Stoneygate
Baptist Church

Our minister will be on sabbatical from 22 June to 20 September. Here she explains what that means for her and for the church. From next Monday, I will be on sabbatical for three months. "What is a sabbatical?" you might ask. Well, it is the usual practice in Baptist churches that every seven years, ministers are eligible to take three months away from their usual ministry. It is in part an opportunity for an extended time of rest, because while ministry is a joy and a privil

Luke 4:16-21 [Jesus] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed

Back in 2020, we took the decision as a congregation to register with Inclusive Church and write our own statement of inclusion. In doing so, we sought to make clear our commitment to welcoming those who have been marginalised by the church, including those in same sex relationships. Two years later, after a period of prayerful discernment, we voted to take the additional step of registering the building for same sex marriage. This is now our settled position, but we recognis

Philippians 2:1-11 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the other

Isaiah 58:6-12 Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go bef

This morning we celebrated Pentecost...cafe church style. We started by rolling back to where we left off on Easter Sunday, hearing about Jesus' post-resurrection appearances and the ascension from the Book of Belonging. The story talked about heaven cracking open and God's dream coming true, so we prayed some of our dreams for the world. We then heard the story of Pentecost, when God's spirit came to be with the disciples to help them to live in the world and serve others an

Acts 2:42-47 All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. We are now onto week four of our series looking at holy habits or spir

John 4:1-26 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was abo

I said on Sunday that I said I would share some of my favourite resources on the blog this week, then sat down to do it and realised what a huge task I had set myself. So rather than trying to come up with a definitive list, here are some things I have been blessed by recently. I hope they bless you too. Read The Book of Belonging by Mariko Clark | Those of you who worshipped with us over Easter will know how much I love this children's Bible. The stories are woven through wi

Luke 2:41-52 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they wen

From now until the start of my sabbatical at the end of June, we are going to be looking at some holy habits, or spiritual practices that can help us grow in our connection to God and in our engagement with the world. These are deepening prayer, thinking scripture, practising ritual, being community, living well, serving others and speaking up. I think these are practices that are good for all of us, but we will each respond to them differently, and some of them will resona

As the sun rose, we gathered around a fire to greet the Easter morning with prayer and bacon. And then at a more respectable time, we gathered again to paint the clay decorations we made last week, decorate the church with paper chains, sing a new round, share communion, and hear the story of Easter Sunday from The Book of Belonging. You can read our minister's reflection below. There is a strange detail in the story of Easter Sunday, as Jesus' friends don't recognise him s

Over the past two days we have journeyed to the cross, with the help of the Book of Belonging. You can find playlists for our Tenebrae and Good Friday services below, as well as the text of our Good Friday reflection. “It shows us the very worst things in human hearts, all at once.” Good Friday is an apocalypse, a revelation. The curtain is not just pulled back but torn in two, and there can be no hiding from the worst of our humanity. It is not just that an innocent man has

This morning we marked Palm Sunday cafe church style, with some help from the Book of Belonging. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and the crowds shouted "hosanna", which means "save us", so we thought about what we want to be saved from and what we want to be saved for. He then went into the temple and turned over the tables that represented greed and injustice, so we asked what tables need turning over today. We also started to look ahead to Easter by making some clay d