
being baptised.....
more
details here
Our first whole church Celebration took place on 15th November
at Trinity School, where well over 200 SBC people of all ages
gathered. Our congregations from Addington Road, Greenvale and
the 4 o'clock service enjoyed breakfast together, followed by a
time of worship and more time to catch up over coffee
afterwards. It was a wonderful occasion and we are grateful to
those who made it happen, especially David Mayne and Robin
McKinlay.
"Bacon
Butties, awesome sermon, Family Fortunes, super acting… is SBC
good at putting on a show of Christian exhilaration or
what!!!???"
"I loved it. My lasting impression is that of energy. It was
dynamic, diverse, and the worship was wonderful. Having
breakfast together was also special, nice to spend time with
everyone before the service."
"There was a great sense of spiritual blessing as we came to
celebrate God’s love for us"
We had an excellent 'full English' on Saturday 10th October at
the Men's Bigger Breakfast at Selsdon Baptist. Part of a
nationwide 'Bigger
Breakfast' organised by the Baptist Men's Movement, we
enjoyed egg, bacon, sausage, tomato, mushroom (some of us
twice!). Our speaker was Chris Roe, who is chaplain to
Crystal Palace Football Club. He explained how he is
available on match days at Selhurst Park to support players
stewards and staff, and at the training ground to counsel
players. As a lifelong Palace supporter, he told us it was a
great opportunity to serve the club and witness at the same
time. Chris is a member of
Score, which supports chaplains in sport.
Having been well fed, the men listening to Chris.
Chris
Roe, Chaplain to Crystal Palace Football Club, on the left
Selsdon Baptist also has adult and youth
football teams - more details here,
here and
here.
The
church was beautifully decorated for our Harvest Festival, for
which the theme was 'Gratitude and Generosity'. We should be
grateful for God's gifts, and should be generous to those in
need. Our harvest money collection this year is for an
International Needs scheme in Uganda, where poor people are
given either a cow, goat, pigs or chickens, and eventually
return one of the offspring to the scheme. This is a small scale
scheme that is starting to transform lives. Our produce
collection this year will support the work of
Nightwatch in Croydon, which has been helping the most
vulnerable in our society for over thirty years.
On Sunday morning 20th September we celebrated with Pascale
Evans as she was baptised. Pascale told us how she sees Jesus as
her hero, and this was one of the reasons why she wanted to be
baptised. Our student minister, Diane Watts spoke to us about
Baptism is a choice that we make, just as Jesus made the choice
to be baptised by John.
You can hear Pascale's Testimony and baptism
here and
here, and Diane's message
here. Find out more about Baptism on the
Baptism page, and also see a video of
Pascale's baptism.
More
pictures here
Roland
reports ... "Each year the size of the group going to Soul
Survivor from SBC has been increasing! This year we had in total
14 people going. AGAIN, what an AMAZING week we have had! God
has blessed us all with his love, power and spirit. We joined in
with 10,000 other young people in the worship and ministry times
and we all experienced God in a new and powerful way. A total of
nearly 500 YP became followers of Christ while we were there! It
was a time where we could be free and worship and listen to his
word.
When we were not praising there was so much more to do: watch a
film, attend a seminar, play footy, skateboard, Parkour, go to a
gig or late night worship, pray and chill in the Furnace for
your artistic needs... shop in the toolshed for your latest
thumping tunes (watch out Ignite, it will be getting louder and
remixed!).
Alongside
that you could go to Mr Boogies for a dance or hit the
Underground for a taste of hip hop or rap! Talking of taste
there was a total of 4 cafes where you could chill out, selling
fair-trade coffee and the best chocolate cake this side of the
Mississippi! The cafes took the form of Jazz, Games, Social
action and Chat ‘N’ Chill! Something for everyone.
We all had a awesome time and were touched by God’s grace. Catch
up with any young people who went for their take on it. If you
want to go next year, see Roland!"
Nine young people from Selsdon Baptist spent 10 days in Ghana at
the end of July, working on projects with International Needs.
