WEYMOUTH BAPTIST CHURCH TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT 2021
Our senior pastor said ‘2021 was the year of the vaccine’. We thanked God for His provision to us to help beat the Covid virus, and to bring back some sort of ‘normal’, whatever that may look like. Whilst the first part of 2021 was predominantly about keeping the church going through lockdown, we continued with Sunday services online up to July. When we restarted services back in the building, we decided to provide a live Zoom link from the church each week, so that those who could not attend were still able to participate from home. According to YouTube figures, our online services had 6,070 views (99,500 minutes of viewing time), and we know that we didn’t just reach folk in the UK; the USA was the second highest followed by the Isle of Man (where one of our young people is now in leadership in a group of churches there). Since July, there was only one Sunday in September when the church could not meet in the building, but an online service was rapidly put together to ensure the fellowship could still ‘meet’.
The year began with a series of sermons based on The Beatitudes (from Matthew) – ‘Be blessed, be happy’. This was followed by a series from Proverbs called ‘A Word to the wise’. In August, a series was run based on Ephesians 4 v 17-32 – ‘Living the transformed life.’ The year ended with a series from Colossians – ‘Jesus is Lord of all.’ Transcripts of all sermons get placed online and hard copies sent to those who do not have computer access.
There is no doubt that the Covid pandemic has adversely affected the running of several children and young peoples’ groups and ministries. Whilst the Girls’ Brigade and Treasures saw an increase in numbers, some youth and children’s programmes suffered not only lack of youngsters returning, but also finding enough volunteers to re-start the programmes has been challenging. On a positive note, the church group for the over 50’s has seen a significant increase in numbers involved, and the well supported monthly walks were resumed in July.
Regarding other ministries associated with the church, the Foodbank continued to operate from the building twice weekly, despite the issues the pandemic brought. The Lord continues to bless this work abundantly, with both donations of food and finance. Membership of the Nest community shop grew to 340 in 2021, with 90 or so people shopping each week. A Nest café on site was opened and a second Nest shop on another site was planned. Both the Nest and Foodbank continued to work closely and regularly supported the local Christians Against Poverty (CAP) group in Weymouth.
On a practical level, given that for a good part of the year we were unable to meet in the building, the annual income increased by £4,500 from the previous year, which was very encouraging. However, significant expenditure will be needed to meet the requirements of an external fire risk assessment and other significant fabric needs of the building.
2022 will be a year of challenge and change. Our Minister in Training will move to a new role, and there are gaps in several ministries that will need new leaders and volunteers. We look forward with hope and faith, trusting and waiting on God.
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