Regent Place, RUGBY, Warwickshire CV21 2PJ
Church Office Tel: 01788 570410; office@rugbybaptist.org.uk
The Revd Michael I Bochenski became our Minister in July 2009. He writes:
My wife and I are much enjoying living back in the Midlands. We are both Nottingham born and Jane also works part-time at the Rainbows Children's Hospice based in Loughborough.Michael Bochenski
Rugby Baptist Church is clearly committed to town centre ministry in a local community that is developing rapidly in changing times. I have served as a local church Minister for over 25 years, most recently in St Albans. More recently, I have been working, teaching and preaching in my father's homeland of Poland as the Rector of the Warsaw Baptist Theological Seminary.
Since moving to Rugby I have concentrated on getting to know God's people here and on developing the Church's worship and midweek life in some new directions. I am also pleased to chair Hope 4 - a charity working with homeless and badly housed people here in Rugby - www.hope4.org.uk.
Over the course of my ministry to date, I have been privileged to preach and teach in churches and colleges across Britain and internationally. Always I have strived to keep this preaching and teaching rooted in local church life and ministry. Why? Because my conviction is that in heaven most people will prove to have been saved through the life and ministry of local churches such as RBC.
In September 2010 Patrick Barker will be joining our Ministry Team as a Minister-in-Training working with us here at RBC three days each week as part of his training for Baptist Ministry at Regent's Park College, Oxford. Patrick writes:
My wife Rachel and I first received a clear call to follow God's leading into ministry within the Baptist church back in August 2008 although we have both spent many years actively involved in a variety of churches.Patrick Barker
Most recently we have been members of Bloxham Baptist Church in North Oxfordshire where we led a home study group, shared in pastoral support and prayer, and I would preach. We have also recently completed a prayer ministry course and firmly believe that everything we do in the name of Jesus Christ must have its foundations in intimate prayer with him. I started out life in London but have worked in youth ministry in Yorkshire and Oxford until settling in Worcestershire where I spent 15 years as a School Pastoral Care Worker. Rachel has been a journalist for the BBC for a while longer.
We have received a warm welcome from the fellowship at RBC and are looking forward to sharing in the life & witness of the church in the coming 3 years. My heart is to be able to help people come into a deeper knowledge and relationship with our glorious God who loves us so much and wants to be intimately involved in our lives. I believe all of us in the church have a part to play in encouraging each other in our faith and also in finding ways to reach out to those in the community around us.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
(Psalm 57: 11)
The 2010 Pulpit Fall at RBC
After years of planning to save the planet the Copenhagen Environment Summit ended in failure with South blaming North and East blaming West and vice versa. And meanwhile the planet heats up, pollution levels continue with few meaningful controls and month by month more species of life on earth struggle to survive or - worse - become extinct.
On a global scale the world continues to witness the growing divide between the haves and the have nots. One half of the world's population (3 billion people) are living on £1.50 p a day. Think about it.
The UK economy is also in a mess. Some estimates suggest that as a country we are now over £800 billion pounds in debt. Successive governments have spent more money each year that they are able to raise by taxation. The shortfall has been bridged by selling bonds to investors at home and abroad. These bonds - known as gilts - have to be repaid in full and with interest. It is as if a huge credit card company out there has somehow been given the rights to much of the UK now and in the future. Whoever comes to power in the Spring - Cameron, Brown or either of them with a dose of Clegg - will face huge problems: how do we find new ways to tax UK citizens more at the same time as finding acceptable ways of cutting public spending radically?
And as for our industrial base you only have to consider the estimates of unemployment approaching 3 million and see the collapse of so many local industries over the years in and around the West Midlands to realise that the UK is badly placed to face this new decade. And with the threatened loss of at least some of London's crucial finance industry this is all the more true. And yet the motto text I have chosen for 2010 is a strong, clear and positive one:
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
(Psalm 57: 11)
The editor of what we now know of as the Book of Psalms linked Psalm 57 with the David stories in 1 Sam 22-4. Psalm 57 has traditionally been interpreted as David's response to a life-threatening situation - trapped in a dark cave expecting his death at any moment. For King Saul, a madman by this time, had taken three thousand of his finest fighting men with him to hunt down and kill David and his men. So much for all of God's promises to David. So much for his faith. It must have seemed an impossible situation. We find David's initial response to danger and difficulty in verse 1: 'Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.' Notice where David keeps his immediate focus even though he lives in difficult times. David's immediate focus was on God. David responded to impending danger by confidently seeking God's protection and help. Lesson one for 2010 from Psalm 57: in difficult times, focus on God.
The reason why David was able to keep his focus on God rather than on his danger can be found in v. 2. 'I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.' Why does David address God as "God Most High?" By addressing God in that way, David recognized that the God he worshipped is a God who has ultimate authority over heaven and earth. Lesson two for 2010 from Psalm 57: in difficult times, trust in the One who is God Most High.
David's third response is our motto text for 2010: verse 5 and repeated in verse 11. David's responded to difficulty and danger with an attitude of worship and praise. And how! Look at verses 8-10. David knew that the God Most High deserved the best praise and worship he could offer in good times or bad. Lesson three for 2010 from Psalm 57: when in difficulty continue to worship and to praise God.
It is easy to appreciate God's greatness during the good times. But this psalm teaches us to appreciate God's greatness during the difficult and dangerous times as well. In the caves of life. And so I invite you to affirm the words of our motto text through the good and bad bad news stories of 2010...through the new tax bills that are (probably)coming... through the vagaries of a British General Election and as our world tries to recover from the disaster of Copenhagen. And as personally we face 2010 with its opportunities and its problems large or small:
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
(Psalm 57: 11)
Please pray and say it with me often as 2010 unfolds...
Michael I Bochenski (Minister)
