Calling stall holders for Leigh-on-Sea’s Christmas Fayre Fantastic 2014

Posted on September 5, 2014 by admin

Christmas Fayre Stall Holder

The ever popular Christmas Fayre Fantastic will be taking place again this year at Leigh Road Baptist Church. We are calling interested stall holders to get in contact with us if they would like to attend.

When is this happening?

Christmas Fayre Fantastic 2014
Saturday 15th November, 10am-3pm.
Leigh Road Baptist Church
Marguerite Drive, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex SS9 1NN

What you need to know

Stalls will include craft items, gifts, homeware, art, cards, tea and cakes plus fun fair games in the garden to keep the children (and big children) entertained.

We aim to accommodate 26 large tables in the main hall and entrance area, run a café and have games in the garden. The LRBC Preschool will also be hosting a children’s area in the small hall.

We will be advertising via all who use the premises on a weekly basis (over 1,500) plus posters around Leigh-on-Sea and hopefully a couple of local press articles.
We shall also use the Churches website, Social Networks, Facebook and Twitter. This is our 4th year of hosting the fayre with hundreds of people coming through the doors to buy last year.

Would you like to register for a stall?

Costs:
Large trestle table 6ft = £25.00
Half a table 3ft = £15 (share with another stall holder)

If you are interested in booking a table or want some more information events@lrbc.org.uk or on call 07940073088 / 01702 478698 and we can send you a booking form.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Julie E – Volunteer organiser.
Leigh Road Baptist Church

Posted in Events, News | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Football and faith as LRBC FC attend National Festival

Posted on August 10, 2014 by admin

Heads up!

FOOTBALL and faith took to the pitches when more than 200 players headed to Loughborough to play in a national soccer tournament last weekend.

A squad of 14 players from Leigh Road Baptist FC were among those competing at the annual National Christian Football Festival.
After decamping at our luxury “team” hotel in nearby Leicester – and avoiding the many press waiting there – the lads enjoyed a quiet Friday night out before heading to bed early to be ready for two days of non-stop soccer.

We were joined by teams from as far away as Wales, Sunderland, Stoke and Birmingham at the contest which was split into two sections – Football Association affiliated and the new teams section, which Leigh Road took part in.

After starting well with a 3-2 victory and a 2-2 draw, the side, led by skipper Greg Taylor, pulled out all the stops to beat Stoke-based Potters House Church 3-1. The game included a terrific free kick from Greg, which even David Beckham would have been proud of!

Target practice

But with an injury to one of our key players, Charlie Dear, ruling him out of our final game on the Saturday, an exhausted Leigh Road lost 4-0 to the eventual winners, Freedom Church, from Hereford.

Nursing injuries overnight and with many players too tired to even watch the end of the Holland verses Costa Rica match, a weary squad were driven by David Elcock from our hotel to the festival for the final day.

A rousing start against Sunderland Samba (who even brought their own drums along) ended in a 2-1 defeat and despite being still in the hunt for the runners-up spot, Leigh Road lost their final game.

Bringing hope through football, half time talks.

Apart from the great football played, Christian talks were held each day by contest organisers Ambassadors Football, which were listened to intently by our players with some asking questions afterwards.

Players Alan Cook and Steve Klein, as well as midfielder Nick Johnson, also prayed for healing for Charlie’s ankle.

After the tournament, Greg Taylor said: “It was a terrific weekend away with some great chats with the lads. There was a real feel of togetherness and nobody gave up. “We are now looking forward to the new season and coming back next year to win the competition!” Player manager Steve Klein added: “There were some good performances on the pitch along with some good chats after the games about God-stuff. “Hopefully we can build on this for the future.”

By Steve Klein LRBC FC player.

LRBC FC Squad Photo 2014

Squad: Adam Lonergran, Nick Johnson, Greg Taylor, Graham Sexton, Charlie Dear, Grant Bilkus, Matt Airey, Mike Sweeney, Anthony Bird, Alan Cook, Steve Klein, Phil Barter, Dan Gracie.
Team mini-bus driver and encourager: David Elcock

For more info on the team, training and playing visit our sports pages.

Posted in News, Sport | Tagged | Comments Off on Football and faith as LRBC FC attend National Festival

Journeys: Come hear from real people with amazing stories and changed lives

Posted on April 17, 2014 by admin

Journeys Course flyer

Journeys is a five-week series of short films exploring the Christian faith through real people, amazing stories and changed lives. Journeys features powerful interviews about spiritual encounters and shows how faith works in everyday life. This course is particularly suitable for people who are interested in exploring spiritual things.

