West Craven Baptist Church

Our vision: - To reveal God's heart at the heart of the community.

We are a Baptist Church working with others  from our centres in Barnoldswick, Earby and Salterforth. 

Barnoldswick BB18 5NZ

Earby BB18 6QS

Salterforth BB185TU

Welcome to the website for the West Craven Baptist Church.  For us church is not just about Sunday, but flows out into the whole of life.  We aim to live out our faith in our homes, schools, work places - wherever we are.  Through the week we also offer a kaleidoscope of activities to bring people together and build community, such as coffee mornings, parent and toddler groups, home groups, Tuesday Club for children, social events and so on. See our 'Whats On' page

It Takes All Sorts.

Alan and I have been bird watching a lot recently. Whilst Alan is keen to spot new or rare birds, I am fascinated by their very different behaviours, and the ways they get along together, or don’t, in their ‘birdy’ world.

We see the stamina and persistence of migrating swallows, the feisty, chattering little wren, the comical swagger of the puffin, busy flocking goldfinches, noisy squabbling gulls, the sharp eye of the independent kestrel, the serenity of the gliding swan and the shy, elusive bittern. These are just a few of the many characters, and really they are not so very different from us humans.

We all know the people who ‘keep going, no matter what’, the ones who ask the awkward questions, those who work together or alongside others, those who get straight to the point and the procrastinators. We know the people who care and nurture, the strong and confident, the shy and diffident, those who become our favourites and those we find hard to like. All these types of people, and more, are right here in our church family. We are all different, but through our faith, all the same. No one is more special, no one less ordinary, and we all have gifts to offer for the common good.

Last Sunday in Sunday Club we were thinking about how different we all are, but how we are all the same to God. We looked at Galatians 3, verses 27 and 28: ‘When you were baptised, it was as though you had put on Christ in the same way you put on new clothes. Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman.’  We made a paper chain of figures, each one representing a person who was in church that day – our church family – all of us different but all of us equal in God’s eyes, and all equally worthy of His love.

We often hear the saying, ‘It takes all sorts.’ But surely that’s a good thing, and God knows it. Every one of us is special and equally valued. Let’s not forget that.

Have a good summer,

Helen.

 Our links with others: -