This photo taken recently by one of our church members, Michael Bochenski, perfectly sums up our new and exciting mission at Long Eaton Baptist Church.
The Reverend Mike Arnold was appointed to be both our first Church Minister and Community Pastor. We took a step of faith into an unfamiliar future and we have been working together to develop new ways to worship Sunday by Sunday, alongside a new commitment to serving the local community.
Mike Arnold, who serves as a trustee of the Long Eaton and Sawley Trussell Trust Foodbank, first issued the invitation for the Trust to use our premises as their main centre. With some financial grant-aid to adapt and improve facilities, the Foodbank now operates out of our church buildings and together we have set up a clothing bank too. We are pleased to be able to help local families and some homeless people, and recently we have tried to support asylum seekers who have been housed in local hotels - but of course we hope and pray that this help will not be needed for long.
A Baptist Church was established on the present site in 1864 and now in 2024 we are carrying on that witness with renewed vigour and purpose.
Aleyne Hancock (Church Secretary) August 2024