You are invited to come and see the new premises at Leigh Road Baptist Church. There are a series of events over the weekend of Friday 24 to Sunday 26 February 2012. You are more than welcome, we’d love to see you.

Friday 24 February | Opening Celebration | 7.30 pm to 9 pm – ticket only event*

With guest speaker Rev Jonathan Edwards (General Secretary of the Baptist Union of GB) and the LRBC Choir. Followed by drinks and viewing. *Please contact the church office for free tickets, first come first served.

Saturday 25 February | Open Church | 10 am – 4 pm

The new premises will be open to the public for viewing – please pop in at any time. Theatre Train will be making regular performances during the day. Coffee and tea will be provided by Oasis the church coffee shop in the new hall.

Sunday 26 February | All-Age Service and Celebration | 10.30 am to 12 noon

An all-age service to celebrate the completion of the new premises. Featuring the LRBC Choir and worship band. Followed by tea and coffee in the new hall. Crèche facilities available.

Sunday 26 February | Open Church | 3 pm to 5 pm

The premises will be open to the public for viewing, with displays of the many church and community activities. Tea and coffee will be provided by Oasis  in the new hall.

See the project as it developed

The premises are now available for bookings, please contact us.

If your new to the church and want to know what to expect please do check out our dedicated pages – we don’t bite – honest.

                                #GodLovesLeigh

WELCOME to the Leigh Road Baptist Church website! A particularly warm welcome to you, if you’re visiting here for the first time, as a result of reading the Valentines Card that contains the Love Letter from God to you.

Please understand that the God’s Love Letter is a FREE gift to you, with no strings attached. We require absolutely nothing from you in return – we’re just grateful that you took the trouble to read it.

The Valentines Card comes to you, and the homes surrounding Leigh Road Baptist Church, delivered to you personally by the people that attend the church, with love. From local people to local people, into over 2,000 homes in the surrounding streets.

We’re doing this because we strongly believe that God loves ALL people everywhere – including everyone in Leigh; regardless of age, class, colour, race, nationality, sex, sexuality, mobility, disability or any other detail that we feel may be important (or not) about ourselves. We believe that God loves you, however good or bad you feel you are – however worthy or unworthy of His Love you think you might be.

…and he doesn’t just love you – He’s FASCINATED by you!

If you would like to learn more, not about our love but about God’s Love for you, please do get in contact . We’ll happily send you a free magazine that tells you more.

You may also like to consider trying The Alpha Course, which is a an opportunity to explore the claims of Christianity in a relaxed, friendly and interesting way – where no question is too taboo. We have a taster session coming soon at the end of February. Please do visit our news item for more information and to watch a short film on what to expect.

…and it goes without saying, you are always welcome to join in the many activities that take place at the church every week. There’s something for everyone so please do explore our website! A great place to start is our ‘what to expect area‘ … and if you have any questions, do drop us a line!

If you are on Facebook or Twitter you are welcome to post comments on the Valentines Card from God by ‘liking’ our Facebook page or using the hash tag #GodLovesLeigh on Twitter.

God bless you and  Happy Valentines Day.

You are invited to the next Alpha Course at Leigh Road Baptist Church.

Alpha is an opportunity to explore the meaning of life in an informal, fun and friendly environment. The Alpha course consists of a series of talks, looking at topics including ‘Who is Jesus?‘ and ‘Why and how do I pray?‘, with the option of a weekend away. We meet for supper at Oasis The Coffee House each week and the evenings talk is followed by discussion in small groups.

When? The taster session is on Tuesday 28 February, 7.15 to 9.30pm
The course proper then starts every Tuesday from the 6 March to  8 May 2012

At Oasis The Coffee House, 189 Leigh Road, Leigh-on-Sea.

If you would like to find out more about the Alpha Course and what is involved, please visit our Alpha information page which will give you detail on what to expect.

Why not contact us to register interest? We can then send you some info with no obligation to attend. Please call the church office on 01702 478698 or contact us by email.

Please spend some time every day, with us as we meet or, if you are unable to join us, quietly alone, reflecting on our verse for this week:

‘Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labour in vain.’
PSALM 127 v 1

You can also download this prayer guide in handy PDF format.

