The year 2000 provided the Christian community with special opportunities to celebrate Jesus Christ as the Man of the Millennium. We began it on the first Sunday evening in January with a fresh commitment by His people at Teddington Baptist Church to serve Him... until He comes!

At the end of January we had a visit by a Baptist Missionary Society Action Team made up of four young people from Brazil.

Klissia Consolmagno	Elvis Da Cruz	Robert Meikle	Tania Silvia

July 2000 saw a revival of holiday clubs - this time run jointly with the Teddington Salvation Army Corp and on a circus theme. Inspired by Richard Colpus, The BIG Top was built in the church and we were assisted by a team of seven people from Pinecrest Baptist Church, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA led by their Youth Minister, Ed Bond.

The BIG Top Summer Holiday Club: July 2000

In the autumn, Project 2000 cleared away the collection of huts and garages at the rear of the church site - including the Scout Den - and in their place was created a better recreation and play area. We were grateful to the Hampton Fuel Allotment Society for a grant of £5000 towards this project.

The year 2001 offered more exciting opportunities for the Church to develop its ministries. The Arts Festival was held again in June. The BIG Top was held at the end of July, this time jointly with Teddington Methodist Church as well as Teddington Salvation Army. Over 200 children attended during the week, and it finished with an open air Celebration and barbeque on St Mary´s and St Peter´s school playing field. It had a space theme.

Little Weed

International connections by our membership continued to develop. In May, Richard and Gail Nerurkar went to work in Ethiopia for a few years accompanied by their new baby girl, Ruth Almaz. Richard organised the first Great Ethiopian Run in November 2001. They were joined there for six weeks by Jonathan and Sara Oliver. The Jenkins family came home for a few weeks in the summer. Louise Harper was in India for a few weeks in the early spring and then went out for a year of service in September 2001. Meanwhile Janet White came home on furlough from Zambia from September until the end of the year after which she was planning to return to Zambia. Then in October, Richard Littledale visited India to teach courses for Bible teachers accompanying a distribution of teaching materials. Sadly in September 2001, the Scout Group ceased to be sponsored by the church after 86 years of association since it was founded in 1915 (See 1st Teddington (Baptist) Scout Group). This decision was taken because of difficulties in recruiting sufficient scout leaders from within the church fellowship. It is hoped that allowing the basis of leadership to be broadened will enable it to continue to be a viable Scout Group. In late September, over 100 members of the fellowship went for a Church Weekend in Worthing. The guest speakers, Rob and Marion White, spoke about Psalm 23 on the theme Cherishing and Challenging. The highlight of the evening show "Saturday Night Alive!" was Stella King as the Little Weed from Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men (played by Richard Colpus and Richard Littledale).

2002 began with the second week in January devoted to prayer and fasting. Throughout the year there were several evenings of prayer and fasting for all aspects of church life including the use and redevelopment of the Church Centre.

During Holy Week 2002, together with Churches Together in Teddington we ran "The Labyrinth" which was an opportunity to taste, touch see, hear and smell the life of Jesus. It consisted of a walk through a labyrinth past exhibits and tableaux recalling key moment in Jesus' life. This meditative journey touched the lives of many who came.

How the Church Centre might look after
the Redevelopment Project

With advice from Church Projects Ltd, a firm of architectural consultants, a plan was developed during the year to modernise the Church Centre so it will be better able to support the mission of the church. This plan involves changes to the interior and exterior of the premises (see exterior view above). In the autumn, the church committed itself to a Redevelopment Project which it was estimated might cost over £800,000 to bring to completion by the end of 2004. The church is determined that the buildings should remain a means to an end rather than an end in themselves. So it has adopted a new Vision Statement at the same time as committing itself to the Redevelopment Project.

Janet White	Louise Harper	Richard Nerurkar	Gail Nerurkar

Early in the year, Janet White went back to continue her work in Zambia. Louise Harper came back from India at the end of her service there. She then looked for further opportunities of overseas service and in September went to Sierra Leone working for Tearfund. Richard Nerurkar organised the second Great Ethiopian Run in November 2002 and appeared on Sky Sports together with Gail in a programme about the event.

2003 presented the church with many challenges including taking forward the Redevelopment Project. A good start was made towards raising the necessary funding when just over £300,000 was promised by the fellowship for the Redevelopment Project at a Gift and Pledge Day on 16 March.

