August 2007
Children’s Holiday Club - Mission Control
Once more the chapel was transformed into its alter ego of Space Station Mission Control. This year we were again under the ‘control’ of Captain Nebula, with the rather surly aid of Arthur Moans, the more dubious aid of Fuzz Lightyear and the odoriferous advice of alien space veteran Foot-Oda. Captain Nebula was noticably different in appearance from the Captain of the same name last year. Click HERE to see how the transformation came about. (To repeat the transformation click in the URL line of your browser and press enter or simply click the refresh button.) About 70 children joined the team leaders (see photo) to become space cadets for four mornings and were entertained, excercised and taught about the life of Joseph, sometime Governor of Egypt. The trusty(?) Transmuter was again making its noises and smoke as it brought us two of Joseph’s brothers, Potiphar’s cleaning lady, Pharaoh’s butler and Mr and Mrs Pyramid, ancient Egypt’s very own “Posh and Becks” (see photo).

The children entered fully into the sketches, the crafts, the exercises, the songs and the work sheets, learning a lot about the way God provided a saviour for his people and many others in the Middle East during a great 7-year famine - literally a disaster of ‘Biblical proportions’. Some recognised the parallels with God’s even greater plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.

August 2007
Cheltenham Bible Festival
20 people from CBC were among the 2600 who had a very encouraging, instructive and enjoyable few days on the racecourse in Cheltenham at the 2007 FIEC Conference.

After many scares - lack of support, cost of accommodation, unfamiliarity of the site, the floods in Gloucestershire followed by the lack of drinking water - it all came together wonderfully well. The weather was perfect, the venues excellent, the speakers brilliant, the music uplifting, the Lord’s hand evident in so much that happened. If you weren’t there you should consider coming next year - most of us want to go again!

August 2006
Children’s Holiday Club - ‘Mission Control’
We had a very exciting and enjoyable four days of fun, games, crafts and Bible stories from 29th August to 1st September. The main subject was Jonah - how he was in rebellion against God, how he learnt that that is not a good idea! The highly technical but noisy and smoky ‘Transmuter’, a sort of ‘beam-me-up-Scottie’ transporter working across time as well as distance, brought various witnesses and Jonah himself to 2006AD Caterham to testify to having ‘never seen a storm like it’ and other experiences. There were hiccups of course - did JOAN H ever get to Woolworths?

Over 70 children came each day and many brought their parents to the Barbecue on Friday and to the Family Service on Sunday. Now some come to the Friday Club.

July 2006
Another Weekend
The first Church Weekend Away, in September 2004, was so enjoyable and valuable that we had to do it again. This time there were 106 of us at Moorlands Bible College, Sopley, for two nights, many of us camping. Once again there was good food, good teaching,  great fellowship and a highly entertaining concert. And this time the “free afternoon” was spent by most of us on a glorious sunny beach, in contrast to the drizzle of 2004. Our thanks to the Lord for safety, health, the weather and all the practical and spiritual blessings we enjoyed, to Malcolm MacGregor for the teaching sessions, to the staff at Moorlands for the cooking and service, to Norman and Wenda Allin for so many coffees, teas, etc., to Jonathan and Gill Bailey for hosting the event and to one another for putting up with one another. Click on the picture for a larger version, then (in IE up to v6) click again for a really large scrollable view.

January 2006
Liberia
Once again some people from a Baptist church in Gendros, Swansea, together with some of our members, have been to visit a church in Liberia. As in the last three years, they have led teaching sessions at the developing seminary and have done some work with local schools. This time they also developed proposals for building a purpose-built home for the seminary.

Here are some pictures which illustrate the beauty, ugliness and hope of Liberia: a sunset, a bombed building and some delightful children. (Click on the pictures for a larger version)

January 2006
Work on the buildings
The building development of last spring left us with quite a lot to do in reassignment of rooms. Several working parties and much work by individuals have given us a much more functional set of classrooms and offices.

December 2005
A good Christmas
We were delighted by the response to our Christmas invitations, delivered to most homes in our part of Caterham valley. We had good attendances at four carol services: in Buxton Lodge Care Home on 11th, a family carol service followed by tea on 18th, a service for people with learning difficulties on 20th and a week-night service on 21st. There were also many visitors on Christmas morning. We pray that all who were in those meetings may experience the continuing presence of our Lord Immanuel.

September 2005
Visit to Rome
For some time one of our members has had a strong interest in a small evangelical church in the outskirts of Rome. The pastor of that church and some of his family visited us in June and in September a small party went out for a week to boost the manpower of the church in outreach activities. Together with people from the local church we distributed 3500 copies of the booklet “Tornare a Dio” - “Turning to God”.

May 2005
Open Day
On 21 May 2005 we invited our neighbours,  especially the people who live around us who had been inconvenienced by the builders, to see what it was all for.

As well as showing off our new facilities we had stalls showing every aspect of what the church does: Sunday meetings, of course, but also our work with young people, mothers and toddlers, people with learning difficulties and senior citizens. There was entertainment for the very young - bouncy castle and face-painting. There was a cafe for light refreshments.

Many came - local people and friends and friends of friends. One comment from a neighbour who came in response to our invitation card: “We thought we would look in for half an hour and stayed all morning.”  One young lady found an unattended computer displaying this website and used it to create her own PowerPoint presentation (her name changed).

March 2005
Redevelopment of the buildings
The church’s premises constitute buildings on three different levels which were joined together by passages not suitable for disabled access. Kitchen facilities were also not "21st Century", and accessibility in general needed improvement.

We have now completed work that has addressed all of these areas. The Lord has enabled giving that met 90% of the £1/4 million the work has cost and members have made internal loans for the rest. All that remains (January 2006) are a few “snagging” details and some interior decoration.

January 2005
Liberia
For some years the minister of a related church in Swansea has been supporting a church in Liberia. This year, as in 2004, several people from our church joined him in working on a teaching conference at the pastoral seminary that the Liberian church has set up.

September 2004
Get away!
A recent event, a first in the life of the church, was the Church Weekend Away, in September 2004. 105 of us went to Moorlands Bible College, Sopley, near Bournemouth for two nights. We enjoyed good food, good teaching, great fellowship, indoor rounders and a concert. Here are most of us: (click on the picture for a larger version)