Croyde cooks up recipe for sharing the word 

Baptists on Devon's picturesque north coast have hit on a great recipe for community outreach, thanks to a Baptist Insurance grant

The team at Croyde Baptist Church are breathing new life into its satellite chapel in nearby Georgeham and is using it to engage with the local community.

‘The chapel closed as a congregation around eighteen years ago,’ said minister Andrew McCausland.

‘Although it had been used as a youth club it was in very poor condition, so as a church, we decided to reopen it to bring people together and spread the Word.

‘As part of the regeneration plan, we received a £5,000 grant from Baptist Insurance which - with help from the South West Baptist Association and the church itself - allowed us to appoint a community worker, Liz Kennard, last September.

‘Liz has developed some simple outreach events to help push that re-engagement – a monthly Community Meal, and a Friday afternoon pop-up café. Both work on a pay-if-you-can basis – pay what you can afford, and if you can’t afford a penny, that’s fine.

‘It’s been a great success. The Community Meal offers two home-cooked courses and has been full to our 35-cover capacity since we began, reaching around 60 local people of all ages. It has really helped to build friendships and foster supportive relationships.

'Similarly, the weekly café has become a regular thing for a lot of locals, with 40 or 50 coming in for a cup of tea, a slice of homemade cake and a chat.’

Other positive developments have arisen from the work that Liz is doing.

‘People using the chapel have started attending other events,’ said Andrew.

‘There’s also been a positive impact on the wider church, with members of the congregation seeing the missional potential and volunteering to get involved. Our prayer and expectation is that this will create opportunities to explore and share our Christian faith.

‘We’re so grateful to Baptist Insurance for their support, without which none of this would have been possible. We’re hoping they’ll be kind enough to help us to continue supporting Liz!’

'It’s lovely to see our grants are being put to such good use,' said Anne Bishop, chair of the BIC Grants Committee. 

'Bringing people together to share food and talk is a wonderful way to help them find God.'
 

The Baptist Insurance committee has given over £2 million in grants in the past ten years to Baptist outreach and evangelism.

Learn more about the Baptist Grants Programme

This article originally appeared on the Baptist Insurance website, and is republished with permission