Journeys covers the following key topics:

Week 1 – Is there a spiritual side to me?
Week 2 – If God and heaven exist what are they like?
Week 3 – Does this faith thing work in real life?
Week 4 – Does God have real power to change things?
Week 5 – Crossing the line – what’s that like?

Dates and times

Five Wednesday evenings from 30th April, 8-9.30pm in the Oasis The Coffee House, 189 Leigh Road, SS9 1JE. Coffee, cake, short film and open discussion.

Please email emma.nash@lrbc.org.uk, call her on 01702 471873, or pop into Oasis The Coffee House and speak to a member of staff if you’re interested in coming along.

Posted in Easter 2014, Events, LRBC, News, Oasis, Press release | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Journeys: Come hear from real people with amazing stories and changed lives

Church set to help people become savvy with their cash as households feel income squeeze

Posted on April 3, 2014 by admin

Coaches on Leigh-on-Sea CAP Money Course (LRBC)

A church is set to run another of its free sessions to help people in Leigh-on-Sea get on top of their household finances.

Members of Leigh Road Baptist Church (LRBC) in Leigh-on-Sea wanted to help their local community to best handle the economic climate so underwent specialised training from UK charity Christians Against Poverty.

Now they are offering the short course aimed to putting the joy back into money by teaching people how to chart their household income and take control of their expenditure.

The CAP Money Course from Christians Against Poverty on Vimeo.

Money Coach Alan Cook, who will be leading the sessions called the CAP Money course, said: “With households feeling the squeeze on their disposable income, we’ve all got to get a bit more savvy about our money to get through these tough times. If you know how to save and budget effectively, it can have a hugely positive impact on the whole family.”

Leigh Road Baptist Church is one of more than 1,200 churches of different Christian traditions across the UK who are regularly offering the course, as they work together to positively impact the communities around them.

The CAP Money course has been found to be useful for newly retired people, soon-to-be students, mums dealing with mounting bills, families saving for a wedding and everyone in between.

He added: “We hope that we can help people, quietly and confidentially, take control rather than relying on guess work so they can plan for the future and weather the storm.”

One recent LRBC CAP Course attendee tweeted “I attended a CAP course at Leigh Road Baptist with my son a few weeks ago. I’ve never felt richer! One simple change saved me £240 per year.”

Book your free place

The next course takes place at Oasis The Coffee House, 189 Leigh Road, Leigh-on-Sea SS9 1JE starting at 7.45pm on Wednesday 7 May 2014.

To find out more about the LRBC CAP Money course, or to book your place visit www.capmoneycourse.org or telephone 01702 478698.

Posted in Community work, Events, Fairtrade, LRBC, News, Press release | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Church set to help people become savvy with their cash as households feel income squeeze

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? LRBC youth group superheroes spotted over East Sussex

Posted on March 27, 2014 by admin

Space at Ashburnham Place fancy dress partySpace the 14-18 year old youth group at LRBC have just returned from a great weekend away.

They visited the wonderful Ashburnham Place, nr Battle in East Sussex.

Seventeen young people and their youth leaders experienced fine weather, beautiful countryside, a drowned toad, God in the midst, hip hop around the camp-fire, wonderful worship, late night movies, muddy wide games and enough cake to reach the moon and back.

Saturday night saw superhero disguises donned and a fancy dress party erupted.

And here is the first of many incriminating photos…. A great church youth group little weekender.

For more information on the the church work with young people please visit our dedicated pages.

Posted in LRBC, News, Youth Work | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Is it a bird? Is it a plane? LRBC youth group superheroes spotted over East Sussex

Leigh Road Baptist Church phone lines and emails are now working

Posted on February 28, 2014 by admin

Phones workingWe are very sorry that you may have not been able to contact us over the last month (February).

Our phone lines were mistakenly cut off and we have been having a lot of fun(!) restoring the services with our phone and internet providers.

Anyway the lines are now up and running – hooray! Feel free to call us on the usual telephone numbers during office hours (answer machine at other times). Our email addresses are back working too.

So those numbers:

Leigh Road Baptist Church Office: 01702 478698
LRBC Pre-School: 01702 471924

We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.

Posted in LRBC, News | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Leigh Road Baptist Church phone lines and emails are now working

Kick-Start 2014 with a Day of Prayer

Posted on December 31, 2013 by admin

The main purpose of the day of prayer is to allow God to speak to us as His people. We recognize that what matters is not what we do for God but what God is able to do in and through us.

Day of Prayer

Sunday 5th January 2014 has been set aside as a kick-starter Day of Prayer with Leigh Road Baptist Church.

