Bethel Baptist Church - Macclesfield

Events

To Quinta and beyond!

The Bethel weekend away took place at Quinta Hall near Oswestry from 30th August to 1st September 2002.

The title of the weekend came from the catchphrase of Buzz Lightyear, and the 48 people who took part were divided into teams named after characters in "Toy Story". Ten years ago, we developed a vision for the church which we called "Looking up, reaching out". At Quinta it was time to assess this vision, to note how society had changed, and to see how the Lord might use Bethel to be an effective influence in 21st century Macclesfield.

Friday evening

Chris defined "vision" as watching where you are going, being prepared for change, and being aware that where we should be going is not always the obvious. He then took us through a lightning review of the past decade. Society has changed: it is more multi-racial, more multi-cultural. People are more independent. Our society is more tolerant of everything, and yet less stable. Church attendance has continued to decline, and yet there is a real yearning for spirituality as witnessed in the public response to the death of Princess Diana, and more recently, to that of Holly and Jessica.

Chris then considered how the church might respond (in many different ways), and how the church should respond. He concluded that a good church will use Sundays well, and maximise opportunities for fellowship, learning and prayer.

Saturday morning

Roland took a detailed look at the church. To many people, it is a building. But rather than a building, the church is a people: God's people. There is one true church, which is not the picture many people get when they see many different church groups in a town like Macclesfield. Our own church, Bethel, is where we worship and serve. We have experienced God's great love to us, and we should put that love into practise. Each Christian has God-given gifts: in church we should help one another to recognise and use those gifts. The church should be where non-Christians can see Christ.

But the church is not supposed to be a holy huddle. Christians are called to be witnesses, and we should witness in the world where we live and work. If few non-Christians come to church, there will be little opportunity to witness in a church building. In church, Christians need to encourage one another to be better witnesses.

Following Roland's talk, we split into groups to discuss at a more personal level what we were learning from the weekend, and how we could put into practise a renewed vision for Bethel.

Saturday afternoon

Free time. God blessed us with warm and dry weather for most of the weekend. Some people braved the outdoor pool. Some people took part in a treasure hunt. Some people played football. Quinta is a great place at which to relax, besides studying and worshipping together.

Saturday evening

The first part of the evening was taken up with a "cabaret": high quality entertainment in which both young and old demonstrated their talents in music, poetry, and wit. This was followed by the "late night extra": an opportunity for informal worship and sharing experiences with one another.

Sunday

We had a worship service at Quinta. Chris preached on the letters to the seven churches as found in the book of Revelation. These are letters dictated by Christ to the apostle John, and written to real first-century churches. They teach us how intimately Jesus knows His church. They show Jesus' real love for the church, and the way in which He commends good practise in the church. They also show some stern words from Jesus: it is His church, not our church, and He will rebuke us when we are not going His way. Our goal must be to bring glory to Jesus, who died in order to make the church possible.