Ruth and I have been married for 36 years (we married young!) we have two sons, both married, and two grandchildren, Samuel and Lydia.
I became a Christian at the age of 17 following a period of classic rebellion! I was confronted with the truth that if I crashed my motorcycle (well, at that point a Honda 50cc) and died, my eternal destiny would be hell and not heaven. I gave my life to Jesus Christ who has never let me down.
Ruth has been a big influence on my life, encouraging me when I was a young Christian and keeping me on the straight and narrow now that she is my wife. Since I entered full time Christian work she has been an amazing support and partner in the work. Ruth has worked as a Counsellor since the early 90s in a Christian Counselling Centre in Northampton.
My working life began in London where I lived at the time and it took me down the route of the food industry, in particular the meat industry. Moving to Brixworth and working in Wellingborough, I became MD of a Danish meat Company. Following a period of change the Company was merged and I ended up without employment for over a year. In 1996, I was called as the Pastor of BCF having worshipped there since its inception in 1988.
How would I describe myself? Maybe the facts will tell you!
Love Sport – play golf – go to the gym – support Charlton Athletic – Chair of Governors at local school – love food – DIY when there is time – love my wife and family – enjoy meeting people and travelling. Most of these are shared by Ruth, apart from golf and at times football!
Hopes for the future?
To see people grow in their relationship with God
To see people introduced to Jesus and becoming a friend of His
To enjoy life!
To live to see Charlton win the Premier League!
To see our children and their partners continuing to serve the Lord and our grand-children knowing Jesus.
John Lawes is a retired R.E. and History teacher, married to Margaret, one of our Parish Nurses, and they have four children and seven grandchildren. John is a governor of a Northampton school, enjoys Rugby (supports the Saints of course), steam trains, reading biographies and with Margaret taking time away in Cromer and Cornwall especially.
Preaching and leading a house group take most of his energies in church life though he and Margaret pioneered ‘Olive Shoots’ (our local Mum’s & Tot’s group). They are closely involved in ‘Parish Nursing Ministries U.K.’ nationally, arranging their annual conference and John is a trustee.
Oh yes, and one more thing …. John just loves His wife’s homemade Lemon Meringue pie with Gallone’s ice cream !
Esther and me have been married for 5 and a bit years. We have one son Jacob who is 3 years old and William from a previous marriage who is 17 years old. I am brother to Martin, Melanie and Matthew and son to Gill and Fred. Am 46 years of age and have been a Christian for nearly 7 years.
Before becoming the BCF Community Worker I worked for NAYC (Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs). I started as the first Area Youth Group Development Worker specifically for the Corby area. After spending my first year In Corby preparing the ground for the my replacement I was promoted to Senior Youth Club Development Worker, where my remit was to support all the youth groups in the county (apart from Corby) and also manage a small team. Towards the end of my second year with NAYC I was promoted a second time to Youth Group Development Co-ordinator, where my role was to prepare the ground for a further 4 Area Workers bringing the team up to 7. Over the 4 years at NAYC I helped lead 16 residentials varying from locations such as Outer Hebrides, Cleobury Mortimer, North Wales and (my favourite) Uganda.
Best bits of being a Community Worker for BCF? Helping people to understand what Christianity is all about. I’ll never forget when my old mate tried to tell me about Jesus (7 years ago), I said “It’s great that you have found something to believe in… but it’s not for me” LOL! What a turn around (Ask me I dare ya)! I have even started Bible college! Church is so different to what you think these days, it’s really happening at BCF, somewhere you can go locally (without cost) where people genuinely want to know how you are! You can laugh, sing and make new friends. So much buzz about the place!
My interests are having fun with my family and friends. Hiking up (and down) mountains, trying to keep fit, eating and the occasional snifter of Port!
How do churches begin?
The strange answer to that question is that they frequently begin before they are seen. If that foxes you, it is to say that they often begin with people praying that God would raise up a church long before that church actually comes into existence. And so it proved with what is now Brixworth Christian Fellowship.
Years before the fellowship appeared two old ladies were concerned enough about the spiritual witness in the village to begin to pray that God would create a new church that would speak to the village with a clear voice. They did not live to see the answer to their prayers, because the answer was a long time coming, but we believe that the existence of the fellowship now is the result of the vision of these two women in particular. We have subsequently met others who tell us they prayed for such a fellowship in the village many years
The church appeared on the scene unofficially when people began meeting together for informal Bible study before the closure of the Methodist Church, but the closure of that church proved to be the catalyst for something new. A number who usually travelled to attend churches in other towns came together with the intention of forming a new church. The first meeting took place with just 17 members committing themselves to the new work.
