Tilehouse Street Baptist Church,
Hitchin Tilehouse Street Baptist Church,
Hitchin
OUTLOOK
Jesus told them another parable:
"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took
and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked
all through the dough"
Matthew 13:33
Dear Friends
As I sit in the quiet of the church sanctuary beginning to write this article I can hear two voices in the background fading in and out as Janet (our outgoing administrator) hands over to Will (our incoming administrator). For those of you who may not yet have heard, as we said farewell to Janet Ireson on 26th July, we welcomed Will Henton Pusey to the role on 29th July. Janet will be greatly missed. She has served this church so well for nearly five years and we have been blessed by her presence among us. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end and Janet has now retired.
The country has also gone, (is going), through a time of great change. New MPs in many areas (including Hitchin) and a new government. (I’m not sure though how many would feel able to say “all good things must come to an end” in reference to the Conservatives losing power … a conversation for another day!) But the country (well, 60% of the country) has voted and declared that
it’s time for change.
And now the Church Meeting has appointed Meg Granger and Nickie Woodbridge as co-Treasurers as we change our approach to management of the church’s finances. Over the next five months there will be period of transition so that Meg and Nickie will be able to start at the beginning of 2025 sharing the responsibility of being Church Treasurer. And we recently appointed Brenda Mallett as our bookkeeper. Another change to the way we steward our finances.
It's also the season of major sporting events. The Euros men’s football, Wimbledon, England / West Indies Test cricket, the Open Golf tournament and, of course, the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics. And it was the Olympics that provided my inspiration for July’s service at Foxholes when I used the following two passages from scripture based on running.
From Hebrews 12: … let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and
perfecter of faith. And from Philippians 3: …the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above.
We have been running the race at Tilehouse Street for over 350 years and there have been many changes during that time. Many minor and some very significant but, throughout, the challenge has been to run that race with perseverance, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, forgetting what is behind and running straight toward the goal of God’s call to the life above. And the way in which we have run has changed with the changing seasons and times. But our aim has remained the same. To win the prize. God’s call through Jesus to the life above.
Not, I would point out, to the life to come. The call to the ‘life above’ is the call to a better, a higher way of living now. To the way of living seen in Jesus Christ. Following Christ’s example, through the equipping of the Holy Spirit. All of the changes that we have introduced at Tilehouse Street are not just to make life easier for us but more crucially are to enable us to continue to be a church that reveals the God of love to our community. To be a church that continues to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. To be a
church which shares the good news of the gospel in whatever way we can. Always running, with perseverance, the race marked out for us.
Every blessing,
Jane
Stephen Copson writes:
Did you see that there was a play in the recent Hitchin Festival about the Suffragette, Elizabeth Impey? But did you know that she and her husband were for a time members at Tilehouse Street? I have compiled a short article exploring the links, and if you would like to see a copy, please have a word with me. It is available digitally, or can be printed.
