A Message from Phil…
I’ve been warned not to make sweeping predictions about our future in this year’s report, as God seems to have a habit of fulfilling them in ways which far exceed our wildest imaginings. I will say a little about the future, but first it is right to consider the past year, and all that has happened at BBC as detailed in this report.
Reading through it all, I am struck by how many entries include words to the effect that his wouldn’t be possible without a team of willing volunteers. One of our strengths as a church is how many of us contribute to the life of the church in ways that may seem small to us, but which are vital to our continued life and ministry together. In this report, we take the opportunity to thank all those involved in whatever way, particularly those ‘behind the scenes’ who don’t always get the public recognition for what they do.
I am conscious as I’ve mentioned a few times during the year, that many of us feel stretched to capacity in terms of what we can offer, and this potentially limits new opportunities. One way to tackle this is to try to reduce the burden of existing activities, and we will continue to do what we can in this area. But increasingly, I feel God saying that the bigger part of the answer is to recognise that we can’t do it all ourselves, and that partnership with other churches enables far more to be done more effectively.
In practice this already happens. Because they are not “BBC activities” you won’t see in this report Bible Extra, which pulls together Christians from across the region to go deeper into God’s word, with BBC people at the heart of organising it. You won’t see mention of two ecumenical house-groups, one “Foodies” with many years heritage, the other a more recent venture bringing together young mums, again with BBC people heavily involved. Nor do we talk about Ecumenical prayer initiatives, joint youth activities, information worship sessions, and more. Maybe the Annual Report isn’t the right place to mention all this, but they are very much part of the activity of BBC, because they involve BBC people living out their Christian faith together with other followers of Jesus.
So to this year’s sweeping statement about out future, and I look forward to seeing how God uses it. As we focus in this coming season on building and strengthening our community together, and better equipping one another for mission, let us not lose sight of the fact that we are part of a bigger community, and a bigger mission – the kingdom of God and the mission of God, which encompasses all his people in all the churches of Beverley and indeed the world, working together to know Jesus and to make him known.
Phil Palmer
For a copy of the full annual report, please contact the Church Office