Making Waves For The Gospel
Reflections on the Baptisms On The Beach by John Preston
Walking down to the beach last Sunday at 6.30am in the morning, I had to ask myself - what had we let ourselves in for? 5 churches, 1300 people, 70 planned baptisms - it had been months in the planning and this was the day!
For me, the day started with a view of tents pitched all across the beach around Boscombe from overnight visitors. Thankfully, at our location for the church gathering, only a single tent had been pitched and they moved on after a polite word, was this the indicator that God was already ahead of me?
The beach baptism event involved a large team of volunteers across our Bournemouth churches and a great relationship with the BCP council. Would it all go to plan? A lot of plates were spinning last Sunday morning and I was trusting the One God that it would all work out for his glory.
BCP were fantastic. One challenge remained at the last minute. We needed early morning access to the beach through the 2.1m high gates. The audio and lighting teams had a van that was 2.4m high. How would we solve this one? A friendly relationship with BCP resulted in them giving us our own set of keys! A highly unlikely solution, unless you believe in the God of miracles.
The volunteer team numbered about 50 from across our churches covering welcome, prayer, media and worship. There were too many people to name but thankful for their commitment above and beyond to make it happen. Professional support was also provided by the Vanguard Security team. That may have seemed a little over the top, but their presence was a great assistance and more than one of their team were struck by the significance of the event they were about to witness. It was just one example of the people around us seeing and hearing about the goodness of God in the open air.
The crowd began to build well before 9am. 1300 Christians gathered on the beach. The crystal-clear communication, passionate worship and personal testimonies have already reached far and wide. Briony Leyland from BBC South Today mingled with the crowd and messaged us afterwards to let us know how welcomed she had felt. The 70 baptisms we expected swelled to 92. What an impact on the local community! Not only BBC South Today but the local Echo and social media covered the story. This was a day that would have a much greater significance than I could have imagined.
Who said there was a quiet revival? There was nothing quiet about Sunday morning! Men and women were saved. People stepped forward in commitment and baptism. It was a privilege to see how God had brought together our different churches to be one to witness in the open air. Standing on the prom with George Wortley from Bournemouth Community Church and looking out together at the crowd in worship, I thought - we’re going to be in heaven together forever so we might as well get over the shock of being one in Christ this morning!
It’s great to be a Christian and be part of this great work that God is doing. Was I exhausted? Yes, Would I do it again? No question. Over the last few weeks our heavenly father has continually reminded me to trust him! Last Sunday he made a way for us to share his gospel with our town and beyond. God is at work. My verse to take away from our weekend is only one of encouragement, ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ (Romans 15:13)
John Preston
Operations Team Volunteer