Singing & Growing in Bridgetown, Barbados

The church has been mending and rebuilding since 2003. We were always a small congregation and our membership was depleted to less than half in the two years immediately following 2003. In 2006 our membership was about 63.

In 2007 we chose as our theme “To Know God and to make him Known” Jerry Marshall started a drive to have people recommit to serving God and several people did so. By the end of the year our membership was 97.

God continued to be very faithful to us last year. We did not have a full time minister, because of insufficient funds but we saw the singles ministry (23 of us) emerge to be a major part of the catalyst of change within the church.

Last year was a time of ‘firsts” for us. For the first time ever in the church we had a Singles Retreat entitled “Living In the Moment” this theme was inspired by a Wednesday message delivered by Jerry Marshall. Our retreat was in July and was held at the famous Codrington College which is a theological college that caters to International students. All who participated testified to how inspirational and impacting the whole weekend was.One of the major benefits realized was the forging of new and the strengthening of old relationships among the singles.

We also had our first concert ever entitled “Still The King”. God really took charge of this. He allowed us to have a great faith building time where we ministered in song. Our song ministry is ten persons strong with only two sopranos and two altos. We had to get the help of members of other churches and one of the brothers, Judah Bharath, from the church in Trinidad came and performed with us as well.Our national police force band also accompanied us and one of the songs they performed with us was Our God is Alive (351 in the song Book) This is a favourite in our church. Nigel Batson, one of the brothers in our worship team, who was truly moved by the melodic sound and skill of the band, decided to learn to play the drums and he is well on his way to becoming the first drummer in our church. Our worship ministry leader also started a course in piano playing. Several of those who attended said that initially they came just to support us, but were truly inspired and impressed, with the high quality of the entire concert and the smooth way in which it flowed. Many of them were inspired by the messages in the songs.

The singles also started a book club which was intended to help build relationships, whilst creating an avenue for us to encourage our friends. Our first book was “Church: Why Bother?” by Philip Yancey. We have two married couples who share the sessions with us. We also hosted a campus service entitled “The World is a Cycle” at the University of the West Indies where for the first time we used a projector in our service to allow the congregation to participate in the singing without being book bound.

All in all we have seen God moving powerfully in our midst:The quality of our messages continues to improve; the attendance at our Sunday services is increasing; we have people who are studying the bible – this was not happening for a while – including a teen, whose parents are disciples and who grew up in the church; our finances are improving; we have started a building fund and are looking into having a full time minister. We are concentrating this year on being a church that prays more and we have designated the first Wednesday in every month as a time when the entire church prays together.

Please be praying for us that we can find a full time minister as the church really needs it. Also please pray that we will be able to have our own building soon, as not having one limits the scope of events outside of the regular services. Pray that God will continue to strengthen us and soften the hearts of those with whom we share our faith.