What we believe
Aintree Baptist Church Covenants to:
To declare our faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord
To love one another, care for one another and support one another
To seek to win the lost for Christ
To serve the Lord with gladness
Our main aim only to please Him
To be open to the leading of the Spirit of God
To give what is worthy for the kingdom of God
To Study and be faithful to the Word of God
To seek to discover and encourage the spiritual gift we discern in each other
To work in fellowship with the wider church wherever that is possible.
DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLE
The Basis of the Baptist Union is:
1 That our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, is the sole and absolute authority in all matters pertaining to faith and practice, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and that each Church has liberty, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to interpret and administer His laws.
2 That Christian Baptism is the immersion in water into the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of those who have professed repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins according to the Scriptures; was buried, and rose again the third day.
3 That it is the duty of every disciple to bear personal witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to take part in the evangelisation of the world.
Who's who
Deacons & their responsibilities
Rev. Geoff Bentley - Minister
Miss Pauline Copland - Secretary
Mr Alan Pevely - Safeguarding Trustee
Mr Graham Harrison - Fire officer
Mrs Jenni McGowan - Social Media
Mrs Laura Jones - Youth & Children
Miss Pauline Copland - Safeguarding officer
Mrs Ann Pevely - housekeeping
Mrs Barbara Bresnahan - Letting co-ordinator
Mrs Susan Sillifant - Missionary secretary
Mrs Jean Beazley - Care Team leader & Prayer
Our recent history
On the 19th of March 2017 Aintree Village Family Church joined in fellowship with Aintree Baptist Church to become one church. The Rev. Phil Jump (Regional Minister for the Northwest Baptist Association) led the service of amalgamation, and the Rev. Geoff Bentley was inducted as Minister. The service was attended by many friends from the local community, as well as friends from other churches whose support we have greatly appreciated.
During Covid, due to the lack of use whilst buildings were closed, our main sanctuary unfortunately became condemned and could no longer be used. After the last few years of prayer, planning permission has been granted by the local authority to refurbish the sanctuary and add a new building to the site. We are currently fundraising to be able to start the refurbishment. Head over to our building page for more information and how you can support us.
See our History report by Mr K Parker,
A church in Aintree has launched a £1.5 million fundraising campaign to
provide for a new building and a much needed centre for the community.
A survey carried out on the Aintree Baptist Church during the pandemic
condemned the existing Victorian era building as unsafe and the church has
since been meeting in the hall.
The fellowship has been growing, however, and rather than carry out £250,000
works to restore the original chapel, built in 1874, the church has decided it
would be better to have a new building which would be better suited to its 21st
Century mission of serving the community.
The new plans will see the existing building and hall demolished and a new
two storey multi-purpose structure put in its place.
As well as a coffee bar, the new facility will provide space for multiple groups,
activities and events along with regular worship and church meetings.
Pastor Geoff Bentley, who took over the leadership of ABC in 2017 following
its amalgamation of Aintree Village Church, said: “In a world where we are
seeing the closure of many churches and other publicly accessible buildings
which serve the community, Aintree Baptist Church is actually growing
numerically. This is despite the original building being beyond use and
dangerous, and our having to use the small Church Hall complex. We believe
that we can serve our community in wider and more effective ways if we had
the facilities to support these tasks.
“We have designed the building in such a way that it will be multi-purpose
providing space for different sized groups and to provide various recreational
activities.
“The church is proud to have members of different nationalities, such as
Brazilian, Portuguese, African, South Korean as well as British, and children
and young adults with ages ranging from one To 90
“The development will enhance the work we already do in this area to promote
cooperation between diverse residents.
“At present there are very few centres in the area providing for the needs of the
Aintree Community.
“The situation of the centre, being on the main road and close to schools and
local shops, is an ideal space for people to congregate and mix. Parents of the
local school children would be encouraged to use the facilities to stop, chat and
get to know new people."We will be providing seating areas with ‘talking seats’ which are designed to
help those who need to talk about loneliness issues, and issues of any kind.
Some one will be on duty to just sit and talk to anyone in need.
“The coffee bar will also provide takeaway hot drinks for these users.”
Geoff said that the church already provides RE lessons for nearby Longmoor
Lane Primary School and that the church hall is currently used by a variety of
local groups and organisations. The new building would mean it could
accommodate more. They are particularly keen to provide space for youth.
“By adding extra rooms to our plans, we strongly believe that this would
encourage more groups to use the site to support the community,” Rev Bentley
said, “We would especially like to offer in the new building a youth club to give
the youth in the area a centre to attend, with support and games, sports
activities, and also toddler groups for parents to meet and mix, and a pastoral
room for help and support in all aspects of life.”
Fundraising for the ambitious new venture has already got underway, kicked
off by young member George Joslyn, 8, who helped raise £360 with a
sponsored bike ride in conjunction with a coffee morning. Last year Geoff
raised £1,000 by a sponsored walk and following a feature on a local Christian
radio station, a listener donated £7,000. There is still some way to go, but the
plans have the support of the Baptist Union and North West Baptist Association
and Geoff is hopeful that they will secure major grants needed to cover the bulk
of the costs.
Church Deacon Barbara Bresnahan, 74, who helped run Brownies at the church
for more than 40 years until it disbanded at the onset of the pandemic, has
known four generations of her family to attend ABC and she is the church’s
longest standing member. She is delighted to see more people coming to church
and is thrilled with the plans. “It’s a very exciting time for me,” Barbara said,
“Hopefully, when we get the new building we will be able to accommodate more people. Geoff has got lots of ideas for us to get involved with.”
Useful links
Baptist Union of Great Britain www.baptist.org.uk/
North West Baptist Association www.nwba.org.uk/
Baptist World Mission Service www.bmsworldmission.org
Harvest appeal, AVFC will be supporting the BMS harvest appeal , please use the link below to find out more.