Mission Impact: 6-7 June 2003

In June 2003, we ran "Mission Impact" - an opportunity to learn about mission and to experience what it might be like to be on the mission field. Then in early August we had the fourth session of The BIG Top Holiday Club, this time with a nautical theme - a sea cruise - and again it was attended by about 200 children with staff from the three cooperating churches (Baptist, Methodist and Salvation Army).

The Teddington Baptist Church congregation on 16 November 2003

At the end of November, Richard Littledale and Derek Wood went for a one week visit to Serbia so showing the continued outward looking intent of the church. They took with them the photograph above which shows the entire congregation present at the church service on the morning of Sunday 16 November 2003.

In November, the requests for tenders for the Redevelopment Project went out to potential contractors. At a Special Church Meeting held after the evening service on Sunday 14 December 2003, a decision was taken to place the contact for the Redevelopment Project building works with Farnrise Construction Ltd with the work due to commence in February 2004. Taking account of the sale of a house owned by the church, a substantial legacy, and promises of donations from members of the fellowship, virtually all the money had been raised by that point for a project with an estimated cost of about £900,000. The building works contract will cost just over £600,000.

At the end of 2003, Richard Colpus finished as our Youth Leader taking up a new youth leadership rôle in Notting Hill where he also married Anita Edwards on 4 January 2004.

The challenge to the church for 2004 is that it should not forget its real purpose as it undertakes the redevelopment of the Church Centre. On 10 January the fellowship met for a day of work preparing the Church Centre for the arrival of the builders on 2 February. The following day we began our series in which we looked at the lives of Great Christians down the ages.

Eli Hassoun	Jonathan Oliver	Sara Oliver	Louise Harper	Janet White

In July 2004, Eli Hassoun arrived to lead our youth work and, the same month, we held our fifth annual session of The BIG Top, this time on the theme "On Safari". In September 2004, Jonathan and Sara Oliver left to begin training at All Nations Bible College with the intention that at the end of his course Jonathan would be able to take up an overseas post training and teaching new pastors. At the end of the year two of our overseas workers Louise Harper (Sierra Leone) and Janet White (Zambia) returned home at their end of their time abroad. Richard Littledale went on another lecturing trip to Serbia in October 2004 - to the same Bible College as before (KES Bible College) but which has now moved from Backi Petrovac to Opovo (near Belgrade) and has been renamed Belgrade Bible School.

Mike Wilkinson	Neil Chapman	Derek Wood	Steph Wilkinson	Pam Chapman	Vince Grealy	Trevor King
Our Redevelopment Project Team

The autumn was a busy time for our Redevelopment Project Team as several years of hard work drew to a close with the completion of the work, moving into the new premises, and the official opening ceremonies. On Saturday 20 November we held a public opening service and ceremony with many guests from the local community. The official re-opening of the buildings was performed by Richard Littledale and the Mayor of Richmond upon Thames (Councillor Pat Parsons). The following day, Sunday 21 November, there was a special dedication service on with Rev Nigel Wright (Principal of Spurgeon's College) as our guest speaker. The same month saw the start of a new initiative enabled by the new buildings - Busy Bees - a new group for carers and toddlers.

The Church Centre in November 2004

Congregation at Reopening Service	Cutting the Ribbon
ReOpening the Church Centre: Saturday 20 November 2004

2005 began in the aftermath of the Tsunami Disaster which hit the countries bordering the Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004. The Church organised collection and eventually sent over £5,000 divided equally between BMS World Mission and Tearfund.

In May, there was a Thankoffering on Whit Sunday recognising the completion of the Redevelopment Project. Nearly £14,000 was given for church building projects in Sierra Leone and the UK.

Make Poverty History: July 2005

In July 2005, the Church supported the Make Poverty History campaign, aimed at influencing the outcome of the G8 meeting being held at that time at Gleneagles, Scotland. Apart from our links with Tearfund, we had a strong connection with the campaign through one of our church members, Stephen Rand, who was co-Chair of the associated Jubilee Debt Campaign. The entire Church centre was circled by a white band saying "Make Poverty History".

In the first half of the year, Steve and Debbie Jenkins came home from Ankhara where they had spent nearly ten years with their family. Meanwhile Jonathan and Sara Oliver were accepted by SIM to go to Ethiopia as they completed their training at All Nations Bible College.

2006 saw the celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the Church - dating the foundation from the 28 April 1881 meeting at which the first Secretary and Treasurer were appointed. Also in April, Pam Chapman was appointed to be the part-time Leader for Open Door and Busy Bees from the beginning of April 2006. Richard Littledale took sabbatical leave during the autumn with Colin Hicks stepping in as Moderator while he was away.