The Sanctuary will be open from 9.30 am for prayer until 6pm.

The morning service at 10:30am will explore the priority of Prayerful Dependence.

At 6:30pm Refresh will continue on the theme of prayer and give opportunities to visit various prayer pods around the Sanctuary as well as a talk.

Download the Day of Prayer Guide in PDF format here.

We hope that you will be able to come along at some time during the day to start the new year in prayer with us.

Unsure about prayer and what it is? Please feel free to explore this and linked pages on our website.

Posted in Church services, LRBC, LRBC Online, News, Prayer | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Kick-Start 2014 with a Day of Prayer

Christmas at Leigh Road Baptist Church: You’re invited!

Posted on December 24, 2013 by admin

How does Christmas Start for you? #ChristmasStarts

Christmas at Leigh Road Baptist Church: You’re invited!

All-Age Nativity Service

Sunday 8th December 2013 10.30 am

Join us for our traditional treat – the family nativity service. Fun, laughter and ‘Away in a Manger’ – just perfect.

Beer and Carols in The Broker Freehouse

Sunday 15th December 2013 8.00pm

Join us at our local pub for a good Carol sing (and a pint).

Carol Services

Sunday 22nd December 2013 4 pm and 6.30 pm

Get in the mood to celebrate Christmas and join us for our ever popular annual Carol services. Sprinkled with candlelight and served with mincepies.

Candlelit Midnight Communion

Tuesday 24th December 2013 11.30pm

We would be delighted if you could join us to welcome in Christmas day with a very special midnight communion.

Christmas Day All-Age Service

Wednesday 25th December 2013 10.00am

‘The light of life’ Come and celebrate with us on Christmas morning. Christmas Starts with Christ!

Christmas Starts with ChristExplore Christ this Christmas visit www.christmasstarts.com

We look forward to seeing you.

Here are the short films that we have featured in services this Christmas so you have a chance to catch them again.

Carols By Candlelight

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus Short Film
Come Thou Long Expected Jesus by the Skit Guys

Candlelit Midnight Communion on Christmas Eve

Video poem transcript
It used to be summer when Christmas came round,
Neath tall southern skies, over sun-scorched ground,
With the backyard cricket, the barbies, the beach,
And munching on mangoes to watch the Queen’s Speech.
The slatherings of sunscreen, the glorious glare
And toasting the glow in the warm evening air.

It used to be summer… when I was young.
A golden age in a land far flung.
But there came a point, I crossed a divide,
Went up in the world and summer had died.
December is dark now, the nights close in,
So we huddle together as kith and as kin.

It’s winter now when Christmas rolls round,
We celebrate still though with different surrounds.
We mull the wine and strike the matches,
Light the fires, batten the hatches,
Gather around the warming beam
Of family love or a TV screen.
So safe inside, no place to go,
We toast marshmallows and let it snow.

Our summer’s gone, if you’ve been around,
you’ve felt the fall: life’s run aground.
We’ve gone up in the world, seen summer die.
So what’s our hope? The dark defy?
Stoke the hearth? Retreat indoors?
Rug up warm with you and yours?
The shadow reaches even here,
But THIS is the place for Christmas cheer.

It’s dark, in the bible, when Christmas is spoken.
Always a bolt from the blue for the broken.
It’s the valley of shadow, the land of the dead,
It’s, “No place in the inn,” so He stoops to the shed.
He’s born to the shameful, bends to the weak,
becomes the lowly: the God who can’t speak!
And yet, what a Word, this Saviour who comes,
Our dismal, abysmal depths He plumbs.
Through crib and then cross, to compass our life.
To carry and conquer. Our Brother in strife.
He became what we are: our failures He shouldered,
To bring us to His life: forever enfolded.
He took on our frailty, He took on all-comers,
To turn all our winters to glorious summers.

It’s Christmas now… whatever the weather,
Some soak in the sun, some huddle together.
But fair days or foul, our plight He embraces.
Real Christmas can shine in the darkest of places.

Posted in Christmas 2013, Church services, LRBC, News | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Christmas at Leigh Road Baptist Church: You’re invited!

The Real Advent Calendar – A new way to share the Christmas story

Posted on October 24, 2013 by admin

The Real Advent CalendarThe Real Advent Calendar is a great way to share the real meaning of Christmas.

There’s a line of the Christmas story and a chocolate star behind each window. Behind the final window is a 24-page Christmas storybook. A charitable donation is made to The Children’s Society and its Fairtrade. It costs £3.99.

