Stories

There’s a particular reality to being part of a small church. You can’t hide. You can’t drift in and out unnoticed. You are known by name, missed when absent, and tend to be gently (sometimes firmly) drawn into whatever is happening. Those were some of the very reasons I wanted to serve my internship this year in a small Baptist church in Poole.

Sometimes God answers prayers in most unexpected ways and our small church, two years into a period without a minister, have experienced that very much over the past year. We have spent much time praying for God’s guidance about how to reach out beyond our small Sunday service and during 2025 we had some unexpected answers to those prayers.

By Minsters Richard & Fran Bellingham

Camberley Baptist Church has a long history, it is the oldest church in the town and the building predates that of Sandhurst Military Academy which was the catalyst for the building of the new town of Camberley. However, while the building is large, the congregation is small and vulnerable to closure.

One of the country’s oldest Baptist churches opened its baptistry for the first time since 1990.