Parkstone Baptist Church gathers together each Sunday morning from 10.30am.
We usually meet for about 70 minutes. Most folk stay on for a while longer since we enjoy each other's company, usually with a drink of tea, coffee or water in hand.
Folk tend to start arriving from around 10.15am, to greet each other and have a chat together before we begin at 10.30am.
What's coming up on Sundays?
In our buildings at Loch Road, Poole, BH14 9EX, unless stated otherwise
We're in the midst of on an exciting opportunity for us as a church community as we continue on our journey through John's Gospel. We are taking time to read together and learn from the encounters that many different people had with Jesus, that were written about by John.
Our hope is that we will believe more and more in Jesus as the Son of God, and by believing in this way we will have life in his name. This is the reason that John gave for writing his Gospel (John chapter 20 verse 31) and we're up for that! We'd love you to join us on our journey.
Across June, we will be taking time during our gathering together to see what we can learn from John's account of some of the things that Jesus did and taught, which John links to different religious festivals that Jesus was attending with his followers.
Sunday 1st June - Journeying through John's Gospel
Chapter 5: The Sabbath sees Jesus on trial - Jesus teaches "Like Father, like Son"
Sunday 8th June - Journeying through John's Gospel
Chapter 6: The Passover sees Jesus with a crowd - Jesus provides what the crowd really needs
Sunday 15th June - Journeying through John's Gospel
Chapter 6: The Passover sees Jesus with a crowd - the crowd responds to Jesus
Sunday 22nd June - Parkstone Baptist Church Meeting and AGM
Sunday 29th June - outdoor gathering shared with Longfleet Baptist Church
Chapter 6: The Passover sees Jesus with a crowd - What does it really mean to follow Jesus?
When? 11.00am What? An outdoor service then time to share lunch together
(bring a packed lunch and an outdoor chair if you can)
Where? In the grounds of Longfleet Primary School, Jolliffe Ave, Poole. BH15 2HF.
Toilets available on site.
What if... it rains? Then we'll meet in the building of Longfleet Baptist Church
138 Wimborne Rd, Poole, BH15 2EX, about a minute or two away from the grounds of Longfleet Primary School.
What happens when we gather on Sunday morning?
We take time to pray together at several points during our time when we meet.
These prayers tend to form the 'rhythm' for our gatherings.
We read part of the Bible together and help one another to better understand, learn from and respond to what we've read. Sometimes this will be through a talk or sermon. Sometimes it will be more like a discussion or study. More often than not it will be a mix of both approaches, so that we take time to learn from one another. It's not unusual for folk to pose a question when there is something they want to ask.
Our Sunday morning gatherings usually provide opportunities to share things that we have noticed recently as we trust in Jesus. We recognise that this is a way we can find common expression in our life of faith. We draw encouragement from one another as we share the life of faith together.
We also like to sing together, drawing from a mix of songs and hymns written and composed across a wide span of time. We tend to keep things fairly simple when we sing. Choices and style are informed by what and why we are singing, more than how it might sound. Sometimes we simply read the words of the song together, as a prayer-poem.
We usually try to make our time together as multi-voiced as possible.
Silence is something we try not to worry about. There is never a requirement to say something, but we find we are blessed and encouraged by one another as we do!
Why do we gather together like this?
It's our way of putting into practice some of what we read in these sentences from a letter written to one of the earliest churches...
Christ's message in all its richness must live in your hearts. Teach and instruct one another with all wisdom. Sing psalms, hymns, and sacred songs; sing to God with thanksgiving in your hearts.
(Letter to the Colossians 3:16)