Order with Leigh Road Baptist Church

On Sunday 27th October, Leigh Road Baptist Church will be taking orders for a bulk purchase from our local Tesco. So you can place your order on the church welcome desk at the morning service – no money necessary at this stage, just when you pick it up from us in on a Sunday morning throughout November.

Tesco

Tesco is the only supermarket that will be stocking The Real Advent Calendar this year as it has ordered enough to offer a national church in-store collect and home delivery service. It has supplies in most stores. From early October, individuals can pop in to virtually all Tesco stores and pick up calendars. To make a bulk order give your local Tesco a call to check stocks and pick up your calendars or use its home delivery service. Details at www.realadvent.co.uk/shop

Traidcraft

From 2nd September, LRBC and friends can order through our Traidcraft rep Gina Cox or individuals can arrange for home delivery by calling 0845 330 8900 or online at www.realadvent.co.uk/shop

Why we need to share the story

It might be difficult to believe but recent surveys show that knowledge of the Christmas story is fading.

Among 5-7 year olds, A new way to share the Christmas story at Christmas and 72% don’t know Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  Among adults less than 12% know the full nativity story and 51% say that the birth of Jesus is irrelevant to their Christmas.  This is a tipping point.

The Christmas Starts With Christ campaign hopes to reverse the trend by telling the Christmas story in new ways.

The  Real Advent Calendar is designed to support the campaign as a new and fun way to share the Christmas story.  You can read more at www.realadvent.co.uk or www.christmasstartswithchrist.com

*survey findings from ComRes 2007, 2010, 2012, Children’s Society 2010

Posted in Christmas 2013, Fairtrade, LRBC, News | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Real Advent Calendar – A new way to share the Christmas story

More than £500 raised for MS Society at Bradzart church charity exhibition.

Posted on September 28, 2013 by admin

Brad and event organiser Alan Cook pose with the artist’s favourite painting – Kurt CobainMORE than 70 people were taken on a journey of the painting life of talented local artist and multiple sclerosis sufferer Brad Harris at a one-off charity art exhibition held at Leigh Road Baptist Church, Marguerite Drive, Leigh-on-Sea on Saturday September 14.

With images of cult rockstar Kurt Cobain and characters from Star Wars standing on easels alongside abstract paintings of storms, mirrors and Brad’s own creation Guitar woman, those attending were treated to a spectacular and unique evening of art.

And an amazing 15 pictures were sold with 50 per cent of the proceedings – totalling £520 -going to the Multiple Sclerosis charity.

The Star Wars painting alone fetched £200 at the aptly-named Bradzart exhibition.
Brad, 39, has produced more than 100 paintings despite suffering from the crippling disease MS for the past 10 years. Using acrylic-based materials, his work ranges from portrait style pictures of famous people – copied from photographs – to abstract creations such as Guitar woman and still life.

Visitors to Bradzart begin the journey of Brad’s painting life.Brad, commenting on the success of his exhibition which was attended by his local branch of the Multiple Sclerosis charity, said: “I never imagined so many people would turn up!

“And to sell so many pictures is amazing. I am so grateful to all my friends who have helped make this an event a reality.”

He added: “Art is such a big part of my life and I am eager to get back to having a go at painting again.

“Local artists who attended the exhibition have offered to help me and I can’t wait to get started!”

The dad-of-two, from London Road, Leigh, was diagnosed with MS after breaking his nose during a football game which led to him experiencing dizziness and double vision.

His work has featured in several Leigh Art Trails and has been on show at a number of high-profile local venues, including top hairdressers Strangeways in Leigh.

Brad met Strangeways co-founder Ade Phelan, who leapt to fame after styling David Beckham’s Mohican in 2002, when he used to get his own haircut at the former Stafford’s salon in Leigh. But despite bravely battling against the degenerative condition for several years, Brad was forced to pack up his easel and hang up the paintbrush in 2005 after he was unable to control the shaking in his right hand.

Art lovers Andy and Ruth Rotherham, from Leigh-on-Sea, are impressed by Brad’s workBrad, who attends a local Multiple Sclerosis group every Friday, added: “I am so lucky to have been able to do what I did for all those years. “I can always tell my children “this is what Daddy used to do” and be proud of what I have accomplished.
“Recently some local artists and pals suggested that I try using my left hand. And that’s what I am going to do!”

Event organiser Alan Cook, from Leigh-on-Sea, said: “The evening was a great success and was well-supported by many different parts of the community, including MS, Leigh Art Trail and Leigh Road Baptist Church. “We all got an interesting insight into how MS has affected Brad’s life.”

Posted in Community work, Events, LRBC, News, Press release | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on More than £500 raised for MS Society at Bradzart church charity exhibition.