It was not long before the fellowship called its first pastor, David Potterton, who now works as General Secretary for the British and International Seamen’s Society. The second and current pastor came from the original founding membership, Phil Walter, who took up the post in 1995.
Initially meeting in the village hall, the fellowship was later involved with the Parish Council in the construction of the Library and Community Centre on Spratton Road, which is where the fellowship met until 2008. During this time numbers grew from the small band to a regular congregation of around 70 people each Sunday morning, prompting thoughts that a move to larger premises was needed to allow for (and encourage) further expansion.
With this in mind, the fellowship moved to Brixworth Primary School in November 2008. Facilities are better for Junior Church and the hall seats us comfortably - we are expecting that to be filled in the course of time!
The Heart of Church Life
We love God and put him first in everything.
We give ourselves wholeheartedly to God, believing that every part of our lives is to be offered to him. Our aim is to please God, do what he wants, and grow continually to be more like him.
We will achieve nothing for God without his help.
We are strongly committed to prayer – both on our own and with each other – because we need the Holy Spirit to fill us, empower us to do God’s will and enable us to be effective witnesses.
The Bible is central to all we believe and do.
Because God speaks and transforms lives through the Bible, we are eager to read and understand it, and use it in all our activities. Above all, we undertake to obey what it says and make its teaching the measure of our lives.
We value each other highly.
We are one body under Christ, so we do all we can to grow in unity, accepting one another in the Lord, working hard to create loving relationships, encouraging one another in the faith, and supporting one another when needs arise.
We care deeply about those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our most passionate desire for other people is that they should be saved and come to a personal knowledge of the Lord Jesus. We therefore look actively for relevant and innovative ways of making Jesus known and of demonstrating his love in our community.
A Vision in Four Parts
We want BCF to be a church where...
The Holy Spirit finds freedom to minister.
We envisage services in which people are convinced, convicted and changed by God’s Word, through the ministry of people gifted and empowered to preach in a way that is both relevant and challenging. Services are led by a variety of people from within the fellowship, alongside teams of dedicated musicians, who together stimulate meaningful worship and a hunger for a deeper love for Christ. Using music and drama, as well as seeing spiritual gifts exercised, these services draw people into a fuller experience of Christ.
We see a church in which worship goes further than Sundays. Retreats and prayer days foster personal and small group spirituality, so that people are excited in their knowledge of Christ, looking for his blessing every day. Personal worship is a vital part of their daily lives and they carry his presence with them wherever they go. Their aim is to offer themselves as living sacrifices to God in everything they do.
Christians put themselves out for each other.
We see a church of people who look for opportunities to serve one another and encourage each other in both faith and daily life. We see people who accept their responsibilities for each other in Christ, who ensure that no one is left out and who are prepared to care for each other in depth.
We see housegroups that foster supportive relationships, openness to and acceptance of each other, which thus stimulate faith and strengthen a bond of love for each other. We see a network of people praying together in small and larger groups that covers every aspect of church life.
We see meetings on Sunday that are gatherings of friends who enjoy being with each other in God’s presence, creating an environment of warm companionship which both affirms and builds each other up, as well as providing a welcoming environment for visitors to experience Christian love in action.
Christians are fully equipped to play their part.
We envisage a programme of training for the whole church to enable people to find their gifts, develop them and use them in the sphere of service God has chosen for them, whether at home or abroad.
We see young people who are being encouraged, challenged and taught to serve the Lord in church life and reach their own generation, through discipleship programmes, youth cells, outreach projects to their peers, and short term mission trips.
To facilitate the effective working of this vision we see a dedicated team that includes a youth worker, two full-time pastors and an administrator. We see appropriate premises being rented for the administration of the work as it grows: a church office and facilities for projects in the community. On Sundays, in the short term, we see Brixworth Primary School being used in conjunction with the Community Centre to allow for expansion.
Every Christian is actively involved in Christ’s mission.
We see a church that openly welcomes outsiders and does everything to win both young and old for Christ. All members participate in some way in the church’s evangelism in the village, so there is a wide variety of ways in which the gospel is presented. We see regular outreach not only in Brixworth, but also in five of the surrounding villages, as a result of which people regularly come to faith, with 12 new Christians every year.
