Term 3 of our 150th anniversary celebrations gets underway almost at once as we return from a busy summer programme.
Huge thanks are due to Marie Tyler and her team for organising the Flower Festival in June, and to the members of the Taskforce for our flagship festival event One Fine Day (see gallery below), with Sarah and Steve Partridge deserving a highlighted mention for their amazing service throughout the whole day in the kitchen; sons Joshua and Harry were a great help too! The Hitchin
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ Art Exhibition also in July attracted more visitors than ever, and the profile of the church has certainly been raised throughout the set of events of this summer!
Above: One Fine Day (photos © W Henton Pusey, R DeRoeck, D Farrant by WRBC Media)
WRBC Reunion Dinner
Saturday 28 September
One of our biggest events this term sees us inviting friends and family who have belonged at WRBC to come back and visit us. Afternoon tea will be available at the church from
3pm, offering an opportunity to view the premises, which may have changed depending on
how recently the last visit here was!
From 5pm, we are gathering at the home of Mark and Lorraine Needham for drinks, ahead of the Dinner, a three-course meal to be served in a marquee set up kindly in their garden; a vegetarian option is also available. The evening will end around 9pm.
Tickets are on sale now (at £10 per head, a significantly subsidised price!), with only a limited number of places available altogether. Buy yours here, or have a direct word as a limited number will be available offline too!
For those travelling a distance back to Hitchin, we are offering an overnight stay hosted by members of the church family, and we hope that people will then join us in worship on the Sunday morning.
PROGRAMME • PROJECTS • PROMOTION • PRAYER • PRAISE
Programme - Term 3
The weekend of Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th October is another busy one, with the launch of Saturday Church at 4pm, and with our Cherish Sunday at 10.30am the following day. This is a new opportunity to affirm and to appreciate each other for the contributions made within and across the life of the church. Watch this space for more information, but book the date now as we plan to share lunch together after the morning service.
The last event of our celebrations in 2019 will be the Fifth Tuesday event which lands – by God’s amazing grace – on Tuesday 31st December!
Plan now to join us as we start things off early in the evening, with some food and fun for all ages, taking a break for a time of worship and prayer around 8pm (and marking symbolically the arrival of the New Year at 20.20hrs!). The evening will then continue with fellowship, food and worship until we reach the midnight hour, and the end of our 150th celebrations, when we sound loud and clear the note of thankfulness and praise together.
And then let us embrace the possibilities that lie ahead in our 151st year together! And what might the New Year hold? One new and exciting possibility is a church team visit to Tura’an in the Holy Land in October 2020. If you are just interested in this, without committing yourself, please let us know so that you don’t get overlooked as the ideas start to take shape.
MORE on DATES
Join us on Sunday 8 September for Jam Club Promotions during the morning service, followed by a Church Family Picnic, but between which we also taking a new Church Family Photo! It’s then our Songs of Praise 150 service at 6.30pm that evening!
Here’s a reminder of the guest preachers who have been invited for Sunday morning services during the coming autumn term:
Rev Geoff Colmer - 29 September (Regional Minister, Central Baptist Association)
Rev Lynn Green - 20 October (General Secretary, Baptist Union of Great Britain)
Don’t forget the Shared Service of Thankfulness “Here to Bless!” which is booked
for Saturday 30 November, at St Mary’s Church at 3pm, with our preacher Rev Dr Paul
Goodliffe, a Baptist minister, but also General Secretary of Churches Together in England.
For this event, we are gathering with friends from Christchurch (50), St Faith’s (125) and Tilehouse Street Baptist (350) as we all celebrate significant anniversaries this year!
Keep up with all the latest at:
www.wrbchitchin.org.uk/wrbc150
Projects
Our Ecobricks display will shortly be unveiled, hopefully this Friday evening at Holiday Club! After this, we will setup the display several times before we begin to send completed bricks to the farm in south Wales and rebuild the display using the newer bricks.
Also throughout our 150th year, Barbara has been working with groups and users of the building to make mosaic stepping stones which are beginning to make their presence known in the gardens. If you and your group still haven't made a mosaic and would like to know, please contact us at the bottom of the page.
It’s not too late to join in the Psalms writing project – all 150 Psalms by hand in our 150th year!
Promotion
The people of the church and of the town have been getting involved during our anniversary year. Make sure to follow the #WRBC150 hashtag on social media for the latest details and events, and check our website for regular updates.
Anniversary Merchandise:
Don’t forget you can buy our limited edition:
WRBC150 celebration mug (£5 each)
WRBC150 sew-on badge - designed by one of our Brownies - at £1 each
You can also order:
a WRBC T-shirt (in grey or navy) for £10
Prayer & Praise
Rejoice and pray - the majority of the pieces have come together already and for the support we have had at our events, we praise you!
Join the WRBC150 celebrations throughout 2019 - come and celebrate with us!