Sunday Services at Lymington Baptist Church start at 10:30am and you are very welcome indeed to join us. Services normally last for about an hour and a half (except E4 - see below) and are suitable for those with little or no church experience. When you arrive, you'll be greeted at the door and handed a leaflet which shows details of the service and other forthcoming events, as well as church news.
Sit wherever you like, there are no "reserved" seats here and enjoy the service. Join in with the singing if you like, or just relax and see what goes on. Nobody will expect you to do anything. There'll generally be lots of other visitors - that's one of the nice things about being in a tourist area. After the service, don't be surprised if some of us come over and say hello! Children and young people (from 0 to School Year 9 (app 13yrs old) leave for their own age-related programme after the first 25 minutes or so, and will be well looked after, but you can go with them if you want to. Details are on our page for Young People & Children.
There is a focus on giving thanks to God and to listening to what He has to say as the Bible is explained and applied to everyday life. Sometimes our Pastor, Dave Gooderidge (pictured above) takes all of the service, or it may be Nigel Bayley our Assistant Pastor, but others may occasionally lead parts of it or do the main talk (or sermon as we call it). Morven Wiggins shown on the left above and Jem Mason shown on the left below for example.
Music is an important part of our worship and the style varies from the traditional to the contemporary - we try to have a good mix. We have a number of first class musicians and lead singers so joining in is easy and your voice needn't stand out! We use video projection for displaying the words of hymns and songs rather than the old-fashioned hymn books, and we also frequently use Powerpoints and DVDs to illustrate the talks and as an aid to worship.
We don’t take an offering during the service but if you'd like to contribute to the work of the Church, there is a box in the foyer. You can see here where that money goes. Refreshments are served at the end of the service, and at this time, if you would like someone to pray for you or with you, just make your way to the area under a cross on the wall at the front right hand side of the Church - and it will be very low key. All our sermons are recorded on CD and are available for 50p at the end of the service - at the front of the Church in the left hand corner - just ask for a CD. If you miss a service, you can always listen at a later time from our Sermons page or subscribe to our podcasts so you get the latest service delivered automatically.
Communion
The third Sunday of the month is our Communion service. That means that in the last 15 minutes or so of the service, those of us who want to can take communion. In our church, we don't go up to the front as they do in many other churches. Bread and non-alcaholic wine will be passed around and you either take some or simply pass it on to the next person if you aren't sure that it is right for you at that time. Lots of other people will do this too. We and other churches sometimes call the Communion part of these services The Lord's Supper or the Eucharist.
In the evening we have a varied programme. The first Sunday in the month is a Communion Celebration - an upbeat and informal service suitable for all ages. We crank-up the volume a bit for this! It starts at 6pm and runs for about an hour. On the third Sunday there is a Bible Study for men. See our Forthcoming Events page for more details. We do hope you'll join us soon.
E4
On the 4th Sunday of the month, it's "E4 Everyone" in place of our normal morning service. This starts with an all-age service from 10.30am until 11.15am, so the children stay in the main church. Then, there is a 15 minute refreshment break wth a chance to chat to friends or make new friends with people you haven't met before. Then the service continues until around 1.15pm with Worship, Prayer and Bible Study.
Meanwhile, the children and young people have their own E4NRG event downstairs. At 1.15pm in the Summer, we often have lunch together - bring your own packed lunch. You can come along to any or all of these sessions and you don't have to stay for all of it. See Whats Going On for details.
Lymington Churches Together come together for a united meeting of Prayer and Praise, normally at 8pm, each month.