Monday 2nd January | Children, youth and families network

An early morning hour of prayer from 7.30 am until 8.30 am, The Stables, Chalkwell Park Drive

Reflective bible passages: Mark 10 v 13-16; Colossians 3 v 6-10; Colossians 3 v 12-21

Prayer pointers:

• Martin and Priscilla Scott who currently head up this network
• Sunday morning children’s groups and their leaders
• All age Sunday services team
• Bright Sparks and Pre-school and their staff and helpers
• Youth groups Space, Energize, Momentum, Koine and their leaders
• Students at university
• Child Protection team
• Families

Tuesday 3rd January | Pastoral Care & discipleship network

The church will be open from 10 am until 12 noon. There will be several ‘prayer zones’ where we can pray quietly into the various areas of church life and ministry.

Bible verse: Romans 12 v 1-21

Prayer pointers:

• Sylvie Lowe who heads up this network
• The Pastoral Team: Steven Hembery, Sylvie Lowe, Gerry Thornton and Mary Lewis
• For those in the fellowship who are unwell or struggling with life issues at this time
• Support for Seniors, Links and Coffee Club
• Care Contacts
• Our Small Groups and their leaders, for growth in discipleship
• The social life of LRBC, helping everyone to feel that they belong

Wednesday 4th January | Community, outreach and evangelism network

An hour of prayer from 8 pm until 9 pm in the main church

Bible verses: John 17 v 1-26

Prayer pointers:

• Martin Eady who heads up this network and his team
• Oasis The Coffee House and the staff and volunteers
• Valentines Day Outreach: Fathers Love Letter delivered to our neighbourhood
• The Alpha Course, guests and team, a new course is starting February 2012
• Sports outreach including the London 2012 Olympics : More Than Gold
• Dads’ and Men’s Groups
• Opportunities for community work in 2012; Queens Diamond Jubilee Street Party and Beacon, Leigh-on-Sea Community Events, SOS Bus and Street Pastors
• Those who use our premises every week, for the use of the new premises in 2012
• Our evangelism strategy for 2012 and for those sensing a gift of evangelism

Thursday 5th January | Admin, premises, Health and Safety, and finance networks

An evening of prayer in our Small Groups

Bible passages: Psalm 8; Malachi 3 v 10; Ephesians 4 v 1-13; Romans 12 v 6-8

• Bob Hadwen and Steven Hembery who head up administration, staff and communication; for the staff team and the LRBC leadership
• BUILD: Jane Brookes and her team as the project comes to completion
• Alan Cook who heads up premises and health and safety issues
• Neil Dunlop who heads up Finance together with Julie Eady

Friday 6th January | Worship and ministry network

An hour of prayer from 9.30 am until 10.30 am at 60 Chalkwell Park Drive, Leigh-on-Sea

Bible passage: Ephesians 3 v 3-8 and v 15-23

• Steven Hembery who heads up this network
• For the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in preaching and teaching
• Sunday services and those involved: the PA and production teams
• Worship Groups and Prayer Team
• Church Meetings, seeking God’s will for us in the year ahead
• For the church scattered in their homes and places of work during the week

Saturday 7th January | World mission network

An early morning hour of prayer from 7.30 am until 8.30 am in the main church

Bible passages: Luke 4 v 16-21; Matthew 28 v 18-20; Revelation 5 v 9-13

• Bob Hadwen who heads up this network
• Those who’ve gone from LRBC to serve the wider church at home and abroad
• Those who are considering a call to full-time service and those in training
• The persecuted church throughout the world

As you pray please note down anything that you feel God has been saying to you during this week concerning our church. You can also email thoughts to the leadership . The leadership will be pleased to reflect and pray about anything you share with us.

Thank you for praying with us as we enter this New Year.

You can also download this prayer guide in handy PDF format.

Traditional Carols by Candlelight

Sunday 18th December, 4pm to 5.30pm and 6:30pm to 8pm

Unfortunately you have missed these Carol Services, however here is little present from the LRBC Choir and wonderful sound man David W. A treat for the ears recorded live on the evening… 
LRBC O Come All Ye Faithful by DavidWatt
The ever popular Christmas service featuring the full LRBC Choir, lessons and a thought provoking talk for the season. Both services are the same.

