Rough guide to age groups:-
Under 20 - 10
20 - 40 - 50
40 - 60 - 79
Over 60's - 52
West Croydon Baptist Church is a trans-local church with its membership drawn from across Croydon and surrounding areas.
The congregation is made up of various nationalities (presently 29) - English, African, Asian, West Indian etc. The membership currently stands at 191 and is kept under regular review. In recent times the church has seen a steady movement of members away from the area but also an equal influx of newer members. This has resulted in the membership figures remaining fairly constant over the last five years. Baptismal Services are held regularly.
WCBC benefits from its position of high visibility on a large traffic island in that most Sunday morning services will attract a small handful of visitors. We are told by our visitors that the mixed nature of the worshipping community is a welcoming experience.
Two services are held each Sunday at WCBC; one at 9.15am and the other at 10.45am. Various members of the congregation lead services and all are encouraged to participate, both young and old. Generation Groups (Sunday School) meet at the same time as the 10.45am service, having had approximately 20-25 minutes of worship as a whole community. Attendance at the service varies but on average there are 180-190 worshipping (including children) at the 10.45am service and approximately 30 at the 9.15am service. There is no evening service although at the Leadership's discretion occasional topical teaching sessions, healing service, Youth-led services etc. are arranged.
Worship in the 10.45am service, though structured, is semi-informal, lively and contemporary with elements of the more traditional. The 9.15am service is more traditional whilst allowing for the inclusion of various worship styles. It remains predominantly a more reflective and 'quieter' service.
The Church mainly uses the New International Version of the Bible with copies available in the pews. Music is predominantly from the 'Songs of Fellowship' books 1-3. On a Sunday morning songs/hymns are displayed on a screen using computer/video projector technology.
The Church has a music group, which consists of various instruments from the piano through to guitars, drums, and percussion. Various styles of music are used in worship and a group of singers lead the congregation in singing songs. They predominantly serve in the 10.45am service. The 9.15am service is normally accompanied by the piano. The pipe organ is used only on an occasional basis.
A variety of multi-media resources are used in the services. These include the use of the video with music/video/news clips/DVD's; slide presentations and other interactive resources.
The church believes in a God of miracles and remains open for the Holy Spirit to move among us. The more overt spiritual gifts (tongues, prophesy, healing etc) have not regularly been exercised in open worship, although their existence is acknowledged and expression encouraged.
The Church's prayer life happens on a number of different levels, with intercessory prayer being a regular feature of Sunday worship. There are three prayer ministry co-ordinators, who organises, on a regular basis, events such as prayer breakfasts/teas. There is an opportunity for people to pray in small groups, i.e. triplets. There is also a monthly prayer meeting.
Prayer is encouraged as a normal part of Growth Groups. There is also in place a group of people ready to respond in prayer on a 24/7 basis for any emergencies/crises. A weekly prayer diary is published every Sunday containing concerns from the Fellowship, the wider community and up-to-date national and international situations.
Communion is served at both services on the third Sunday of every month. The Church's custom is to serve the bread and eat together and in a similar manner to serve the wine and drink together. It is also the custom to be inclusive to the housebound and we achieve this by sending out a Deacon and other Church members to each respective housebound person that we may all Fellowship at the Lord's Table at the same time.
Between 1994 and 2000 WCBC benefited greatly from the ministry, imitative and enthusiasm of an Evangelist/Outreach Worker. For most of that period he worked for the Church half time and during that time impacted and influenced the Church in a significant way. The Church saw little growth by conversion but none-the-less, during this period the foundational work of orienteering the Church to become a mission people with a heart for the 'lost' was put in place.
The Church in its strategy to reach out to the un-churched, pursued friendship evangelism and people were encouraged to make non- Christian friends. WCBC developed multimedia style services as we sought to draw in the un-churched through what we called 'Christertainment'.
Multi-media presentation, although enjoyable, was resource intensive. At present such a format for outreach is 'on hold'.
Alongside these events, the Church was encouraged to bring friends and have a good time through what we called 'Go Events' e.g. barn dances, theatre, comedy acts etc. The Church also tried its own version of Alpha which was called Workout, but that proved unsuccessful as an evangelistic tool. Current outreach to the community consists of hospitality to Croydon's homeless during the months of January-March and hospitality for Refugees and Asylum Seekers every Tuesday. We also work together with other local churches as we together reach out into the community (e.g. Fun Days).
In 1996 the Church spent time considering its ministry among the children and youth and heard God say to "Enlarge the Circle". Young people were to be treated with respect and value, as adults were treated. WCBC was to be an inclusive community. Eventually a Mission Statement was adopted "The Children's and Youth Ministry exists to provide a safe, enjoyable environment in which the young people may develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ".
Apart from All Age services which presently occur five times a year, the young people leave the main Sunday morning service in order to continue worship and learning in their respective age groups. These are:
Each Generation Group has its own leader and a team of helpers. Both the Youth Groups (Limitless & TBA) at present also meet mid- week, for a weekly Growth Group "Deeper" and weekly social activities on Friday nights. Also on Friday nights there is a weekly club called 'Space Club' for 7-11 year olds.
This work has been going on for many years and is very successful. It is led by Church members and meets weekly on a Thursday evening.
These groups meet weekly/fortnightly in homes across the Borough, and consist of a maximum of twelve people. There are at present 10 groups. Each Growth Group has a leader and all the leaders meet with the minister and Growth Group Overseer once a year. WCBC is a fairly large Church so these small groups act as a forum where relationships can be developed and intimacy achieved in the worshipping community.
This group although open to all consists of mainly older women and meets weekly on a Thursday afternoon. They invite speakers and have a devotional time as they study the Word. It is also a time to deepen relationships and encourage friendship.
WCBC has 8 designated areas of concern e.g. Tearfund, Home Mission. Each designated area has a representative and is allocated one Sunday annually for the promotion of that particular ministry. All the representatives meet twice a year with the Minister.
This meets on the premises and is serviced by volunteers of which many are older retired members of the Church. The Centre is an independent charitable work founded by a church member and adopted in the Church's vision of care for and in the community. The Day Centre began by providing a hot meal and necessities like clothes, dry foods etc. on a Tuesday. The work has become much more diversified as the Co-ordinator sought to respond to the needs of those who find themselves in a strange land with very little. It is an ecumenical, non-proselytising work that seeks to reach out with the love of God in action.
During the winter months we provide hospitality (food, shelter and friendship) one night of the week. This ministry is carried out together with various other churches in the community, each providing hospitality on a different night of the week.
The church has only recently completed the first phase of its building refurbishment after many years. The vision and aim was to make the building, which has many levels, a more friendly and better communicating place. In 2007 with all the building work completed, Spurgeon Centre was opened. The building now has disabled access, two lifts and is better suited for use by the many community agencies that uses the halls on a regular basis.