Message from Rosemary King

COP26: What Difference Will It Make?

Clear skies, large oak trees and small birds in the garden were features of our world we used to take for granted. Christians believed the wonders of the universe revealed a God who loved and cared for all creation. They believed that human beings should care about and be “stewards” of the environment. Relatively few people thought about the effect extracting the fossil fuels of oil and coal and burning them was having on the environment. Now, most recognise that these human activities which upset the balance between emission and absorption of carbon dioxide in the planet, have resulted in a large climate change.

“Manmade global warming is no longer a conjecture it is established science. We have to spend money on resilience and reduction of carbon emissions” is the conclusion of environmental experts. Will the COP 26 conference start to restore the earth’s climate by negotiating actions to achieve warming of no more than 1.5 OC or net zero CO2 emission? The world is watching.

The reduction of climate change is crucial to the existence of living things on this earth so what are environmentally sustainable ways of tackling it. In Glasgow, 200 countries are asked for their plans to bring down their emissions using four approaches:

1. Developing renewable energy supplies so we do not use fossil fuels.

2. Finding measures which will enable societies to adapt to or be more resilient to climate change events.

3. Finding finance to support sustainable infrastructures for transport, buildings, finance and energy.

4. Building natural ways of supporting fragile ecosystems.

If sufficient progress is not made the floods in Bangladesh, the droughts in East Africa, the death of coral reefs and changed weather patterns will continue but encouraging decisions have been taken. They are to reduce methane emissions, to stop and reverse deforestation, to prevent tree cutting which allows planting of palm oil, soya or grazing for cattle, to end financing for the extraction of coal and to give money to support the poorer countries which have done least to cause global warming yet suffer most from it.

Our screens, phones, newspapers and magazines are full of information telling us of the problems to progress – Russia’s and China’s leaders not taking part, Middle Eastern countries being dependant on money from oil to finance development, extraction of coal and oil making a huge difference to the economy in Australia and India so developing new energy sources is politically unpopular. Delegates will grapple with these difficulties.

The agenda of COP26 is hardly at the forefront of most people’s thoughts; issues with the family and everyday living will crowd it out. Nevertheless, as Christians we want to act in ways that are consistent with stewardship of the earth's resources. What might influence a faith guided response and what changes might we be making in our lives? Concern for our grandchildren and future generations encourage us to avoid food waste, reduce plastic use, reuse and recycle items from clothes to household appliances. Most of us find it hard to change our lifestyle enough to make substantial reductions in our carbon footprint but COP26 requires us to be more “planet wise”.

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.
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Planning your Visit

New to Church?

Here at Brighton Road Baptist Church, you will always be welcome. So it doesn’t matter whether you’ve never been to church before or have been going all your life and want to try something different.

No-one cares how you're dressed, what you believe (or don’t believe), whether you’re over 60 or under 6, or something in between - you're welcome to join us if you're searching or just browsing.

Whatever your circumstances BRBC is a safe place to discover God's love.

We are an extended family made of all ages and a variety of backgrounds. We are single, married, divorced, widowed, happy, sad, confused, motivated, those with time on their hands and those with no time at all. The one thing we have in common is that we want to know more about the God who welcomes us all into his family. We look forward to welcoming you.

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 offer you a copy of our weekly newsletter.

We serve tea, coffee and biscuits after the service. All refreshments are free.

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 team members. We share news and notices, usually about what’s going on in the life of the church. Following this we have a time of sung and spoken worship. We typically have 2 or 3 songs lasting approximately 20 minutes. Often a person will pray out loud or read a small passage from the bible. Sometimes people share things that they believe God is saying to the whole church family. One of our leaders 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. There is an opportunity to receive prayer at the end of the service.

What about my kids?

For children under three, we have a Creche. Children under 6 months are welcome but must be accompanied by their parent/grown-up at all times.
For kids from 4-11, we have our Kid's Club, BRBK. Activities vary but usually there is a friendly welcome, bible stories, testimonies, praying, music, craft, drama, fun games and free play.

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. Part way through the service, the leader will announce that it’s time for the younger members to go to their various groups.

Please pick your children up as soon as the service finishes.

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Getting Connected

Housegroups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our housegroups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, some afternoons and some evenings. Check out Housegroups and see if there’s one that you could join, or we can put you in touch with a small group leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to their group.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make Sundays run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team.

If you want to get in touch, or have any further questions, please contact us!