Candlelit Midnight Communion and Carols

Christmas Eve 11:30pm to 12:30am

A great way to bring in Christmas Day. Come from home or after the pub.

Christ is Born! Family Celebration

Christmas Day, Sunday 25th December, 10am to 11am

Children bring a toy to show us all.

We look forward to seeing you.

An army of volunteers from the local churches were on hand to help distribute the hot goods, and this was all done to the accompaniment of worship band Doxology from Romford SA Corps, who kept people dancing to a mix of secular and religious music.

When asked why they wanted to put on a live music event, Celia said “after the Leigh Lights last year there were loads of young people hanging around in the streets with nowhere to go and nothing to do. We wanted to do something for them, and what better than make the most of the festival atmosphere with some open air live music?”.

Majors John and Teresa Carmichael of Leigh-on-Sea Corps were there lending their support. John says “It was great to see so many people involved and see so many members of the public taking invitations to Christmas events!”. Ben Still SA Divisional Youth Officer said “It was a great event and a really good chance to make contact with some of the young people of Leigh. I’m really looking forward to helping these dedicated youth workers build on those initial contacts further and seeing where they might lead!”.

All in all it seemed the light shone even brighter this year in Leigh-on-Sea!

Losing Tom ~ Finding Grace: a morning & evening with Alan & Jackie Slough featuring worship, testimony, questions and prayer.

Please do join us on Sunday 27 November, 10.30am & 6.00pm at Leigh Road Baptist Church, when we will be visited by Alan and Jackie Slough from Gloucestershire.

Alan and Jackie’s story Losing Tom, Finding Grace tells of an amazing journey of how God helps us deal and come to terms with the sufferings we experience, in this case the honest and intimate revelation of a couples ability to cope with the unexpected suicide of their teenage son.

Alan & Jackie’s story will leave you uplifted and encouraged.

This event is part of LRBC’s Sunday services at 10.30am to 12 noon and 6pm to 8pm. During the evening session they’ll be an opportunity for questions to be put to Jackie and Alan from the congregation.

You are welcome to attend any one or both of these events.

For more information on Jackie Slough’s book Losing Tom ~ Finding Grace please visit the website www.losingtomfindinggrace.co.uk

For more info please call the church office on 01702 478698.

The service is designed to be appropriate for all ages. Families and children are very welcome and for the very young a creche is provided.

We hope to go live on our big screen to the Cenotapha in London, to join with the country in observing 2 minutes silence for the fallen at 11am.

The service will be lead by guest speaker Steve Tinning and will feature songs, prayer, bible expolration, video clips and stories from those who remember and fought in previous wars.

If you are new to the church on Sundays feel free to visit our websites ‘What to expect’ section.

You are also more than welcome to join us at our Refresh service in the evening at 6.30pm

To commemorate the 2012 London Olympics this year we are encouraging everyone, friends, members and neighbours of Leigh Road Baptist Church to participate in Operation Christmas Child again this year to share something of the excitement of the Olympics through sports-themed shoeboxes.

You can find more information on what to put in your shoebox and how to go about it by picking up a leaflet from Oasis The Coffee House, 189 Leigh Road, Leigh-on-Sea or by visiting www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk

Once you have your shoeboxes ready they can be dropped off at the church coffee shop from now up until Friday 18th November:

Oasis The Coffee House
189 Leigh Road
Leigh-on-Sea
Essex SS9 1JE

We are open Monday to Saturday 9am – 4.30pm.  If you have more than 10 boxes please phone 01702 471873 before coming. Thank you.

Every year we with thousands of others join with Operation Christmas Child to help deliver over 1 million shoeboxes filled with gifts to children in need overseas! It brings them such joy! Thank you for your help.

Left to Right: Matt Williams ECRU Managing Director, Sarah Lennard-Brown ECRU Director, Dr Mike Townsend Torch Trust, Dr. Krish Kandiah CNMAs Host, Tom the Guide Dog and David Elcock Community Worker Leigh Road Baptist Church

For immediate release Monday, 24 October 2011
Leigh Road Baptist Church website wins Accessibility Award 2011

With the adoption of new technology by churches and Christian organisations, blind and partially sighted people are facing an additional struggle; a term Dr Mike Townsend from Torch Trust has termed ‘Web-sight loss’.

