Beckenham Baptist Church

Dear Friends,  I was interested to read this week of the Streatham Common Crib Controversy of 1985 when the local council banned a nativity scene that had been at every Christmas since 1956 because ‘of concerns about offending people of other faiths’. It had been the idea of two local Catholic church members, one who built the scene and the other who painted it, and who were concerned that the true meaning of Christmas was being lost in all the commercialism and hype. The national press picked up the story with headlines like Away with the Manger , and No Room on the Common , and it wasn’t until one of the originators challenged the decision, including getting in touch with the leaders of the other local faiths who said they had no objection to the crib scene, that the council reversed its decision, and this year, 2022, will be the 66 th year of the nativity scene. Nativity scenes can be seen in all kinds of places at this time of year, and they are a visual reminder of the true...

Dear Friends,  I wonder if you have a favourite Christmas carol. Classic FM are doing ‘The Nation’s Favourite Carol’ again this year and there are lots to choose from including, ‘In the bleak midwinter’, ‘Ding dong! Merrily on high’, ‘Away in a manger’, and last year’s winner, ‘O holy night’. To sit down and choose one is so difficult but among my favourites is ‘Joy to the world’ which was written by the English hymnwriter Isaac Watts who was born in 1674 in Southampton. He is often referred to as ‘The Father of Hymns’ or ‘The Godfather of English Hymnody’ and is credited with some 750 hymns including ‘When I survey the wondrous cross’, ‘Our God our help in ages past’, and ‘I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath’. Watts attended the Dissenting Academy in Stoke Newington because he came from a non-conformist background and was not allowed to go to Oxford or Cambridge which were restricted to Anglicans at the time, and after his studies became a congregational minister. He wrote ‘...

Dear Friends,  ‘Census 2021 will probably be remembered as the one in which Christianity became a minority religion in England and Wales’, so read the article in a leading UK newspaper. It went onto say that ‘the number of people identifying as Christian dropped 5.5 million in the past decade’ ( The Guardian , 29/11/2022). Responding to the findings the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said that the country has ‘left behind the era when many people almost automatically identified as Christian’, and that the Christian church would continue its work in the face of both ‘revival and decline’ ( Sky News , 29/11/2022). He went on to say in an interview for BBC News, ‘ It's not a great surprise that the census shows fewer people in this country identifying as Christian than in the past, but it still throws down a challenge to us not only to trust that God will build his kingdom on Earth but also to play our part in making Christ known’. The Bible Society says that the findings of...