Last night was the Big Birthday Bash celebration, bringing together Christians from local churches and former members of the church in a night of thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness.

Before the meeting, a reminder of why we were there – 50 years!

Getting ready beforehand:

At the start of the meeting:

A number of people testified about how they had come to be part of Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church and how God has moved over the years.

Members from other churches also talked of the close relationship with our church:

Dave then spoke about the work of the Parent & Toddler Group.

Started in 1990, this group has met faithfully every Friday morning in term-time since then, with Diane and Joan providing faithful leadership of the group. The original aim was to help mothers with babies and toddlers who might feel isolated and to help their children to learn social skills. Over the years, numbers have fluctuated, but it has been a privilege to see how God has worked to the extent that some of the original group members are now bringing their grandchildren to the group! When the group was started, toys were donated and a few bought; now there is a good selection of toys as the church has invested into this community outreach. The original entrance fee was 50p, and this remains the charge today, for one of the key points was affordability in an area where money might be tight. The group is not about making profits but about providing a meeting place for mums and toddlers and helping local people to experience the love of God in a tangible way.

Children’s work and youth work have always been a key feature of the church. Children’s songs remain a part of church services, encouraging children to participate in singing truth:

Mark then spoke about the youth work which runs on a Monday evening.

Since moving into Market Street, we have had up to 70 children and young people in the building on a Monday evening – no wonder we’ve had the community room sound-proofed! The group again aims to offer children and young people a safe environment for play. Games and crafts are run every week and Mark thanked all the volunteers who faithfully give up their time. Over the years, at least 100 different children each year have passed through the group and now many children who used to come have grown up and are bringing their own children to the group. In twenty years of ministry, there have been no serious accidents and although the work is challenging, God’s faithfulness and helpers’ faithfulness have blessed the work.

It’s good to reflect on why we are called ‘Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church’ and one of the reasons is this emphasis on serving the local community, something which is now also continued through our support of the Salvation Army food bank. May we always have an outward focus, for Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost.

What else was going on during our Open Day? Well, as usual, we had stalwart help in the kitchen, serving refreshments:

People enjoyed the usual coffee morning, with cake and fruit as additional treats!

The Sunday School children had prepared favour boxes to give to people:

The day’s celebrations are not over, however. There is an evening meeting starting at 7 p.m. Come along for that!

Other craft activities included colouring in names of God to make place mats:

We also had face-painting:

Interestingly, not all the craft-building led to towers! We also had butterflies:

… and spaceships:

… and a nod to the World Cup:

In everything, however, there were evident signs of fun and creativity. God is a creative God who created all things for His pleasure. People today enjoyed a taste of that pleasure and had a lot of fun.

Deut 32:3-4 says ‘I will proclaim the name of the Lord.Oh, praise the greatness of our God!He is the Rock, his works are perfect,and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong,upright and just is he.’ One of the craft activities explored this theme through painting rocks:

The winner of the rock competition was this one:

(My verse for this one would be ‘God is a fierce rock’!)

The craft activities involved a number of different ways of building strong (or not so strong…) towers:

With dominoes:

With straws:

With tubes and card:

The creativity of helpers, children and adults is to be wondered at! Looks like they had a great time.

The Big Birthday Bash is now officially underway!

From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. we have been celebrating God’s faithfulness through a range of activities. First of all, we enjoyed a trip down memory lane, looking at old photos of Goldthorpe, from the time when the church was in Beever Street to the present day:

We are grateful to all who donated or loaned photos of old Goldthorpe. Did you know that there used to be trams in Goldthorpe? Or that the market has been trading since 1910?

We remembered the first wedding at Beever Street (Ralph and Letty Fletcher in 1993):

We also enjoyed seeing how hairstyles and fashions have changed over the years!

Some photos celebrated all that has happened since the church’s move to Market Street: family services, Christmas celebrations, coffee mornings, prayer walks, working with different churches and refurbishing the building:

To remember is to acknowledge all that God has done in the past and to look forward to all He has still to do.