West View Baptist Church, Hartlepool

A family friendly church in the town of Hartlepool

Get in touch if you have anything you’d like us to share.

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Church to re-open for worship on 13th September

We are making plans to re-open

As the government has begun to relax some of the lockdown measures and provided new guidance, we wanted to let you know what our current plans are for re-opening the church for gathered worship.

In the first instance, we are proposing to reintroduce  some form of a Sunday morning worship service from 13th September. 

This will most likely be very different to what we might regard as our ‘normal’ service, as there will be many constraints on how and what we are able to do. 

The leaders are reviewing the current guidance from the Baptist Union and the government to ensure we can plan a safe return to church gatherings at church. Our intentions are always wanting to minimise risks and ensure the well being of our congregation.

We don’t know how things will change in the coming months so any plans we may make now will always be subject to change based on the latest guidance and current situation.

We will let people know nearer the time the exact details of our plans for reopening, the measures that will have been put in place and your role in helping make this possible.

Accessing Online Services

The live online Sunday services have now come to a close, as churches start to re-open and prepare to do so. We want to thank everybody who have joined us over the last few months and a special thank you to all those who have been able to contribute with bible readings and songs.

From September we hope to record services when they begin and post online. So stay tuned…

THURSDAYS ON ZOOM WILL CONTINUE

This week’s (30th July) Zoom meet-up will NOT take place, and we encourage you to access the Keswick Convention that is online all this week. (See https://keswickministries.org/)

However, the Thursday meet-up on zoom will be back on Thursday 6th August at 7:30pm and will continue for the foreseeable future.

See http://wvbc-org-uk.preview-domain.com/together for details.

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Join us for Sunday Service Online at 4pm

We are live streaming a simple informal worship service on Sundays at 4pm. This is available live through Facebook on our Hartlepool Baptists Together Facebook Page. And can also be watched afterwards (see videos on the Facebook page).

Join us at 4pm.

For more information about our online meetings an services during the current crisis visit : wvbc.org.uk/together.

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Meetings and activities suspended until further notice

UPDATE: We have set up a page for info about our online gatherings here.

Following the advice from Public Health England and The Baptist Union, we have taken the very difficult decision to suspend meetings at West View Baptist Church until further notice.

This applies to Sunday services and Filling Station, as well as all church midweek activities and small groups.

We will need to find new ways of continuing to function as a church and of supporting one another during this time. We may be able to explore ways of achieving some of this online in order to comply with the need for social distancing, but we recognise this may not be possible for some. Please continue to care and look out for each other at this time.

More information and details of how we might connect online will follow.

We encourage any members of the church family who feel ill, have to self-isolate, need help or are feeling at all worried or anxious, to call one of the leaders or use the contact page, so that we can find ways of offering appropriate support during this time. 

with our love and prayers at this difficult time,

Tim

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On the mountain top, on the mountainside or in the valley?

Ian led worship on 23 February supported by Amanda Amy and Mark. Very powerful service with Ian sharing some of the issues he deals with and his reliance on God to lead him.

Amanda asked people to recall those moments when your Mam takes you by the hand . You don’t where you going, you just have to trust she knows what she is doing. The disciples had that experience on the mountaintop, going into the unknown but with moments of terror.

Matthew 16:13 Jesus asked who do people say the son is. Peter had declared Jesus to be the son of the living god, Peter could not understand that Jesus was to die, Peter was a tough diamond, maybe he’d have been from West View or the Manor if he’d been born in Hartlepool. Jesus rebuked Peter saying that it was foretold. By Elijah. Amanda then read Matthew 17 where Peter offers to put up the three tents for Elijah, Moses and Jesus. God speaks and tells of his love for his son. Again they are told not to tell anyone.

Six days passed since Peter had declared Jesus to be the son of the the living god. Why did Jesus takes these disciples up the mountain. Maybe it’s because they were the strongest, and they needed to be prepared for what was to come.

Amanda wondered what was going through the disciples mind when they were preparing to go . Why do we climb a mountain? Where are we going, what do we need What’s the weather going to be like?

Amanda reminded the church of the trip to Keswick that her and I did after we got married. She shared how I prepared with hiking sticks and a bag that weighed a ton. I needed a pack horse. But I wanted to take everything I thought we might need.

Imagine the scene, did they walk together or did they follow Jesus and maybe like me grumble all the way up!

They met with Moses and Elijah. And they were in the presence of God. We’d be flat on our faces as well . Peter did. He was before God and terrified . They were direct witnesses to the care of the Father for his Son.
Don’t be afraid, get up I am with you is the message Jesus shares.

We need the same space for contemplation and conversation with God. We need our mountaintop with God.

As we head into Lent Fasting and praying brings us before God. Amanda shared that she had affirmation. of this but reminded people that even if yiu can’t do a full fast you can do a Daniel fast , rather than giving up all food Daniel asked for vegetables only . God fulfilled Daniels statement.
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When your at the top of the mountain you see gods splendour . Amanda climbed a stepladder to illustrate the point. She shared her journey up Roseberry Topping with her Mam. She then shared the fact that you have to come down the mountain. She followed her Mam down the rocky side of the mountain. It was scary and it was difficult but they got down. Falls and trips may feel inevitable but if we keep our eyes fixed on Him he’ll take us down safely. Maybe that’s why Jesus took the three disciples , he needed to give them strength for when they got frightened and ran away , denied Jesus before he rose again.

We ended with a time of quiet reflecting on our own needs.