They had a fantastic experience.
Reports of their visit and
more pictures ...
There is also a report on the ETCafe gig held in July to raise
funds for the trip.
The next ETCafe will be on 18th September
Youtube video from the trip - also includes some footage of Soul
Survivor
On Saturday 4th July our former member and deacon Simon Russell
was ordained at Addington Road. Simon has spent the last 3 years
studying at Spurgeon's College and as student pastor to
Costessey church in Norfolk. Simon became a Christian at 17 or
18, and spent many years as a teacher. At Selsdon he was
involved in lay preaching, particularly at Boston Road.
Encouragement from other Christians lead him to recognise God's
call to full time ministry. You can listen to the whole
ordination service here. Simon
will be inducted as pastor of Costessey in September.
Saturday 20th June saw the cricketing occasion of the year when
the SBC 1st XI met Croham Road Baptist. The event was in aid of
the
Youth trip to Ghana this summer, but was great fun for all.
I regret to say that Croham Road won 201 - 165:
The weekend of 13th / 14th June was special as we celebrated
Baptism with two friends in very different way. On Saturday
Alison Grestock, who is part of our Greenvale congregation, was
baptised in the sea at Littlehampton by David Mayne. This was
part of the Greenvale congregations day-trip to the sea, and
made it a particularly special occasion.
The second baptism was on Sunday morning, where it was a joy to
share 14 year old Jake's baptism. Jake is disabled, with
cerebral palsy, so was unable to be immersed. The baptistry was
partly uncovered, and a small bowl of water placed on a stand
within it. This was then taken and used to baptise Jake.
Although Jake has difficulty communicating, this was something
he clearly wanted to do, and reminded us very strongly that
baptism is a essentially a simple committment to Jesus. At the
close of the service, both Jake, and his parents Brian and Viv
Sharp, were welcomed into membership of Selsdon Baptist Church.
You can listen to an audio file of Jake's baptism by
clicking here.
On April 19th "40 Days" was launched at Selsdon
Baptist. After a brief introduction by Mike Elcome, we watched
part of Rick Warren's launch DVD.
Rick answered the question "What on earth are we
here for?" with" Together we are the body of Christ". He
emphasised that 'community' is the outworking of Love in the
church. We need community because
We have better fellowship together
We worship better together
We Grow better together
We reach out better together
We serve better together
As he closed he emphasised that Jesus always
sided with the underdog, and God expects us to do the same.
He suggested that we should not be a church
where the hands and feet of the body have been amputated and
only the mouth remains - it is time for that to change.
You can read more about "40 Days"
here, and listen to audio
files of the messages
here.
We are looking forward to the rest of the 40
days to grow together as a church and better serve our
community.
Our
Easter celebrations started with a communion service on Maundy
Thursday evening, focussing on the events leading up to Jesus
arrest. On Good Friday we shared a united service at St John's
with the other churches in Selsdon and Addington, followed by a
march of witness to Selsdon Baptist
On Easter Sunday morning we gathered for an
early communion to celebrate Jesus' rising from the dead, and
then shared breakfast together.
A family service at 10:30 completed our Sunday
celebrations
13-15
March. For the first time ever SBC has split the youth groups in
two. The first adventure to Carroty Wood was with the Rock Solid
Crew. We joined up with the guys from Croham Road Baptist.
Over the course of the weekend there was the opportunity to
Worship, swim, BMX, scale the climbing wall, take part in
Carroty Wood's Got Talent and attempt the low ropes assault
course. Everyone got stuck in and made new friends. The weekends
theme was based around "The Simpsons" TV programme.
The food was great, thanks goes to Sue and Alan
Bedford and everyone at SBC who provided cakes and puddings. You
kept us all going. The weather was marvellous, almost summer
like! The youth leader (Mark Bonam) from Croham Road spoke how
important it was for us to take God seriously and commit
ourselves to Him in all that we do.
