The Hub, Upper Beeding Baptist Church

Our aims continue to be to Follow Jesus Closely, to Love Generously, to Journey Together, to Give Selflessly and to Live Courageously.

Since our minister moved on last summer, we are continuing in the process of searching for a new pastor. We find ourselves in the fortunate position of having a number of excellent spiritual leaders among our members and so our services have remained lively and focused. We have also enjoyed a range of inspiring visiting speakers which have provided us considerable encouragement. Our membership has increased and the fellowship remains in good heart.

We see our community focus to be a crucial part of our witness in the local area and even though we are in a pastoral vacancy we have continued to run the café each weekday morning, serving the best barista coffee in the area – according to our regulars. We also run the Hubbard, our version of a food bank, a Befriending scheme which assists 11 people living with loneliness and Flourish, a group which supports 17 parents and carers whose children have special educational needs.

We needed to put our ‘Positive Play’ scheme on hold for a few months, but this has restarted and we currently have 34 families registered. This complements our monthly Messy Church and Hub Kids for those attending on a Sunday.

We are very grateful to God for the blessings and faithfulness he has brought to us especially during this time of pastoral vacancy.

We would welcome prayers that:

• we can find and appoint the minister God wants us to have
• we continue to serve our community with generosity and sensitivity
• we are open to the Holy Spirit to guide us in all our activities.

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North Kent Network

Sittingbourne Baptist Church

We are grateful to share that God continues to move powerfully among us at Sittingbourne Baptist Church in ways that leave us humbled and deeply encouraged.

One of the highlights of this season has been the completion of our recent Youth Alpha, where our young people engaged thoughtfully with the gospel through honest conversations, real-life questions, and meaningful discussions about faith and everyday life. It has been a joy to see them grow in confidence, understanding and openness to God’s work in their lives.

We are also witnessing a season of spiritual growth within the church family. We have seen a significant number of people committing their lives to Christ, alongside an increase in those seeking church membership and deeper involvement in the life of the church. Baptisms have become a regular celebration for us, with multiple candidates coming forward each month to publicly declare their faith. These moments have been powerful reminders of God’s saving grace at work among us.

Our house groups (both in-person and online) continue to flourish, providing spaces for fellowship, discipleship, prayer, and mutual encouragement. These gatherings have strengthened relationships across the church and helped many feel more connected and supported in their walk with Christ.

Beyond spiritual growth, we are thankful to see God’s faithfulness reflected in the life journeys of our congregation, including celebrations of marriages and the joy of welcoming new children into our church family. Truly, words feel insufficient to fully express God’s goodness and the tangible sense of His presence among us.

As we look ahead, our prayer is that we would remain a church rooted in love, unity, and faithful obedience, continuing to welcome all whom God brings our way and pointing many more people toward the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

How you can pray for us:

• For continued spiritual growth and discipleship as new believers join our church family.
• For wisdom and grace for our leadership as the church continues to grow.
• For God’s healing hand upon members of our congregation who are unwell.
• That many more people in our community would come to know Christ personally.

We thank God for His ongoing work and appreciate your prayers as we continue to serve Him in Sittingbourne.

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North Downs Network

Guildford Baptist Church

We finished a ten year building project in 2020 and finally paid off the BU loan last year – a big cause of celebration! We’ve been enjoying the new spaces and ministry opportunities that have opened up and are grateful to the Baptist Union for the loan. While we sensed it was right to do the building project in 2010, we’ve been amazed at the timing of it.

Since 2020, we’ve welcomed people to the church from different parts of the world, particularly from Hong Kong and Ukraine.

Ian Stackhouse and Adrian Clarke had the opportunity to visit Salvation Baptist church in Eastern Ukraine this Spring and were humbled by what they are doing to welcome IDPs. In the midst of international crises, God is working. 

Many of those coming from overseas have re-energised our worship and stirred us by their prayerful hunger for God and their bold witness.

We now take part at Christmas and Easter in Shine your Light, a nationwide initiative to get the Church out of the building and into the town centre. This weekend, while our worship bands praise God, we will be giving out Easter eggs, Alpha flyers and balloon art with the gospel message, made by our friends from Hong Kong.

A favourite space at Millmead is the café, Open Grounds, which welcomes many people from the Guildford community. We are so thankful for our café manager and all the volunteers who make people feel welcome there. We also have a team of volunteer chaplains who can chat to people.

We seek to be an intergenerational church and we value being together with others who are not like us. We have a monthly Hymn Sing-Along where people can sing their favourite hymns which may not always get played at a Sunday service, and we stream this to local care homes. While we have ministries like Holiday Club, Holiday at Home and Ignite (a youth-led café church-style service), we also want to receive from people across the generations, both young and old, sharing God’s wisdom. This is beginning to happen through Thrive (a cross-generational mentor programme) and our Generations United social events. We would value prayer that we become more intergenerational.
 
We have been thrilled to see so many young people getting baptised this year. 

Please pray that we nurture and disciple these young people well, continuing to walk alongside them.

Finally, we’d value prayer that we keep the main thing the main thing as a church. In a divided society, we want the love of God, shown through Jesus Christ, to be the thing that holds us together. Please pray that this Easter we hold true to the gospel and are shaped once again by God’s love through Christ.