Designed By Kilmington Baptist Church
Axminster
Project Type: Single Church
Project Area: East
Project Address:
Kilmington Baptist Church
Shute Road
Kilmington
Postcode: EX13 7RX
Project History & Affiliations:
The church was built in 1832, and has been extensively renovated over the past fifteen years. The buildings consist of the main church hall, which has individual chairs rather than fixed pews. With other ancillary rooms this means we have a flexible space to accommodate a wide range of work. Also, there is an onsite Church Office that is open most weekdays for folk to drop into for a chat Access to the church is by a path that runs from the street alongside the Manse.
There are good relationships with the local Anglican Church and we have regular joint services with them. We are also active members of the Axminster Churches Together.
There is a special relationship with other Baptist churches locally, joining together with a “cluster” of 5 churches – Chard, Honiton, Lyme Regis, Kilmington and Seaton known as the “Chalks” group. We have held joint celebrations together 2 or 3 times a year, usually in Axminster Guildhall.
Structure & Vision of the Project:
Our vision is to realise more fully our mission statement, to be a people seeking to know Jesus and make Him known. We want a deeper relationship with our Lord, through hearing from Him, through Bible teaching, through learning together in smaller groups, and by prayer, mutual encouragement and support to seek to follow Him in every aspect of our individual lives and our corporate life.
We want to continue our outreach to the Axe Valley in which we live through existing activities and being open to God’s leading into new ventures, being salt and light in the world and spreading the good news about Jesus. We also want to continue and develop our involvement in worldwide mission.
The church has a particular vision for youth work. We look forward to developing our youth activities for children of church families and young people in the village, and the surrounding area. We are actively pursuing the possibility of recruiting a student youth worker under the auspices of SWYM (South West Youth Ministries) to inspire and help our members already serving in existing youth activities and to be available for service in the wider community.
About the location of the Project:
Kilmington is a village with a population of about 800 and is 2 miles west of Axminster on the A35. It is about 6 miles from the coastal towns of Seaton, Lyme Regis and Charmouth, which are all at the heart of the Jurassic Coast (a world heritage site). The village has two churches (ours and the parish church), two pubs, and a village school with about 90 children. The community life is very strong in the village and the village hall is in almost continuous use. In 2005 the village was a runner up in the Village of the Year competition, and overall winner in the youth section. Although over one third of the village are retired people, there are a significant number of younger families with children. A significant proportion of the Church members are from Axminster and the surrounding towns and villages.
About the youth work of the Project:
Please give a brief description of the youth work that your church/project is involved in and any plans for development you may have. (Please include any partnerships you may be involved in):
Mondays – Fit 4 Life, an after school club for children at the local primary school. (Numbers have been up to 15)
Wednesdays - a parents and toddlers group in the morning.(Approximately 20 toddlers)
Friday evenings – every other week, the youth club and discussion group for teenagers (currently numbers around 5).
Sunday mornings – Junior Church (approx. 20 at present)
The Church is responsible for a Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, a programme that draws approximately 40 young people from a wide area, including many who are not directly involved with the church. Our young people are also involved in leading services occasionally. Local schools have, in the recent past, willingly accepted the input of the pastor and church members in leading assemblies and story telling. Kilmington Primary School is currently one school where we regularly take assemblies.