Pastor's Page
On this page, you'll find some reflections on church life in Barnstaple and North Devon. If you want to ask any questions, or make any comments, about what's here, please contact me via the form on the 'Contact Us' page.
With every blessing,
David.
(Rev David Hughes, Minister)
THURSDAY JUNE 24th
The Theatrefest Fringe opens today and we have a whole variety of performances taking place in our church hall over the next 4 days. Why not come along and see some great live theatre?
WEDNESDAY MAY 26th
I've just received film of Sunday evening's baptism and include it here. Mike has various physical difficulties (caused by a motor cycle accident) which sadly made it impossible to baptise him by full immersion in the baptistery, so we baptised him by pouring (affusion).
Incidentally, the laughter you can hear is from our keyboard player who saw the funny side of pouring jugs of water over Mike's head!
SATURDAY MAY 22nd
Last night's Acoustic Cafe at the Boston Tea Party was a stormer! Jack Turner from Ilfracombe opened with a set that contained mostly covers, but also a couple of his own songs. What a talent! I do hope we'll get Jack at the Cafe again sometime in the future.
Jim Jones is in a class of his own and he had us hanging on every note and lyric for nearly an hour. If you get chance to see Jim live, grab it with both hands! Mim Latimer was a great house artist, whose work raised even more money for chosen charity, Amigos. And so, now we have to meet up to plan July's acoustic evening - it'll be hard to match this one (but we'll try!).
Tomorrow evening, we have a baptism at church - my first since arriving in Barnstaple, so a really big deal. Please pray for Mike as he is obedient to the Lord and for me as I lead the service - may God's name be glorified!
WEDNESDAY MAY 19th
In recent days we've started two new activities: Bible for Beginners and The Welcoming Place.
Bible for Beginners is a small group which meets fortnightly to discuss all things 'Bible' over a cup of coffee (or tea). Within this informal setting, I'm looking forward to learning from others and offering some of my own thoughts.
The Welcoming Place is a weekly act of hospitality, throwing open the doors of the church to all-comers, offering refreshments and providing a space within which friendships can be made and information shared.
I'm really encouraged by the first session of each of these activities and will be interested to see what God does through them.
SATURDAY MAY 8th
Messy Church was brilliant today - lots of children and parents came along to enjoy breakfast, craft, and worship. The theme was Pentecost (a bit early, true enough, but our next Messy Church is too long after Pentecost) and everyone seemed to love it all.
Messy Church is one of the great things about church life at BBC and out of it (and Tots 'n' Toddlers) are coming blessing services and dedications. God is good!
TUESDAY MAY 4th
Well, it may be Star Trek day ('May the 4th be with you!'), but I'd rather talk about the excellent Baptist Assembly that took place in Plymouth over the Bank Holiday weekend. With the theme of 'One world, one mission', the Assembly was really inspiring and worshipful - over the past 12 years or so, the Baptist Union has really learned how to put these large, showcase events on with great success.
The highlight of the Assembly for myself and Jenny were the Prism sessions (the smaller, more reflective and highly interactive alternative to the main hall meetings). Much credit goes to the Prism team, which had obviously worked so hard to prepare each session.
For video/photos of the 2010 Assembly, go here.
WEDNESDAY MARCH 17th
My first entry for a while! On Friday (March 19th), we have the next Acoustic Cafe Evening at The Boston Tea Party at 7.30 p.m. It's a great event with good acoustic music and the best coffee in town, so do come along!
FRIDAY JANUARY 8th
Well. Barnstaple hasn't escaped the snow and ice that's affected much of the country and we're now having to cancel or postpone various church activities. Of course, it's rather disappointing, but people's safety has to come first.
SUNDAY DECEMBER 13th
It was Soul Cafe at church tonight and the theme was 'Who am I?' It was a really good meeting and we had some really good coffee.
Afterwards, I hurried along to see the spectacular thebandwithnoname at Grosvenor Church - what a fantastic gig! I really respect Chip K and the boys for the way they are all out for the gospel and for making it really accessible to young people.
THURSDAY DECEMBER 3rd
We began our streetside Advent calendar on Tuesday this week - it's a real experiment, but I think anything that draws people's attention to the real meaning of Christmas is worth a try. I'm basing it on the John 1:1-14 passage and the visuals are linked to a daily reflection which you'll find on the 'Advent' page.
