Advent is here and we are looking forward to these events in the run up to celebrate Christmas. We warmly invite you to join us!
Thursday 28th March - Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage
On Maundy Thursday 28th March, join us for a walk of solidarity with the people of Gaza as we call for an enduring ceasefire, for immediate humanitarian aid, for release of all hostages (both the Israeli hostages held by Hamas – and the Palestinian hostages held in the Israeli prisons), and an end to occupation so that a just-peace can begin.
We are doing this prayerful walk as part of the Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage, a network of autonomous Christians groups with shared convictions who are engaging in a prayerful show of solidarity in cities around the world, where people during Lent will walk the length of the Gaza strip.
Starting from Peckham Rye, we will be walking prayerfully the length of Gaza (41km). Join us for all of the pilgrimage, or along the way for a section of it. We will be stopping for water/ comfort breaks/ prayer and rest along the way.
We ask that people joining the pilgrimage commit to the follow 8 convictions to be found here: https://www.gazaceasefirepilgrimage.com/core-convictions
More information here: https://www.gazaceasefirepilgrimage.com/
There is also a FB page with more information on the route and stopping places. This will be updated regularly. https://fb.me/e/4Ng6uiX0Y
Our community prayer for 2024
On Sunday 21 January, as part of our church gathering we said the following prayer together. This prayer articulates our values around following Jesus, practicing peacemaking, celebrating creativity and working for justice. It was a real privilege to join in this prayer, committing to journeying together alongside others, supporting and encouraging each other as we follow Jesus and seek the kingdom of God in our neighbourhoods in 2024.
Encountering the Anabaptists
At Amott Road Baptist Church we are inspired by the story of the early Anabaptists. If you would like to learn more about these radical Christians, their theology and how we might draw on this tradition for today, this course starting on Wednesday 1st November is just for you!
4 Wednesdays in November: 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd, from 7pm - 9pm.
For more information contact: anabaptist@bristol-baptist.ac.uk
Summer bingo challenge 2023!
Don't forget our Summer Bingo challenge! Tick off as many as you can over the coming weeks and create some special memories with the people in your life. We'll share how we've got on at the end of the holidays. 🤩
Holiday Club 2022
We hosted another successful Holiday Club at Amott Road this summer. Working in partnership with Spring Community Hub, we hosted 3 weeks of summer fun which included bread making with Leila from Bake 2 Explore, story telling with Emma and Mary, drama with The Blue Elephant Theatre and all sorts of craft and making. It was fantastic to connect with some of our old families from previous years (the kids have all grown so much!) as well as meet new families and start to get to know them. Thank you all so much for being part of a wonderful few weeks. A massive thank you to our fantastic volunteers for making it run so smoothly too. We will be organising other events and gatherings through the year, so keep an eye on the calendar page, or sign up to receive our newsletter.
Enjoy the rest of the summer holidays and see you soon!
New logo!
We are super excited to unveil our new logo!
Dove of peace: Jesus “preached peace to those who were far off and those who were near”; made peace between God and humanity possible; and called his followers to a “ministry of reconciliation”. As followers of Jesus, we want to emulate him. His life is instructive for how we should live. We follow Jesus the bringer of peace: so we seek to be peacemakers - actively working for peace and reconciliation in our church community, our families, our neighbourhoods and the earth.
The City: The narrative of the Bible starts in a garden, but ends in a city! Cities are often portrayed as places of corruption, decay and immorality. We believe that by ending with a vision of a glorious city - the New Jerusalem, the Bible celebrates and values cities as places of innovation, beauty and meaningful relationship between all of creation. We love Peckham and we want to see our neighbourhood flourish!
Colours: We celebrate the diversity of our neighbourhood and church community. We also want to encourage creativity: for how we engage in our own faith journeys, and for the joy of being co-creators with God. We must pay attention to the artists, the poets and the prophets to hear the voice of God.
If you would like to know about who we are… get in touch, or come along to one of our events or church gatherings. You are very welcome!
Month of Prayer
From the 16th January - 13 February we are spending some focussed time praying for ourselves, our church, community and world. Each week there will be items to pray for, Scripture to help us, questions to ponder.
Month of Prayer: Week 1 - Praying for ourselves
Questions to ponder:
Where are we in our walk with God? Do we spend regular time reading the Bible, talking and listening out for God speaking to us?
If we imagine that Jesus’ disciples were spending time with him, watching how he lived, learning from him - being his apprentices essentially, how are we being apprentices ourselves?
What desires and longings do we have for our lives? Have we talked to God about these?
What pain and grief are we carrying? Have we taken these to God?
What hopes and goals are we working towards in 2022?
Prayer practices to try out this week:
Keep a regular practice of pausing for prayer at midday each day. This doesn’t need to be a long activity - it can simply be stopping for a minute, reminding ourselves that God is present, and praying the Lord’s Prayer.
Alternatively, try using this prayer from the Corrymeela community:
Midday prayer
We break from the doings of our day
and make space to notice you.
You are always with us
in surprising guises.
Jesus of the flesh, we meet you in
worker and friend,
stranger and pilgrim,
the needy and the needed,
the questioner and questioned.
So when we meet you,
may we deepen trust,
deepen life, deepen justice
and deepen joy.
And when you meet us,
help us approach our activities
with presence and power,
with love and humility,
with courage and dignity.
Amen
Create a timeline of your life, noting significant moments (big life changes, starting or ending of relationships, births, marriages, bereavements, job changes or house moves). Take time to look at what has happened in your life so far. Where was God in those events? Did you have a sense of God’s presence at difficult moments? Or did God feel far away? Did you know God with you in times of celebration? Talk to God about where you have been so far, where you are now and how you feel at the start of this new year.
Scripture to pray with this week:
Reading Scripture and prayer go hand-in-hand. Scripture helps us to know God and can give us words for talking to God when we don’t know how to express ourselves. Scripture tells us about God, God’s plan and purposes and how we fit in with God’s story.
Sunday - God knows us and loves us - Psalm 139
Monday - God is our helper in difficult times - Psalm 143
Tuesday - We are each given gifts to use. Ask God how you might use your gifts this year. - 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Wednesday - Love yourself and love others - Romans 12:9-17
Thursday - A prayer for growing in Christ-likeness - Colossians 3:12 - 17
Friday - Do not worry, God cares for you - Matthew 5:25 and 26
Saturday - A day of rest
Writing down your thoughts or prayers in a journal or notebook can be helpful for processing what you are thinking about currently, or for reflecting back on what you have learnt. There will be notebooks at church on Sunday morning for anyone who doesn't have one already.
Check out the church Facebook page for updates throughout the Month of Prayer - resources, prayers and ideas posted there!
Holiday Club Summer 2021
We are two weeks into the Amott Road Baptist Church and Spring Community Hub Holiday Club. It has been a brilliant couple of weeks so far - with loads of craft, drama, and sport happening across the week. We have enjoyed meeting new families and catching up with those that we met last year. We will be organising different events through the year to keep in touch and continue to get to know each other and build community. Keep an eye on the events page for updates.