We see a church that is actively involved in the community, engaging in ministry to the village that demonstrates the love and compassion of Jesus in practical ways, reinforcing the spoken message of God’s salvation to the world. Members actively look for ways in which they may serve and bring God’s blessing to the community.
We see a church with a heart for the world, which has established meaningful links with churches in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Its aim is to send out new full-time workers into world mission every five years, with short term teams going out on an annual basis to encourage other Christians, learn about the worldwide church and envision those who stay behind to pray. We see a church where prayer for mission and evangelism is the backbone of its life.
What sort of church do we want to be?
Vision statements contain an element of “dreaming” about how we see the church developing over the next five to ten years and what we want to become in the Lord. Some things may seem out of reach, but it would not be a vision if we could do it all by ourselves! And remember, God is able to immeasurably more than we can ask or even imagine, so we hope that you are excited by this as you read it!
Statement of Belief
1. God
There is one God, who exists eternally in three distinct but equal persons: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is unchangeable in his holiness, justice, wisdom and love. He is the almighty Creator, Saviour and Judge who sustains and governs all things according to his sovereign will for his own glory.
2. The Bible
God has revealed himself in the Bible, which consists of the Old and New Testaments alone. Every word was inspired by God through human authors, so that the Bible as originally given is in its entirety the Word of God, without error and fully reliable in fact and doctrine. The Bible alone speaks with final authority and is always sufficient for all matters of belief and practice.
3. The Human Race
All men and women, being created in the image of God, have inherent dignity and worth. Their greatest purpose is to obey, worship and love God. As a result of the fall of our first parents, every aspect of human nature has been corrupted and all men and women are without spiritual life, guilty sinners and hostile to God. Every person is therefore under the just condemnation of God and needs to be born again, forgiven and reconciled to God in order to know and please him.
4. The Lord Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and lived a sinless life in obedience to the Father. He taught with authority and all his words are true. On the cross he died in the place of sinners, bearing God’s punishment for their sins, redeeming them by his blood. He rose from the dead and in his resurrection body ascended into heaven where he is the exalted Lord of all. He intercedes for his people in the presence of his Father.
5. Salvation
Salvation is entirely a work of God’s grace and cannot be earned or deserved. It has been accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ and is offered to all in the Gospel. God in his love forgives sinners whom he calls, granting them repentance and faith. All who believe in Christ are justified by faith alone, adopted in to the family of God and receive eternal life.
6. The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven to glorify Christ and to apply his work of salvation. He convicts sinners, imparts spiritual life and gives true understanding of the Scriptures. He indwells all believers, brings assurance of salvation and produces increasing likeness to Christ. He builds up the Church and empowers its members for worship, service and mission.
7. The Church
The universal Church is the body of which Christ is the head and to which all who are saved belong. It is made visible in local churches, which are congregations of believers who are committed to each other for the worship of God, the preaching of the Word, the administering of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, for pastoral care and discipline, and evangelism. The unity of the body of Christ is expressed within and between churches by mutual love, care and encouragement. True fellowship between churches exists only where they are faithful to the Gospel.
8. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper have been given to the churches by Christ as visible signs of the Gospel. Baptism is a symbol of union with Christ and entry into his Church, but does not impart spiritual life. The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of Christ’s sacrifice once for all and involves no change in the bread and wine. All its blessings are received by faith.
9. The Future
The Lord Jesus will return in glory. He will raise the dead and judge the world in righteousness. The wicked will be sent to eternal punishment and the righteous will be welcomed into a life of eternal joy in fellowship with God. God will make all things new and will be glorified for ever.
What do we believe?
The following statement was produced for all churches in Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (www.fiec.org.uk), which we have adopted as a summary of our own beliefs. It is quite detailed, but will give a good idea of the elements of the Christian faith we think are important.
Sacrificial relationships!
BCF is a church where...
C hristians put themselves out for each other.
Seeing the Holy Spirit at work!
The Holy Spirit finds freedom to minister
By the time you receive this Bulletin it is likely that nearly 2000 shoeboxes would have been sent to Kyrgyzstan. We will give you final numbers in the next Bulletin but want to thank you for all the efforts you put in to make such a difference to so many children who would receive nothing for Christmas if it wasn’t for your generosity.
Fully equipped!
Christians are fully equipped to play their part
Global Christians!
Every Christian is actively involved in Christ’s mission
