North Downs Network

Milford Baptist Church

Milford Baptist Church is a small village church with between 30 and 40 attending on a Sunday morning. I was called as their pastor in 2024 with a focus on building up our ministry to children, young people and families. Like many churches, there had been a steep decline in many of the church’s ministries during the pandemic. The fellowship is diverse in age (although tending towards retirement age) and nationalities, and is very welcoming to newcomers. Over the last 2 years we have been finding opportunities to eat together and welcome others to join us.

We have run a small Alpha course, and are planning our first baptism for many years. We have started a community lunch for older folks in the village, with a hot meal, some fun (e.g. singing, quizzes often with a theme), and a short ‘thought for the day’. We are slowly seeing some families coming on a Sunday, and we have run a very lively Easter Club over three days during the school holiday. There is a thriving midweek toddler group, and we have a group of teenagers that attend our Be:youth groups on a Friday evening, who are exploring faith.

We have recently refurbished our upper room, which had previously been home to a small pre-school, and we are planning to use this as a prayer space, as well as a room that can be hired out to local community groups. We are also planning to run a weekly community cafe, starting in July, called Take Time.

God is blessing us with some early signs of growth, and although we are small in numbers, we are praying for a big impact in our local community. There are lots of opportunities to share the love of Jesus through all our weekday activities. I really believe small is beautiful when it comes to local church - close relationships can grow, and we can share life together. As we get to know each other, there will inevitably be challenges, but we trust in God’s grace to grow together in love, even when we disagree.

Please be praying for us:

• For unity, so that as we grow, we will be known by our love and grace towards one another
• That we will be led by the Holy Spirit and keep prayer at the centre of all we do
• That we would share the good news of Jesus with our community
• That we continue to offer a warm welcome to strangers and those who are new to the village

North Kent Network

Gillingham Baptist Church

The last few years at GBC have been very encouraging with a significant growth in both the congregation and the church membership. Much of this growth has come from new arrivals from Africa and other parts of the world. (We currently have 24 different nationalities worshipping with us). But we have also received new members following the closure of Borstal Baptist Church and the Bridge Baptist Church.

Our Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Debt Centre has been running for 13 years now, and Ruth Millard our Debt Centre manager has done an excellent job helping people in the community. She also runs our Alpha course, and we have seen several new people come to faith because of these evangelistic initiatives.

In September 2025 we appointed Sarah Rai as our Minister in Training.  Sarah brings a real passion for the gospel and a tremendous energy. We have been truly blessed to have her working with us. Part of Sarah’s time is set aside for her to work with the Kent Nepalese Fellowship which we consider an important aspect of her ministry.

We would value your prayers for the Kent Nepalese Youth Camp between the 20th and 22nd July; for wisdom to know how to develop our social media presence to reach more people for the gospel; and for clarity around our vision to establish a base down at the Gillingham Waterfront area – a vast new housing area on the northern edge of the town.

South Kent Network

Walmer Baptist Church

God is Good!

At Walmer Baptist Church, we find ourselves in a season of both gratitude and fresh dependence on God. We are a small congregation, but one with faithful servants and a renewed desire to discern what the Lord is asking of us now.

Much of what God is doing among us feels quiet rather than dramatic. He is teaching us to look again at what we have been given: a church family, a beautiful building, years of faithful witness, and new opportunities beginning to open around us.

One encouragement has been a growing sense of hope as we look outward. In the coming weeks, we will be reconnecting with and spending time at Downs Primary School, and we are praying that this will become a meaningful opportunity to listen, serve and build relationships with children, families and staff, alongside the parish churches.

We have been giving thanks for the faithfulness of those who have carried the life of the church over many years through prayer, service and perseverance. At the same time, we are asking God for fresh vision, courage and unity as we step into a new season together.

Please pray for us this month: that we would hear God clearly, love one another well, and have wisdom for the next steps. Pray especially for our developing connection with the local school, for children and families in Walmer, and for the Holy Spirit to renew our witness to Jesus in this community.

Our prayer is that Walmer Baptist Church would be rooted deeply in Christ, open to the Spirit, and ready to serve wherever God opens the door.

Mid Sussex Network

Sheddingdean Baptist Church, Burgess Hill

We recently had the great joy of celebrating four baptisms at Sheddingdean Baptist Church, Burgess Hill, as Steve Holland, Kitty Bowles, Blanche Stoner and Jane Jones publicly declared their faith in Jesus Christ through baptism. 

Blanche was baptised through being totally covered in a linen sheet that had been soaked in the baptistry and there is an extra picture of her reading her vows!



The service was hosted by Gateway Baptist Church, whose warmth and generous hospitality made the occasion truly memorable. From the welcome at the door to the refreshments, sound and visual support, and the practical work of preparing the baptistry, the Gateway family served with great grace and Christian fellowship.

