West Baptist Church

At Allan’s baptism the other week, I was thinking how one of the coolest things about the Church-with-a-capital-C is that we are part of a community that stretches throughout time and around the world.  We are not alone.
Tomorrow we have a chance to be reminded of that as many of us begin the E100 Bible [...]

‘Whether your relationship is strong, or you are struggling,’ is what our advertising will say when we go to the printer this week.  The Marriage and Relationship Course we’re running with Northpoint is for any couple who wants to invest in their marriage in a comfortable, non-threatening way.
You don’t have to talk to anyone except [...]

I’ve been quite sick this week, and found it hard to do justice to the texts we looked at today.  Lucky for all of us, what the Holy Spirit chooses to do with preaching seems to be pretty independent of its ‘quality’!  If anyone would like to think further about what we discussed today, I [...]

Each year I write a ‘Pastor’s Top Five’ for our Annual Report.  This year I thought I’d serialise it on the blog, so here is number 4: one of the 5 things I am most grateful for in 2009 at West.
Don’t tell numbers 1, 2, 3 and 5, but this is [...]

Unplugging is particularly hard if you live by yourself.
Other people are great sources of alternative entertainment – you can play games with them (or play tricks on them, I suppose), have relaxed chats, do some cooking or a jigsaw, eat dinner together with some great music playing, and if you live with other people, you [...]

Each year I write a ‘Pastor’s Top Five’ for our Annual Report.  This year I thought I’d serialise it on the blog, so here is number 3: one of the 5 things I am most grateful for in 2009 at West.
#3 Head meets Heart meets Hands
It’s still a huge buzz for me that I [...]

I reckon one of the best things about Taranaki, right up there with the mountain and the windwand, is that we have our Anniversary Day holiday in March – right when you need a wee break, right?
It’s become West tradition to go camping at Oakura over the long weekend.  You can view some photos of [...]

Each year I write a ‘Pastor’s Top Five’ for our Annual Report.  This year I thought I’d serialise it on the blog, so here are numbers 1 and 2, the things I am most grateful for in 2009 at West.
#1 Shelter, Faith, Laughter
Our identity as ‘a place of shelter, faith and laughter’ has come to [...]

Ruby Duncan is a provocative thinker and local hero.  She’s lived in New Zealand, Australia and the slums of Manila, and is now the head of Iosis, the family support service of the Baptist Union in Aotearoa.  
I mention this because she was invited to speak at Parachute this year as part of a [...]

It’s day 4 of our collective fasting from screen-based entertainment.  How’s it going at your place?
So far Matt and I have taught each other our childhood card games (it’s all part of cross-cultural understanding) and gone to the high energy Hospice fundraiser, Grease (more about the unsuitability of this adult musical for children later, perhaps…).
Hester [...]