Taunton Baptist Church

Taunton Baptist Church has a long history of children and youth work stretching back over many decades. We first appointed a paid Children’s and Families Worker in 2008 and she developed contacts with local schools helping with assemblies and providing opportunities for parties of school children to visit the church. She also developed Messy Church. On her resignation we appointed a part time replacement who finished her employment with us in July 2017.

The Church’s vision is summed up in the strapline Love God, Love Others, Make Disciples and this is the basis of all that we do. We see the work among children, young people and families as vital to this vision as we reach out to local families to share God’s love and share with them the gospel of Jesus.

Taunton Baptist Church is situated in the heart of the Somerset County Town of Taunton. It is a busy town with attractive countryside and a great place to live and work.

The Family and Children's worker post focuses on children under secondary school age and their families. We currently have four Toddler sessions a week and a baby group in term time attracting over 100 families into the church premises each week and we want to provide activities that will encourage these families to engage with the church in other ways. We want to see our weekly youth club for primary-aged children re-established on Friday nights; to provide a fun-filled activity and teaching session on Sunday mornings; to continue a regular monthly programme for Messy Church and to develop Café Church, possibly on a quarterly basis. We would also like to re-establish a “children’s slot” in Sunday morning services, possibly on a fortnightly basis. These activities will be part of a wider series of outreach events arranged for all ages.

The Youth worker post focuses on young people aged 11-18years. We currently have a weekly Tuesday evening meeting (Furnace) for group discussion and Bible study, and a Friday night youth club (Lighthouse) where there is a short Christian focused slot. Each Sunday morning there is a youth meeting during the service (Elevate). There is a suite of rooms that have recently been refurbished for youth activities that include snooker, air hockey, table tennis/football, and video games. There is also a large hall that accommodates sporting activities. We have a vision to develop this ministry and work collaboratively with other youth workers in Taunton and to develop inreach to local secondary schools and the 6th form College in the area where there is also a group of international students from Hong Kong and China with whom the Chinese Church (hosted at TBC) has just made contact.