Pastor Colin Baker commented: "It was a privilege to witness four people take this significant step of faith. We are deeply grateful to Gateway Baptist Church for opening their doors and sharing in this celebration with such generosity of spirit. It was a wonderful reminder that we are united in the gospel."

We give thanks to God for these new expressions of faith and pray for Steve, Kitty, Blanche and Jane as they continue to grow in Christ.

West Kent Network

Tonbridge Baptist Church

Sustain & Clothes 2 Go - Engaging with our local community

Our community team continues to support local families via our food bank (Sustain) and our clothing sale (Clothes 2 Go). Sustain supports up to 100 families a week and is open 12pm-1pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Between 40 and 50 people each week come to Clothes 2 Go, which is open on Wednesday mornings during term time.

We receive food donations/financial support for Sustain from a variety of sources, including our church family, other folk in our town, and charities that support us through their fundraising efforts. We are so grateful for all their support. We also receive surplus food from local supermarkets and buy food from Felix (formerly Fare Share), Bookers and supermarkets.

We recently received our impact statement from Felix for 2025, which advised us that Sustain “redistributed 4.66 tonnes of food and drink in 2025, which is the equivalent of 11,095 meals for people facing hardship.” One of TBC’s Strategic Aims is to ‘reduce our carbon footprint’, so using Felix to supplement the food parcels that we give out at Sustain is one of the ways that we do that. We also have local partners who redistribute any surplus food we have, which helps ensure as little food as possible is wasted.

For many in our local community, Sustain has become a place to meet with others and enjoy fellowship whilst receiving the help and support they need. We have begun to see people who initially came to our church building for Sustain be baptised and start attending church services.

At Clothes 2 Go (held in our worship room), people can buy donated clothing for between 10p and 50p an item. Our drop-in coffee shop (Open House) runs at the same time, so visitors to Clothes 2 Go can also receive free refreshments and spend time chatting to others whilst they are here. Both of these ministries make a huge difference to our local community and provide a safe, warm, dignified space where people can come and receive the help and support they need. At Clothes 2 Go, we also have visits from external agencies, making them more easily accessible. Some of the agencies that visit are local housing associations, South East Water, the Samaritans, Crosslight Advice (a debt advice charity that runs its West Kent office from an office space in our church building), and we have also hosted blood pressure checks! In addition, we host a weekly pop-up “Stay and Play” service run by our friends from the Kent County Council Family Hub. They are trained to support parents of young children and can signpost them to many other local services.

There is a lot more happening at TBC over the next few months. Could we please ask you to pray for:

• our Community and our Youth & Kids Teams as they work together to host a Summer Fun event for local families. Last year, over 200 people attended.
• our Premises Team, as they oversee a refurbishment of our youth room this summer.
• around 20 people (including leaders/volunteers) who have just finished attending our latest Alpha Course.
• the 3 people who were baptised at Easter.
• our many volunteers, without whom we would not be able to do a fraction of what we do.
• our staff team.

East Sussex Network

Trinity Church Willingdon

Trinity Church is a small Local Ecumenical Partnership (LEP) encompassing the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed traditions, nestling at the foot of the South Downs in Willingdon. We have seen considerable change over the years but our faith and fellowship bind us together with a focus on serving our community. [Photo: enjoying a cuppa after worship]

Had we written this a year ago, the content would have been quite different – diminishing numbers, age related constraints, finance and vision to name just a few of the challenges we faced. But - this year we are truly blessed and strengthened by the power of God. We are slowly seeing our numbers increase, with two new friends received into membership at the beginning of June and our activities also reaching the wider community.

The monthly Trinity Diners Lunch Club is growing and we are almost at capacity, serving 40 meals at the May lunch. “Fun Fridays” are a social time held on the first Friday of the month when we come together for fellowship, refreshments and plenty of chat, recently we have  also seen increased attendance which has encouraged us greatly. [Photo: An honourable “draw” after a game of Dominoes at “Fun Friday”]

As an LEP we are fortunate to benefit from the support and resources of all three denominations. It has been a real blessing and privilege this Spring for us to renew contact with Revd. Andy Twilley. Our Minister and two elders attended the PiM conference held at Crawley in April. We were inspired by the day and gained a lot from the seminars, bringing back so many ideas we want to try and implement. Trinity now looks forward to welcoming Revd. Andy back for worship, and discussion focussing on the possibility of becoming a PiM church.

We pray that God will continue to guide our planning and the journey we are making, giving us strength and encouragement for the future. We would value your prayers too as we embark on looking at new ways of bringing the love of Christ to those around us and especially for our church members as they embrace this.