Youth comments
"An enjoyable weekend with lots of fun and
games"
"Everyone was really nice and I had lots of time
to be with God"
BMS World Mission supports 370 personnel working
in around 40 countries of the world. Together they are brining
life in all its fullness by enabling people to know Christ,
alleviating suffering and injustice and improving the quality of
life. After one month’s training Action Teams spend six months
overseas. Following their placement each Action Team will begin
a UK tour, working with eight different churches over eight
weeks. The Dehli 08-09 Team will be visiting Selsdon Baptist
Church from 18th-25th June. Over the course of the week they
will be taking services, working with youth groups, working in
schools, sharing with HomeGroups, chatting with our own Global
Action Team, and a whole host of other things.
BMS
World Mission has been working in India since the days of
William Carey. There are some BMS long-term workers in the
country and each year mission teams are sent to support the work
of partners, especially among the urban poor.
Our team consists of David Drysdale, Amy Glover,
Katie Cookney and Hannah Cooper. Please do pray for them as they
continue to work in Delhi and prepare to come and share with
churches in the UK.
A little information about the team:
David: Aged 18, part of a church on Deeside,
teaches in Sunday School and enjoys photography
Amy: Aged 18, planning to study Occupational
Therapy at University from September and enjoys trampolining
Katie: Aged 18, loves climbing, is hoping to
study medicine at Cardiff University and is part of
Lindfield URC
Hannah: Aged 18, holds a season ticket for
Burnley Football Club, likes rock music and is intolerant to
oranges.
There will be more information to follow in the
months leading up to the team’s arrival here in Selsdon. If you
have any questions about the team’s visit, please speak to David
Mayne.
The
church’s U14 (school years 7-9) football team, which is a joint
team with Emmanuel C of E and Croham Road Baptist, plays in the
South London Churches youth league. There is also a cup
competition, and we played our semi final match on Saturday 8th
February.
We
travelled up to Charlton to our hosts Slade Evangelical Church
for a 10:30 kick off.
Our
normal coach Marcus was away photographing a wedding, so the
standby coach was Alan Bedford. Fortunately the boys generally
knew what they were doing!
After a
tense start the team settled into the game. The defence,
including SBC’s Andrew Bedford and Peter Cole worked really well
as a team and closed down all the Slade attacks. Our midfield
and attack worked together really well and we were rewarded with
six excellent goals, including one from SBC’s David Bogazzi.
At the
final whistle, the score was six – nil, and Selsdon United go
through to the final on 4th April at Petts Wood.
against Crystal Palace Community Church. This should be an
exciting match, our current record against Palace is won one,
lost two.
Adult 'A' Team reach the Semi Final of National Christian
Cup!
Congratulations to the 'A' Team on beating Kings
Sports FC 3-2 in a tight fought match on 28 Feb 2009.
At the November members meeting we unanimously invited Diane
Watts to join us for her Minister-in-Training placement from
Spurgeon's college. Diane will experience various aspects of our
church life, and contribute to our witness in Selsdon. You can
read more about her on our
Who's Who page
Click for more details
New responsibilities.
Congratulations and Welcome to our new deacons from
January 2009 - Rob Lines and Peter Staley. The remaining vacancy
on the diaconate will hopefully be filled at the January Church
Meeting.
The church weekend away took place on 14th-16th November at
Pilgrim Hall on the subject HOPE. A time for learning, and fun
too. More details soon. Here is a video of the talent show!
11 - 14 Football
New pictures of the latest match for our joint football team
here
On
24th September Jonathon Aitken visited Selsdon Baptist. The
church was packed with about 200 people to hear how Jonathon was
introduced to Christ by friends following his arrest for
perjury, how the Alpha course deepened
his faith, and how his new found trust in the Lord Jesus
sustained him in prison. He related how within prison he was able to bring Jesus'
love to his fellow inmates.
ALL MEN are invited to share in a men’s national Breakfast event
on SATURDAY 11th OCTOBER from 8.30 - 10.00 at Selsdon Baptist
Church, Addington Rd
Our guest
speaker will be Martin Seymour.
