Temple Baptist Church Church Profile
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Temple Baptist Church Church Profile Contents: A bit of background… Welcome to Temple 1 Our history 2-3 Our town 4-5 Our locations 6-7 Who we are! Our church family 8-9 Our values and beliefs 10 What we get up to 11-13 Our strengths and weaknesses 14-15 What we’re looking for: The role 16 The person 17 Find out more 18 Welcome to Temple Welcome to Temple Baptist Church! We are a friendly, evangelical Baptist Church in Pontypridd, South Wales. We’re looking for a full-time Pastor to join and help lead our church family in our mission: To glorify God by encouraging everyone into an ever increasing commitment to Jesus Christ We’ve put together this church profile to give you a feel for who we are and what we’re all about. 1 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. 1 Thessalonians 3:3 1887: Temple Baptist Church is 1880s-1950s: founded as a Welsh speaking Temple Baptist Church quickly church plant from Tabernacle in starts using English to serve the the town of Pontypridd, large influx of English meeting on the speakers who looked for Graig. work in the mines. 1960-1970s: As with many other Through the boom Chapels during this years, wars and times of depression period, the Church falls the Church seeks to reach out to the into decline. immediate community showing the practical love of Christ and remaining true to the Gospel. Our history 2 2000-2005: Peter Elwood retires from ministry and Wayne Adams takes over the pastorate until 2005. The church experiences continued growth in this time, moving its Sunday morning activities from the Graig to our current building Gelliwastad Road. 1995: Wayne Adams becomes the church’s Assistant 2019 onwards: Pastor under Peter We hope and pray that Elwood God will continue to bring 2005-2018: blessing to the town and Without a full-time Pastor, further afield through the a team of elders shepherds the ministry of Temple Baptist church. Temple employs a full-time Church! Church Worker to support the work of Late 1970s: the church between 2015 and 2018. By God's grace and through the determined efforts of a few committed believers a significant change began towards the end of the late 70's. Under the leadership of Stan Vart and then for nearly 15 years Dr Peter Elwood, the church grew in many different ways Find out more at: www.templebaptist.org.uk/our-history 3 Pontypridd (pronounced ‘Pont-uh- Our town preathe’) is a historic market town which sits at the meeting point of the Rhondda Our town and Cynon/Taff valleys in South Wales, around 20 minutes north of Cardiff. The wider town has a population of around 33,000 people (as of 2011) and is home to a popular rugby club, the Treforest, Glyntaf and Tyn-y-Wern campuses of the University of South Wales (USW). Ponty has its own radio station, indoor market, a lively town centre and boasts the Ynysangharad War Memorial Park (home to the National Lido of Wales). It has a rich musical heritage with famous sons including John Hughes (who wrote the famous hymn tune Cwm Rhondda), Evan and James James (composers of the welsh national anthem ‘Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’) and Sir Tom Jones. 4 Facts and Figures: Religious Belief Religion not Pontypridd stated, 7% Christian, Employment 55% 70% Employee: Full-time No religion, 36% 60% Employee: Part-time Self-employed 50% Full-time student Retired 40% Student (including full-time students) Looking after home or family 30% Long-term sick or disabled Jewish, 0% 20% Other Muslim, 1% Unemployed: Age 16 to 24 Sikh, 0.1% 10% Unemployed: Age 50 to 74 Other religion, 0.2% Buddhist, 0.1% Unemployed: Never worked Hindu, 0.2% 0% Long-term unemployed Economically Active Economically Inactive Ability to Speak Welsh 100% Even fewer first- 90% language Welsh 80% speakers 70% 60% Pontypridd 50% South Wales Central 40% Wales 30% Probably down to 20% all the students 10% in Treforest! 0% 5 Our locations Gelliwastad Road Side-hall Tea Room Our building on Gelliwastad Road sits just opposite the Town Centre and is where we hold our Sunday services. We can seat about 160 people plus another hundred or so in the balcony. The newly-refurbished side-hall is used regularly through the week, as are the kitchen and tea room. ‘The Cottage’ (the church offices) are on the same site - just next door. 6 Built in 1891, our original building is nestled amongst the houses in the middle of the Graig. There’s a large open space downstairs and a cosy loft with a kitchen upstairs. We have a real heart for the Graig (which is one of the most deprived areas in Ponty Town centre) so it’s great to be so central. The building