Last night, I went to the licensing and installation of the Rev. Dr Nigel Dilkes as Priest-in-Charge of the Pilton with Ashford parish. It was a wonderful occasion presided over by the Bishop of Exeter and I'm looking forward to working with Nigel in Pilton and Barnstaple to the glory of God.
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 24th
Well, it's a long time since I wrote on this page and such a lot has happened in Barnstaple: the first UNITE youth event has taken place at Trinity Church and attracted over 150 young people from across North Devon; Street Pastors has been launched in Barnstaple and has really made an impact upon the police, as well as the public; and our second Acoustic Cafe at The Boston Tea Party went really well again.
I'm so pleased to see town churches and their members coming together to make a difference and I certainly think that is what is happening. We really are operating effectively as the Body of Christ in this town and it's beautiful to see.
So, what of the future? Well, at the end of this week, the Healing on the Streets team will be ministering outside the central library, praying for the healing of everyone who asks. Then, on Sunday evening at Grosvenor Church we have a united service which will acknowledge the service of our police force and pray for them. In addition, on December 22nd members of many churches will be singing carols in the town centre.
I praise God for the way He is empowering His Church for service in Barnstaple!
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 18th
Tonight, we held the first Acoustic Cafe evening at The Boston Tea Party cafe in Barnstaple and the place was packed to hear local Christian artistes, Abi Dove, Tim Gilbert and Erin Matthews.
The event was organised by a small group of people from several different local churches - and I (David) was delighted to be a part of that planning team.
All the artistes were really fantastic and we're really looking forward to our next evening on November 20th. For more details, see the event's website .... http://acousticana.blogspot.com/
Erin Matthews is pictured above (with friends).
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 17th
Barnstaple was a hive of excitement today as the Tour of Britain passed through the town on its way to its conclusion in Bideford. Hundreds of people lined The Strand to watch the sprint 'finish' and it was amazing how the sense of anticipation grew and grew the nearer the leaders' arrival came. Many flags were waved, cheers were raised and much video and stills were taken as the leaders were followed by the peloton, only about 10 seconds behind.
It was great to see a very sunny Barnstaple full of happy people hailing a big sporting event - I for one was proud of the town today!
MONDAY AUGUST 10th
The Hughes family have just returned from a relaxing holiday in Brittany, France, and we all enjoyed worshipping with the fellowship at St Malo Baptist Church for our two Sundays there. They're a really friendly group of people and we heartily commend the church to you, if ever you are visiting St Malo.
THURSDAY JULY 9th
Our clean-up went well this morning and, again, we collected a significant amount of litter: bottles, cans, fast food packaging and cigarette ends. This marks the beginning of the Barnstaple Baptist Church Green Team - we'll be out on the streets once a month to make our part of Barnstaple a more pleasant place in which to live.
MONDAY JULY 6th
On Thursday, a small team from BBC will again be on the streets of Barnstaple litter-picking. Why? Because we are committed to making our community a more pleasant place in which to live and because we believe that God has called us to be good stewards of his creation. Green Britain Day is on Friday - we're just marking it a day early!
Last time we went out, as part of the 'Tidy Up Our Town' initiative, we had some great comments from members of the public and we pray that this will again speak to people in a way which glorifies God.
FRIDAY JULY 3rd
Tomorrow morning (Saturday July 4th), we'll be holding our fourth Messy Church, with the theme being 'Moses'. All parents and children welcome - remember, we start at 9.30 a.m. with breakfast.
On Sunday morning, our family service will take a further look at Moses - do come along ... it'll be fun!!! Starts at 10.30 a.m.
SUNDAY JUNE 28th
Today sees the end of the Theatrefest Fringe which has been using our church hall as one of 3 venues and it would appear to have been a terrific success, with good crowds attending and high quality acts performing.
On Friday, I worked a shift as a volunteer on the box office and what a good time I had. It's been fantastic being involved in such an inspiring community event.
This afternoon, we went as a family to watch U'Zambezi Arts, a South African group who entertained us with some fantastic dancing, a capella singing and great humour. It was a great privilege for me to pray with the group after the performance for their safe travel back to Kent.
SATURDAY JUNE 27th
The Hughes family was in Exeter today to join in Exeter Anglican Diocese's 1100th anniversary celebrations. It was a very hot and sunny day and the whole event was really wonderful.
Particularly memorable was the morning open air communion service, led by the Bishop of Exeter with the address given by Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.
The Cathedral was looking beautiful, bedecked with banners made by Devon primary schools (like this one).
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