Martin is a London Cabbie. He used to be an atheist who
persecuted those who were naive enough to believe the myth of
Christianity! He was angry when his wife started attending an
Alpha course but was persuaded to attend himself where he “dared
to believe”. He is now a part-time Baptist minister working in
the community. It is hoped that the number of men coming to the
“Bigger Breakfast” all over the UK will be great enough for this
to become a record in the Guinness Book of Records! So come and
be a part of this record-making breakfast!
David Mayne, who was our student assistant
minister from 2005, was ordained and inducted as our full time
assistant minister on 5th July. The sermon was given by John
Colwell, on the significance of the call to preach the gospel,
as exemplified by Paul in Galatians chapters 1 and 2.
David explained how God broke through his initial reluctance and
showed him the path he had planned for him. Theresa Nichols, our
church secretary, explained how David was called to our church.
Following the service, we moved to Greenvale school, where one
of our congregations meets, for a barbecue in the grounds.
For Saturday 28th June, we had an event
with a difference. A small group gathered for two and a half
hours of creative expression based on the psalms. We meditated
on Psalm 65 , and then spent a little while writing our own
psalm in praise of God. We then gave visual expression to our
words with fabric and paint.
"Lord God, the creator of colours, we thank you for all the
colours you have put in this world, to delight the senses and
lift the spirits ..."
On Sunday 22nd June Mike Elcome's 10 years
at SBC was recognised by a thank you from our current church
secretary and the presentation of gifts for Mike and a bouquet
for Caroline, his wife. We celebrate 10 years of God working
through Mike.
Goalfest in Plumstead
In preparation for a joint Selsdon Baptist, Emmanuel Church,
and Croham Road Baptist football team joining the South London
Churches League next season, we held a friendly with The Slade
Church, Plumstead, on 14th June. The team (age range 11 - 14)
had an exciting 7-a-side game, with 13 goals being scored.
Unfortunately, we only scored four of them! However, everyone
enjoyed the game, and I thought we had more control of the
midfield. However, The Slade had some awesome long shots, and we
couldn't get the ball home enough. More on
Football
On Sunday, 1st June, we celebrated with
Robert and Louise Yaxley as they were baptised at our morning
service at Addington Road. Robert and Louise were married in our
church on 17th May, and we share with them in their joy at both
events!
Mike Elcome's message reminded us that baptism is about being
rooted in Jesus, and drawing on him as our source of strength
and nourishment, using him as the anchor of our lives.
Louise gave her testimony. She told how as a child and
teenager she had a loose connection with Selsdon Baptist. She
had attended two Alpha courses and had been particularly moved
by Tim Nichol's baptism a year or two ago. She wanted to be
baptised because it's "in the bible". Louise wanted to "..live
my life as a Christian. I want to stick to it, because you can't
go back as you were before, once you've been baptised."
Louise is baptised by Mike and Ro
Robert told how he had been involved with a church up to the
age of 12, but then with a change of church he'd been too shy to
go back. A year ago he met Lou, and she persuaded him to try
Selsdon Baptist at Greenvale. He was scared stiff at first, but
came again, this time to our Addington Road service. He attended
Alpha with Louise. One evening he came to the point of asking
Jesus to come into his life, and used a prayer for beginning
Christians he found on the internet, and from there his life
changed. He wants Jesus in his life and to become a good
Christian.
As part of the
Love
Croydon event, Selsdon Baptist undertook to spend a few
hours on Saturday 10th May cleaning up the local area around the
Addington Road and Greenvale congregations in Selsdon. Croydon
Council supported the initiative, supplying sacks and collecting
the gathered rubbish. All ages from the church were involved.
On Sunday 20th April we were delighted
to welcome a number of friends into membership of Selsdon
Baptist, at our morning service. These were
Gloria Ango,
Kate Ashton, Alan and Steph
Crooks, Henk and Magda
Esterhuyse, and Jennifer Melle.
You can listen to their welcome
here (available for about 2 months). and read more about
membership here.
CHURCHES TOGETHER
IN SELSDON
AND ADDINGTON - Prayer Week
Don’t miss out!