is used for church activities and by other groups throughout the week, as well as hosting a monthly community meal and our summer Holiday Club. Kitchen (upstairs) Holiday Club (downstairs) Graig 7 Our church family ‘so we, though many, are one body in Christ’ Romans 12:5 We’re big on family at Temple - serving, celebrating, mourning, praying and worshipping together. We’re a diverse bunch of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds united by a saving Father who has called us into his family. Our Sunday morning meeting is an important chance to catch up, worship, learn, reflect and respond together, but we also meet in smaller groups through the week. We love welcoming visitors and new faces into the 8 family as we follow Jesus together in Pontypridd. Our Age Profile: Temple 45 Employment Status 40 35 30 8% 25 at work: 20 15 10 26% 5 0 51% 0-5 6-12 13-18 19-25 26-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81 + What we do for work: Male (members) Male (attendees) 9% Tourism Female (members) Female (attendees) 6% Retail Creative Industry Office worker Employed full-time Management/administration Employed part-time Local government Legal services Home maker full-time Industry Health care Retired Financial services Student Emergency services Education About us: Computing 0 5 10 15 20 Are we representative? Households in Temple: Temple Pontypridd (Census 2011) Student Elementary Children whose parents aren't connected to Temple Process plant and machine Alone living in sheltered accommodation Sales and customer service Widowed living alone Caring, leisure and other service Single adult living with parent/s Skilled trades Separated/divorced with no children at home Administrative and secretarial Married couple with one or more children at home Occupation Married couple with no children at home Associate prof. and technical Single adult not living with parent/s Professional Single parent with one or more children at home Managers, directors and senior 0 5 10 15 20 0 10 20 30 40 Percentage 9 Our values: what we believe Temple is an evangelical Baptist church with a passion for the Bible, reaching, serving and welcoming our community and encouraging and discipling each other. Our Vision: Our Mission: To be a biblically motivated, To glorify God by prayerful community that seeks encouraging everyone into to live the Great Commandment an ever increasing and fulfil the Great Commission commitment to Jesus of Jesus Christ Christ We're an independent Baptist Church but linked to other Baptist Churches, as part of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. We are also affiliated to the Evangelical Alliance and agree with their basis of faith. 10 Sunday mornings with Temple Our Sunday morning service starts at 11am and usually lasts for around an hour and a half. We have a lively congregation and services tend to have a relaxed feel with a mix of people contributing. We sing together, pray together and study God’s word together, sharing how He is working in our lives and being challenged to know and follow Him more closely. There’s plenty of tea, coffee and fellowship afterwards – but you’ll have to race the kids for a biscuit! Preaching: Music: Children: We have a team of preachers and We are blessed with a group of Midway through the service, teachers who bring a message to able musicians who play on a rota children can go out to our us from the Bible each week. We basis. Songs are usually chosen Sunday School and creche which usually spend a few months on by whoever is leading the band, cater to ages 0-16 to learn more each series looking at part of the which typically comprises of about Christ and come to know Bible or a topic. You can listen to guitar, keyboard, bass, drums him. past series at: and saxophone. We sing a broad www.templebaptist.org.uk range of songs, new and old. 11 There’s a lot going on at Temple! Our church family are involved in all sorts of sorts of activities and trying new What we get up to: things for God is part of our church culture. Here’s a brief summary of what we do: Serving our community: Tiddlers JAM Christians Against Street Pastors Ages: Number attending: Ages: Number attending: Poverty (CAP) 0-3 12-25 adults plus children 5-11 10 children We have a partnership with a The Pontypridd Street/Prayer Purpose: To provide free tea, coffee, squash, neighbouring church in town, St Pastors group is run by a number of toast and lots of toys and to share the love Purpose: To introduce Jesus to local children Catherine’s - where we jointly fund local churches and several people in of Jesus with pre-school children and their who live close to our town centre church and CAP work.