Our Vision: to journey with God; to form, celebrate and deepen community, faith and discipleship
To be a Christ-led community for others.
Extracts from the reports for the church’s Annual Meeting in April 2025. If you could volunteer some time to help in church life or are interested in a particular aspect or fundraising events, please chat to a steward or the Minister. Thank you to everyone who contributes to the church community.
Extract from the Minister’s Foreword
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is with great joy and gratitude that I present to you the annual report for our church’s activities and progress over the past year. This year has been a testament to our collective faith, resilience, and commitment to serving our community.
Worship services and attendance
Our worship services have continued to be a cornerstone of our church life. We have seen a steady increase in attendance of members from other countries, joining us every Sunday. People have continued to enjoy café church as well which has been introduced by some of the preachers.
Community Outreach
Our outreach programs have flourished this year. The food bank initiative has provided essential support to those in need. Additionally, programs like Well-Come Point have enabled us to extend our reach and offer more space for people to meet for those members of the community who seek to socialise. Besides that, the church also allows other organisations to use our premises, of course, on a rental basis.
Financial health
Our finances are very low and this has posed a very serious challenge to the maintenance of the building, payment of bills and the payment of circuit assessment.
Building and maintenance
This year, we undertook several maintenance projects to ensure our church building remains a safe and welcoming place for all., thanks to the dedicated efforts of our building committee. Members also had cleaning days set aside, where we teamed up with New Day Church to clean the inside and outside of the church as well. The quinquennial report was done and there is a lot of work that needs to be completed and it requires a lot of money.
Centenary celebrations
This year the church also celebrated 100 years of the building with a service on 6 April 2025. There were a lot of activities that were held as a way of celebrating this joyous occasion. There was drama, music, poetry and a bake-off competition. Indeed it was a worthy cause to celebrate this milestone in the life of BRMC.
Future plans
Looking ahead, we need to think of the best way forward to move on regardless of the challenges that we have in the areas of leadership, finance and the building. It is that time that we need to understand that the church needs to face the future with the courage of Samson, the patience of Job and the wisdom of Solomon.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to each one of you for your unwavering support and dedication. Together, we have made significant strides in our mission to serve God and our community. Let us continue to work together in faith and love, trusting in God’s guidance for the year ahead.
May God bless you all.
Revd Tongayi Matamba
Extract from the Well-Come Point report
Well-come Point (W-CP) opened its doors in October 2017 and we still welcome a few folk each week who have come regularly since we opened. W-CP offers a warm welcome into a safe place, where you can have a (free) hot drink and biscuit and find someone to talk to or choose a quiet table if you wish. Then at noon, we offer everyone a soup and a roll. The Salvation Army receive food to distribute to those in need each week, and they very kindly provide us with the bread we need.
Every week we offer table tennis, pool, a jigsaw puzzle, scrabble, playing cards and lots of conversation. The most important thing about W-CP is how we have watched God heal people. We have seen those with little or no confidence change and grow; friendships have been made and are blossoming and it is certainly a place of love, where God is present every week, ministering to those who need Him. It really warms my heart seeing God at work in all the conversations that go on each week.
We have seen a lot of growth since the last General Council Meeting, with new people coming and more volunteers (thank you Lord!).
We have had the pleasure of a man from CAB who came all over the winter months and helped so many people with help and advice about their bills, heating, etc. He befriended everyone, helped in the kitchen and his advice was invaluable to so many.
[Significant growth in people attending and lunches]
Huge thanks from me to all the volunteers who give up their time every week to come to W-CP, taking their turn on the rota to come and serve us, in the kitchen or sitting talking to folk at the tables.
I hope you are blessed in your work every Friday.
Debbie D
Extract from the Senior Steward’s report
… I really want to thank all the people who have come forward in recent months to help me, to share in the work that needed to be done to prepare for our centenary celebrations, to improve our building (as far as our money permits) and to make our fellowship a pleasant and welcoming place. Most of all, perhaps, we should thank Deborah for her years of service to us all.
We do not know what the future holds for us, but I pray we may continue to support each other and do our best to share God’s love and serve the needs of the local community to the best of our ability.
Anita H
Extract from the Pastoral Report 2024-2025
Our Pastoral Visitors do their best between them to keep in touch with both members and regular attenders. We also try to regularly keep in touch with anyone in hospital or unable to get out. Our visitors are mainly very busy people, and we would love to have a few more visitors.
Janet retired after many years of service and we thank her for that.
Anita H