Dr Townsend judged the Accessibility Award category of the Premier Christian Media’s 5th Annual Christian New Media Awards (CNMAs) which recognised websites that delivered an exemplary commitment to accessibility.

Presenting the Award, accompanied by his guide dog, Tom, he said, “Jesus was a great communicator. He communicated with all kinds of people. My judging was an interesting journey. But, some of my journeys couldn’t even get started. A real case web-sight loss!”

He continued, “The Leigh Road Baptist Church website was excellent. I really know what’s going on. It almost makes me want to move to Leigh-on-Sea!”

Commenting on the awards, Dr Gordon Temple, Chief Executive of Torch Trust questions whether the Church is grasping the concept of accessibility, pressing that it ought to be second nature to do so.

He said, “The gospel is inclusive – Jesus was inclusive, and went out of his way to include people with disabilities

We’re supporting this Award because it’s important that web and media resources are accessible to all. It should be the norm for the Christian church; a Gospel for all, and a heart for all because we don’t want to see anyone left out.”

David Elcock, Community Worker for Leigh Road Baptist Church commented on the award, “We worked with Ecru.co.uk to create our site which launched in April of this year. We and ECRU – a Leigh-on-Sea based web design agency believe the right website is crucial in encouraging people to interact with the church, Matt, Sarah and Andy of ECRU were rigorous in their approach to accommodating the real-world needs of people with disabilities.”

Matt Williams, Managing Director of ECRU said, ”We were delighted to have the opportunity to work with David Elcock on the Leigh Road Baptist Church website – we experienced a real meeting of minds when it came to the spirit underlying the project, with a shared focus on fostering communication with real people, whatever their age or ability.”

David Elcock, continued, “Working with Matt, Sarah and Andy of Ecru.co.uk to create the new site that launched in April of this year has been a joy. We are really happy that it has already been recognised for its accessibility through the Premier CNMAs. ECRU have been excellent in helping LRBC with their expertise in creating a truly useful and accessible website that works for us as a church in our attempt to reach out to all the people of our community. We couldn’t recommend them enough.”

The evening which took place St Stephen Walbrook in the City of London on 14th October, was hosted by Premier Christian Radio Presenter, Maria Rodrigues-Toth and Dr. Krish Kandiah, Executive Director: Churches in Mission and England Director for the UK Evangelical Alliance.

ENDS

Accessibility Award
Winner: Leigh Road Baptist Church www.lrbc.org.uk
Runner Up: Bible Reflections www.bible-reflections.net

To find out more about the Christian New Media Awards and Conference visit www.christiannewmedia.com or follow @xiannewmedia on twitter.

Photos and further information
Further information, press quality photos are available, please contact:  David Elcock on 07967 010261 or email david.elcock@lrbc.org.uk for copies.

For more information from the award organisers
Please contact Sharon Molloy, PR Manager on t: 020 7316 1335, sharon.molloy@premier.org.uk

NOTES FOR EDITORS
About the Leigh Road Baptist Church Experience
Leigh Road Baptist Church has been serving the community of Leigh on Sea for well over 100 years. With hundreds of people of every age and background coming through the doors every week all are welcome.  We are a group of people that are committed Christians. This means that we believe Jesus Christ is as relevant now as he was 2000 years ago. We aim to open our doors to the community to provide the services that people need for Faith, Leisure, Friendship and Life. We do this through personal contact, Alpha Courses, Oasis the Coffee House, The Stables community facility, Youth Work, Community Volunteers, Support Workers for the elderly, Sunday services and many more activities that can be found on our award winning accessible website www.lrbc.org.uk and also by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/LRBCNews)and Twitter (@LRBCNews). In everything we do, we place a high emphasis on making friends, Bible exploration, worship and prayer. We very much look forward to welcoming new faces to our wide range of activities. LRBC is a member church of the Love Southend initiative www.lovesouthend.org