The BIG Top ran again in the summer and had "Stars" as its theme - asking and answering the question of what it is which makes people into real stars in God's eyes (caring for and helping others).

Logo 1983-2006	Logo 2006 onwards

In the autumn, the Church changed its logo from the "Bush" which it had used since 1983 to a "path to the cross" logo. The key wording which spells out the Church's mission was also changed from from "Growing by the river...for the healing of the nations" to "Bringing Christ to our community and our community to Christ" - a change which the Church intends working through with greater community involvement and service for the sake of the Gospel.

An unusual presentation of the nativity took place on Christmas Eve with many people coming to the service dressed as a character from the first Christmas - Mary, Joseph, an angel, shepherd, king or beast! Great fun was had by all in this first "Family Fun Nativity" centred on presentations by the children. With the whole congregation joining in, it could easily become an annual tradition.

Colin Hicks, a Church member since 1975, was awarded a CB in the 2007 New Year's Honour List "for services to science".

At the end of March, Open Door celebrated its 25th anniversary with a special service. The newspaper report (above) shows Joan Blyth, who founded Open Door in 1982, admiring the birthday cake with Richard Littledale. A new innovation linked to Open Door was the start-up of "Who Let the Dads Out?" on Saturday 7 July - like Open Door (for carers and toddlers) but specifically aimed at Dads and Grand-dads. It ran once a month for the rest of 2007 but was so successful during the autumn (25 or more Dads attending with children) that late in the year it was decided to hold it once or twice a month from January 2008.

Eli Hassoun

During the first half of 2007, Eli Hassoun (our Youth Pastor) was exploring the possibility that he might be called to general Baptist ministry. The call was confirmed after he had met with the LBA Ministerial Recognition Committee. He was then interviewed for a place at Northern Baptist College which he secured. So at the end of July 2007, we said goodbye to him and his family as they moved north so he could begin training for general Baptist ministry at the beginning of the new academic year.

Despite his departure, we were able to run The BIG Top again in August 2007, this time on the theme Wastewatchers - caring for the world God has given us and caring for each other. In October a new book by Richard Littledale called "Stale Bread? - refreshing the preaching ministry" was published. This was about how to preach in a narrative style. He also began to broadcast short talks on BBC Radio 2 entitled Pause for Thought.

Every year we try to present our celebration of the birth of Jesus at Christmas in a new way. This year we used Posada figures (see picture at right) representing Mary and Joseph. These were painted by Richard Littledale in a South American style because Posada is based on a Mexican tradition. These figures spent December travelling from home to home and shop to shop around Teddington spending each night in a different place. Each place they stayed had the opportunity to work through the meaning of Christmas. You can see what happened by looking at our Posada 2007 page.

Posada figures

Sonia Stead

At the beginning of 2008Sonia Stead, who grew up in the church, started work as our part-time Youth Leader alongside Pam Chapman who had been appointed in 2006 as our part-time Open Door and Busy Bees Leader.

Pam Chapman

In April 2008, Richard Littledale published another book for preachers called "The Preacher's A-Z" following up on Stale Bread published in 2007. At one point in the year, both books were on the Wesley-Owen best-seller list. Throughout the year Richard Littledale continued to broadcast short talks on BBC Radio 2 the scripts for which can be read on our Pause for Thought page. We also started digital recording of our services with the sermons being posted on the web as mp3 files for download via the Listen to a Sermon page of the church's website.

In April, and again in August, we had an evening activity "The Event" for young people with each one attended by nearly 100 people. We also had another successful The BIG Top Holiday Club at the end of August attended by over 150 children - it was on a theme of "Pirates - searching for hidden treasure" using the Landlubbers material from the Scripture Union.

Throughout the year, we were engaged in refurbishing the Worship Area with extended platforming, new audio-visual equipment including an electric screen and a raised sound desk. In the autumn we redecorated the Worship Area and laid a new carpet so worship had to be held for three weeks in the Main Hall. Apart from that period, there was minimal disruption to the church's use of the premises.

Who Let the Dads Out? at Christmas 2008.

Who Let the Dads Out? went on from strength to strength during the year holding two meetings each month during the suummer, being involved in The Bigger Breakfast, featuring in an article (click here to read it) in the Baptist Men's Movement magazine, and hosting the Posada figures at their Christmas party (photo at left).

In the run-up to Christmas, we were a collection point for "shoe-boxes" for Operation Christmas Child with about 450 shoe boxes coming in from a variety of sources including other churches. The Posada figures travelled around Teddington again (See our Posada 2008 page).

