2026 Lent Message

Dear Church Family,

 

We’ve started the season of Lent, which is traditionally one of prayer, fasting and repentance in the run up to Easter. It feels very apt to be speaking on the topic of fasting in our Sunday sermon series over the next few weeks. Please do take time to have a listen to the sermon online if you haven’t been able to come along on a Sunday for whatever reason. You can find them all here: www.bfpc.org.uk/talks

 

As part of our ongoing discipleship we’re inviting people to join with the rest of the church community in setting aside Wednesday’s for prayer and fasting. If you’ve never tried fasting before, then maybe this is the time to give it a go. Fasting is a way to spiritually amplify our prayers, and to press into the presence of God. If we’re passionate to see God move in our midst, and to transform our lives and the lives of others, then I’d definitely encourage you to fast as a sign of your desire for God to do what only God can do!

 

As we journey through this season of Lent, we’d love to focus our prayers each week on a particular aspect of church life. That way we’re all focussed in praying for the same thing. Dates and topics are:

• 25th Feb – Children and Families Ministry
• 4th Mar – Alpha
• 11th Mar – Youth Work (inc Youth Café Launch)
• 18th Mar – Community Connections (work with elderly and vulnerable)
• 25th Mar – Building for the Future
• 1st Apr – Holiday Club

We will include prayer points in the weekly news for each Wednesday – to give you specific things you can be praying for. For the first week can I suggest the following:

 

Children and Families Ministry Prayer Points

Breakthrough in Sunday morning’s – more children and families to attend regularly.

For more team members for Little Explorers, Explorers and Detectives

For the Families Small Group and their discipleship journey

For good conversations at Little Peas – and good relationships to be built – with opportunities to speak about faith and Jesus. 

For Megan’s work in the schools – for growing faith of children in those contexts.

 

Building for the Future

Some of you may remember the workshops we held in Oct/Nov 2024 around the future of the building. Since then progress has been delayed due to reenvisioning of the church, and my Sabbatical last year. We’ve since picked this back up and are in the process of starting the conversations with the Diocese and the various conservation bodies about what we need from the building to enable it’s evolving mission and ministry – particularly in light of our status as a mission hub. We’ll be doing some more work with various consultants to help us build that business case and hopefully later this year we should have some draft proposals ready to share. Please do keep praying for this initiative – it will only be achieved through God being at work in it and through it – and the object is to enable the continual growth and increased impact of the church – not change for changes sake!

 

Easter Baptisms

As we move towards Easter we look forward to celebrating Resurrection life, and Easter Sunday is traditionally a day when we conduct baptisms. This year we’re intending to baptise in the market square immediately after the Easter Morning service alongside people from other churches in the town – as a visible sign that God is at work in this place. If you haven’t been baptised as an adult and would like to be, please do come and speak to me about it.

 

Andy Perry

This month Andy Perry will be joining us as an Associate Minister – his first in churh Sunday being 15thMarch. The plan will be to give Andy time just to settle into his new role with the Diocese and to get to know us as a church before taking an active part in ministry. This doesn’t however mean that you can’t speak to him and Fi when they’re around. Please do say hello, introduce yourself, and make them feel welcome. Moving to a new church after over 30 years in the same church must be very disorientating! It will be good to show them BFPC’s renowned welcome!

 

Funerals and Memorial Services

There are a number of funerals and memorial services happening in the next few weeks that church members may wish to attend.

27th Feb – 2pm – Mustafa Cakir – Owner of the 3 Kings

2nd Mar – 11am – Nina Hichens – longtime church member – followed by refreshments in parish centre.

12th Mar – 2pm – Pat Harrison Memorial 

 

Lent Lectures

BFPC is acting as host for a series of lecture throughout Lent. These will be in Wednesday afternoons at 1.30pm  (mainly in the church building) – they are free and there’s a good range of speakers and topics to engage with.

• 25th February: Canon Dr Clare Amos

‘The Gospel of Matthew - A mountain-top experience’

• 4th March: Professor Christopher Hancock.

‘By what authority? Identity and conflict within the Church’

• 11th March: Dr. David Edwin Orton P.H.D

“Interpreting the Bible for the Church”.

• 18th March: Revd Dr Helen Williams

‘Science and Faith’

 

My prayer for this Lent is that all of us grow in faith and deepen in prayer. 

 

Blessings

 

Chris