For the week
12–17 May, St Francis Church will be transformed into a
stimulating venue for prayer. Each CTSA church is allotted a
day during the week and SBC
has been given Tuesday 13th.
Those who have
been before know what a wonderful experience it is. It is
based on the concept of a labyrinth with different ways of
praying and many different areas of focus for prayer. This
year’s main theme is “Love God, Love Selsdon and Addington”.
There are many
empty slots remaining for our day. If you haven’t yet signed
up, please see if you can find an hour when you could go and
pray.
You’ll be
surprised how quickly an hour passes and many folk who have
attended before wish they’d stayed longer. You don’t have
to go alone. Take a friend if you wish. Several people can
be there at the same time because of the way it is all set
out.
It’s a time of
peace and reflection in the presence of God.
Please sign up if
you haven’t already done so. Ring
the church office to have your name added to the list.
A new innovation this year was
International Day, on the Sunday following Easter. Our
congregation comprises of people from many nationalities,
including Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Poland, France, India,
Haiti Kenya and Uganda. People from all these countries took
part in the service, including prayers and readings in their
mother tongues. Following the service, a variety of national
dishes were served for lunch, which was shared by about 140
people. In the interests of journalistic endeavour, you web
manager tried nearly all them, and I can advise that they were
all excellent! The variety ranged from Ghanaian Grilled Fish,
through Boeuf Bourguignon to Korean Gimbap, with puddings to
follow.
The church decorated with flags.
The international choir leading worship
Some of the delicious food at lunchtime.
You can also see YouTube clips of the choir by following
these links:
Our Easter services this year culminated with our 10:30
am service on Sunday, celebrating the resurrection, and that
Jesus is alive today. The weather, however, as worshippers
arrived was more reminiscent of Christmas, as it was snowing
hard! Obviously, the children were delighted with this, although
our steward at the door, Andy, was a bit more sanguine.
The service completed our Easter line up, which started with
a communion service on Maundy Thursday, commemorating Jesus'
last supper with his disciples before he was crucified. On Good
Friday morning we joined with our friends from the other Selsdon
and Addington churches for a united service reflecting on Jesus
death on the cross, and followed by a march of witness up the
high street to St John's Church.
Early
in the morning on Sunday about 50 of us from both Selsdon
Baptist congregations joined together for communion and
breakfast, to celebrate that the women found the tomb empty on
the 3rd day, because Jesus had risen from the dead.
The LIFE exhibition saw 600
children visit our church in the week
beginning 4th March. together with members of the public on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday
evenings.
CONGRATULATIONS!
- Firstly
congratulations to the SBC ‘A’ football team who reached the
National Christian Cup Quarter Final but unfortunately lost 1-0
to Focus in Liverpool on 1st March. Secondly congratulations to
the SBC ‘ B’ football team who have reached the final of the
Mike Laxton Cup for the first time in our history. The match
will be against Southborough Lane Baptist Church on Sat 10th
May – book it in your diaries now!! More
about SBC football here and
here.
2008 Motto Card
Each year we have a motto card for everyone in the church. Here
is 2008's
On
3rd February we were delighted to welcome Nigel and Jane Paget
to our evening service. Nigel and Jane are both dentists, and
spent an hour telling us of the work they have carried out in
Liberia with the Mercy Ships. We often dread a trip to the
dentist, but in Liberia hundreds of people queue up daily.
Because dental care is not available in the country, Nigel and
Jane were seeing people who had had toothache for ten years!
Infected dental abscesses can go untreated for years, and can
even cause death, so the work of the Mercy Ship dentists makes a
massive difference. The current ship "Africa Mercy" is a converted Danish train ferry,
complete with operating theatres, wards and accommodation, and
stays in port for 6 months or more, providing all sorts of medical care
as well as dentistry. Find out more at the
Mercy Ships
website.