Also in the run-up to Christmas we joined with Churches Together in Teddington to launch our involvement in cafechurch with a first event called Carols at Costa held at Costa Coffee in Broad Street, Teddington.

2009 saw the church continue its service of the community in a variety of continuing ways (e.g. Open Door, Busy Bees, Who Let the Dads Out?, The BIG Top, The Alternative) as well as letting out rooms for community events.

cafechurch, for example, begun in 2008 was followed-up with evening events during 2009. We also took part in Back to Church Sunday for the second year running. Twice in the course of the year we hosted the Guildford Friary Brass Band (conducted by Chris King - one of our members) in giving a charity concert in aid of the Shooting Star Children's Hospice.

But there were also several new initiatives. Great Bible Stories was a venture with Stanley Infant School to produce giant illustrations of Bible stories to decorate the Main Hall of the church premises. The stunning results can be seen in our Great Bible Stories feature on our website.

Then as part of our Christmas Craft Fair at the end of November we tried out a new national initiative called "Get in the Picture" in which passers-by and people attending the Craft Fair could be photographed in a Nativity Scene with live animals. The resulting photos were uploaded to a website from which the particpants could download their own photo.

Another new Christmas venture was Christmas Journey in which local schools (and others) were invited to visit an exhibition (with live actors and live puppets) explaining the Christmas story. For a whole week, the worship area was transformed into a series of Christmas scenes. We held one of our Sunday services in the Main Hall instead of in the worship area.

In the early autumn, the comfort of the premises was restored when new twin boilers were fired up to replace the 30 years old boiler which had begun to cut-out regularly - a major but worthwhile investment by the church to reduce its consumption of gas for a given comfort level.

TBC's old boiler (1979-2009)

TBC's new boilers (2009-    )

2010 saw our Minister ( Richard Littledale) and a member of the fellowship, Mark Leong, started a new web-based initiative on Twitter called @chatbible which offers the chance to "Chat about the Bible". Richard continued his contributions to Pause for Thought on Radio 4 and also became involved with natwivity - which is a nativity play on Twitter and Facebook.

Natwivity - the social network nativity

We continued to organise groups going to Spring Harvest and Soul Survivor, The BIG Top 2010 and The Alternative (a fun alternative to Halloween for children and young people) and our Christmas Craft Fair. We also continued with The Event for teenagers - an evening event with a band and a speaker. Although key members of The Event's band (including Nathan Blyth from Teddington Baptist Church and Matthew Jenkins from Hampton Baptist Church) left for university in the autumn, it is hoped that new band members will come forward to reform the band during early 2011.

On the personnel side, early in the year Pam Chapman stepped down as our Families Worker (a new name for her extended role agreed during 2009) while at the end of the summer Sonia Stead went on maternity leave.

The donkey with baby Jesus at Christmas 2010

Beginning at Christmas 2009, a donkey became a feature of our "shop window" onto Church Road acting as a magnet to all passing small children (and surprising the adults). He was given to us by a local company which makes tableau for museums and had this life-like and life-size donkey surplus to their requirements. At Christmas he stands in the window with the baby Jesus in the manger (see photo above). At Easter he carries first discarded clothes, then a cross and finally on Easter Sunday morning he sports a straw bonnet. Whatever part he plays, he draws attention to himself and provokes discussion about the scene of which he is apart.

 

2011 was the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. That anniversary was celebrated alongside many churches through a focus on the Bible under the Biblefresh initiative. One of the ways we chose to do this was by the choice of our Memory Text for the year and by selecting our favourite "Verses to Remember". We used these verses to create the heart shaped "Word Cloud" at the right. The size of the words shows the frequency with which they occur in our set of Verses to Remember - it illustrates the particular words from the Lord which we have chosen to have in our heart for 2011 and beyond. Other ways we celebrated this annoiversary included a Bible Reading Marathon and a competition to write a 100-Word Bible!

Motto Text for 2011 I have hidden your word in my heart (Psalm 119:11)

Siobhán Crowther

In May 2011, Siobhán Crowther was appointed as our new part-time Families Worker in succession to Pam Chapman and shortly after Sonia Stead (part-time Youth Leader) returned from maternity leave. So once again we had a full complement of staff to take the work forward.

Sonia Stead

Richard Littledale had two books published in 2011. The first book was about how best to communicate the gospel - "Who Needs Words?". The other was his first children's book "The Littlest Star" published at Christmas 2011 to raise money for Shooting Star Chase (a local children's hospice).

 

2012

 

Our Multimedia History .... will be updated regularly