Who We Are

Family

BGBC is a diverse group of people from the areas of Watford, Kings Langley, St Albans, Hemel Hempstead and beyond. We are made up of single, married, young and old people.

About Beechen Grove Baptist Church

Beechen Grove Baptist church started in 1707 as a Baptist Church and has maintained its Baptist heritage across the years.

We had a long history of cooperation and goodwill towards other Christian groups in Watford and beyond. The church pastor and a good number of people from our church were very much hands-on in the ‘first steps’ of New Hope, a remarkable charity that seeks to serve the homeless.

Beechen Grove Baptist Church has also played an active part in the local Churches Together and Christians Across Watford, both with this desire for unity and cooperation within the Christian Church.

Our Vision and Identity

Our Baptist Heritage links us with the Baptist Union of Great Britain, and also have the strongest commitment to maintaining to Home Mission and BMS World Mission.

Baptist churches believe in

The lordship of Christ that sets us free to be our true selves;
The authority of the bible, because in the bible we learn about Christ;
Believers’ baptism, because it expresses a truly personal faith;
A free or believers’ church, because it is a genuine expression of Christian community and consists of people who have made a ‘covenant’ commitment to each other;
The priesthood of all believers, because it affirms the place of all Christians in the worship and service of God;
Church membership and Church Members’ Meetings, because in this way we can all take responsibility for the life of the church;Interdependence, because we need each other and each church needs other churches;
Sharing the faith, because we are people of conviction and want others to become part of us;
Religious freedom, because only free faith is true faith and all should have the freedom to come to their own convictions.

Knowing Jesus & Making Jesus Known

Since their beginning, Baptists have always been deeply committed to mission and evangelism.

We believe that God wills the salvation of the whole world. According to the apostle Paul, God has a plan for the fullness of time and it is ‘to gather up all things in him (Christ), things in heaven and things on earth’ (Ephesians 1:8-10).

In another place he states that in Christ ‘all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible’ and goes on to say that through him, ‘God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross’ (Colossians 1:15, 19-20).

As the words ‘all things’ occur a number of times in these verses it is difficult to get beyond them. They mean what they say: ‘all things’ leaves nothing out. And Christ is the means by which God intends to restore the whole world.

As a general term, mission has a variety of dimensions.

1) Nurturing faith and discipleship
2) Witnessing to Christ
3) Responding to human need
4) Struggling to transform society
5) Caring for creation
6) Engaging with other world views

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

A Warm Hello

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When
We meet at the Church Building (details here) for our Sunday Service starting at 10:30am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team who will be wearing a Welcome lanyard.

We always serve Tea and Coffee after the service in the Oasis, so please hang around and say hi.

Accessibility
There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. There are disabled toilets in the main foyer.

Our Service
The main service begins at 10:30am with a warm welcome from one of our Deacons. Then follows a time of sung worship, led by our musicians.

Our minister will then give a sermon that is Bible based and that we can apply to our everyday life. We then finish with a final worship song. Sometimes there is an opportunity to receive prayer at the end of the service.

images: Services

What about my kids?
Children stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service for the welcome, songs and notices. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. At the end of the notices someone will announce that it’s time for the younger members to go to the Sunday school. Our volunteers have DBS and have level 3 safeguarding training. Whilst you are dropping your kids off at their groups, we pause to take time to chat to someone sitting near or next to us, giving folk a chance to come back before the sermon begins.

The kids group activities vary depending on the age but usually there is a friendly welcome, bible stories, testimonies, praying, music, craft, drama, fun games and free play. The children will return to the meeting before the service finishes.

*Please note that our Sunday school may not operate every Sunday, but we are aiming to make this happen in the near future.

We normally have a slot within the service to interact with the children/youth, normally a story or lesson from the Bible.