Audio of their visit
At our January 6th evening
service we launched this years floating shelter for the
homeless. Each Thursday night we provide friendship, an evening
meal, a bed and breakfast to up to 14 homeless people, as part
of the "Floating Shelter". Other churches in Croydon provide
meals and accomodation on each night of the week. The shelter
has been running for five years now, and we heard from Mike, who
was a guest in the first year, and is now a regular helper. We
joined together in a special prayer:
As a church we celebrated
Christmas in a number of ways. We had a gift service in early
December, were members of the congregation brought toys and
other gifts for later distribution to those who would otherwise
not receive any. On 23rd December we had our nativity service in
the morning, with reading and drama from our children and young
people. Our Greenvale congregation celebrated with a family
carol service. In the evening we had a Carol service with
the church decorated, and the choir entering by carrying
lanterns. A children's service on Christmas Eve, and family
services on Christmas morning at Addington Road and Greenvale
completed the celebrations of the coming of Jesus.
We had a very enjoyable afternoon
celebrating 80 years of witness by Selsdon Baptist Church.
A
service at 4:00 pm on November 4th remembered the early days of
the church, which first started meeting in the front room of the
house belonging to the grandparents of one of our current
members. A slide show showed us the people and buildings over
the years, and we had a birthday cake, with the candle being
blown out by our longest serving member, Lawrence Kennedy. We
were joined for our celebratory service by the Mayor of Croydon,
local councillors and representatives from other Selsdon
Churches and the community. Following the worship, we adjourned
for refreshments, and to cut the cake
.
The mayor cutting the cake
Adults and children both enjoying the party!
Safari Supper
The Churches Together in Selsdon and
Addington Safari Supper is planned for Friday 9th November.
Three courses at three different churches for only £5.
7 pm - Starter at Selsdon Baptist
Church, Addington Road
This has wide ranging topics from
Inheritance tax to Jesus on the beach!
Gift Day
Our Gift Day on 14th October raised a
substantial amount towards the housing costs for David Mayne,
when he converts to a permanent full time role next September
Bulgaria 2008
Another trip to Bulgaria is planned for
2008, to support the work of the Cedar Foundation. The church
supports BMS missionaries Mark and Penny O'Sullivan, and a team
of about 12 is signed up so far to go out for a week to help
them. The October Progressive Supper raised over £530 towards
the cost of materials to be used for the work at the orphanages.
More about the O'Sullivans.
Church DVD
About a dozen members have been filmed for
a church DVD, directed by Dave Simpson. The idea is that the DVD
will give an idea of the church to newcomers.
SBC Supports the Climate Change
Challenge
We recently showed Al Gore's film,
"An Inconvenient Truth", as a free event for the community,
to highlight the issue of climate change
Barn Dance
We
had an incredibly jolly evening on 29th September at the
Greenvale Harvest Barn Dance. Juts
over 40 attended, from both Greenvale and Addington Road
congregations, with an excellent caller, and delicious fish and
chips
Alpha Banquet
This
year's Alpha Course kicked off with an excellent Alpha Banquet.
Diane Regan entertained us with her superb singing, and we
enjoyed a delicious three course meal.
Our two major summer events were Summer
Fun Days, a holiday club for children, and Holiday @ Home, a
week of enjoyable activities at the church for 'Seniors'. Summer
Fun Days involved art and craft and games, a great time was had
by all. The theme for Holiday @ Home was Lakes and Mountains,
and whilst we didn't manage a whole lake or mountain, the church
did have an alpine feel!
Football - Division One Champions
Congratulations to our SBC Football team
on retaining the Division 1 Championship in the Bromley and
Croydon Christian Football League for the second year running!
Well done to Ali Richards and the team for all their hard work.
More about football here.
Prayer Walking
On 23rd April the deacons, ministry team
and others were blessed with dry weather for a Prayer Walk in
the streets around our church. Keeping our eyes open(!!), we
prayed as we walked, for our neighbours, local shopkeepers and
businesses, and other groups in our community such as schools
and doctors' surgeries. May God bless our community.
Easter Sunday at Greenvale proclaimed that
"Empty is Good". In today's world everything should be bigger,
better, fuller. Given a choice between an empty packet of sweets
and a full one, which would you choose? But for Christians,
"Empty is Good". On the third day after the crucifixion of
Jesus, the grave was EMPTY! Hallelujah, because
this means Jesus has risen, and Jesus is alive! Greenvale's
celebration even inclded party poppers!
There was also an opportunity to make your own stained glass
windows!
Good Friday March
About
250 people from Selsdon and Addington churches (CTSA) joined
together for a Good Friday service, remembering Jesus' death on
a cross. We worshipped at St Columba's church and then took part
in a march of witness through the high street to Selsdon
Baptist, where refreshments were served.
The front of the march starts down the high street.
On Sunday morning 20th September we celebrated with Pascale
Evans as she was baptised. Pascale told us how she sees Jesus as
her hero, and this was one of the reasons why she wanted to be
baptised. Our student minister, Diane Watts spoke to us about
Baptism is a choice that we make, just as Jesus made the choice
to be baptised by John.
Roland
reports ... "Each year the size of the group going to Soul
Survivor from SBC has been increasing! This year we had in total
14 people going. AGAIN, what an AMAZING week we have had! God
has blessed us all with his love, power and spirit. We joined in
with 10,000 other young people in the worship and ministry times
and we all experienced God in a new and powerful way. A total of
nearly 500 YP became followers of Christ while we were there! It
was a time where we could be free and worship and listen to his
word.
Alongside
that you could go to Mr Boogies for a dance or hit the
Underground for a taste of hip hop or rap! Talking of taste
there was a total of 4 cafes where you could chill out, selling
fair-trade coffee and the best chocolate cake this side of the
Mississippi! The cafes took the form of Jazz, Games, Social
action and Chat ‘N’ Chill! Something for everyone.
Simon 3 years ago at the start of his training
Simon receives the Ordination Book
There
was also an auction of delicious cakes baked by members of the
church – some going for as much as £50 (thank you Tim
Nichols!!).
BMS
World Mission has been working in India since the days of
William Carey. There are some BMS long-term workers in the
country and each year mission teams are sent to support the work
of partners, especially among the urban poor.
On
24th September Jonathon Aitken visited Selsdon Baptist. The
church was packed with about 200 people to hear how Jonathon was
introduced to Christ by friends following his arrest for
perjury, how the 
The church decorated with flags.
The international choir leading worship
Some of the delicious food at lunchtime.
Early
in the morning on Sunday about 50 of us from both Selsdon
Baptist congregations joined together for communion and
breakfast, to celebrate that the women found the tomb empty on
the 3rd day, because Jesus had risen from the dead.
On
3rd February we were delighted to welcome Nigel and Jane Paget
to our evening service. Nigel and Jane are both dentists, and
spent an hour telling us of the work they have carried out in
Liberia with the Mercy Ships. We often dread a trip to the
dentist, but in Liberia hundreds of people queue up daily.
Because dental care is not available in the country, Nigel and
Jane were seeing people who had had toothache for ten years!
Infected dental abscesses can go untreated for years, and can
even cause death, so the work of the Mercy Ship dentists makes a
massive difference. The current ship "Africa Mercy" is a converted Danish train ferry,
complete with operating theatres, wards and accommodation, and
stays in port for 6 months or more, providing all sorts of medical care
as well as dentistry. Find out more at the
We had a very enjoyable afternoon
celebrating 80 years of witness by Selsdon Baptist Church. 
Have
you looked at our
We
had an incredibly jolly evening on 29th September at the
This
year's Alpha Course kicked off with an excellent Alpha Banquet.
Diane Regan entertained us with her superb singing, and we
enjoyed a delicious three course meal.
About
250 people from Selsdon and Addington churches (CTSA) joined
together for a Good Friday service, remembering Jesus' death on
a cross. We worshipped at St Columba's church and then took part
in a march of witness through the high street to Selsdon
Baptist, where refreshments were served.
The front of the march starts down the high street.
The
cross and crown of thorns leads the march.