Coronavirus updates

This is the primary place to receive updates that relate to DBC, the Church Centre and Coronavirus. Changes relating to our activities and the Coronavirus will be communicated here.

Last updated 11th June 2021

Update from DBC leadership (extract from church family update)

Dear friends,

In Deuteronomy 31:8 it says; “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

These are the encouraging words that Moses shared with Joshua. Joshua was to succeed Moses and to lead the Lord’s people into the land that had been promised to them. As Joshua looked back he could see that the Lord had remained faithful to his people even in the midst of their complaining, disobedience and failure during their time of wandering in the desert. Looking forward there would definitely be times of doubt, fear, uncertainty and enormous challenges but the Lord would be with Joshua and his people, he had never left them in the past and would not leave them in the future.

I feel that this verse is so helpful and relevant for all our lives at present. We look back on 15 months full of great challenge but the Lord has remained faithful. This provides confidence for the future as we work our way through Covid19 restrictions being lifted and greater freedom to meet, worship and serve as a church family.

We know that we can fit 120 into the Auditorium and still satisfy all existing Covid19 regulations. 0-5 year olds are not counted within the number we can accommodate as long as they do not require a seat. We will therefore be offering 120 places for both the 9am and 11am services from Sunday 2nd May 2021.

Please book your seat(s) in good time every week for either service and don’t feel worried about capacity and stopping others from getting a seat. If we reach capacity we may ask those who have been to a service regularly to skip a week.

You can book to attend either service by phoning the church office or through Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/dumfries-baptist-church-31221345205

We recognise that there are still a number of folks within our church family who are shielding, and yet others who are either receiving treatment for, or who are recovering from, illness and therefore cannot gather with us for worship for some time. It’s important that you know we miss you and pray for you. We look forward to the time when you can gather with the rest of the church family for worship. In the meantime we trust that the livestream provides a sense of connection with the church family.

Please pray that Covid19 cases continue to drop and that there will not be another escalation in cases which requires a further lockdown. It’s unlikely that we will ever live in a Covid19 free world and so over time, and once the vaccination programme has been rolled out across the age ranges, we will have to begin to go about our lives with less restrictions.

Meeting together on a Sunday

From Sunday 13th June congregational singing will be possible again at our Sunday services and any other ministry and activity where singing is appropriate. We will continue to have back to back services on a Sunday morning, accommodating 120 at each service. The services will be at 9am and 11am. The 11am (not the 9am) service will be live-streamed as usual. During the School Summer holidays the 11am service will be an All Age Service. The service will contain all age elements, including a talk and activities for the children. There will also be a shorter time of teaching (15 minutes). We plan for a shorter service overall, which will be within an hour. Communion will be celebrated at one of the services each week, this will alternate from one to the other. For those coming for the 11am service please arrive after 10.30am, remember your seat is guaranteed!

You can book to attend either service by phoning the church office or through Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/dumfries-baptist-church-31221345205

We plan to continue running back to back Sunday morning services until such times as the Covid19 regulations allow greater numbers at our gathered morning worship services. In regards to Sunday evening services, we are planning and hoping to begin offering this gathering from Sunday 5th September at 6.30pm. This will be dependent on Covid19 restrictions changing further and/or being lifted all together.

The Sunday 11am service will also be livestreamed and available to view from 11am on the DBC YouTube site.

In the meantime, read on to find all the ways you can connect with church on Sunday and during the week!

Sunday-Saturday

Pastoral phone calls introduced during Covid19 from Alistair, Eoghan and team will lessen from July. The elderly, lonely, sick and those with other ongoing challenges and issues will be prioritised. As some Covid19 restrictions have lifted we are finding that more and more people are open to face to face pastoral visits and meetings. If you would appreciate a pastoral visit/meeting please do not hesitate to contact the church office, or Alistair and Eoghan.

Alistair - 07882 698428.
Eoghan - 07515 939698.
Church Office - 01387 268926.

Help! card

Sunday

1. Morning service at DBCC and via the DBC YouTube

From Sunday 11th April we will be offering a 9am and 11am service in the church centre and online via the DBC YouTube channel at DBCC Gillbrae on Sunday mornings. Also, remember that you can visit the YouTube channel at anytime after it has been posted up on to our site.

2. Sunday Virtual Sunday School

For all our DBC children, please visit Virtual Sunday School to view a short video for Sunday. If you have children at home please connect into this and join in with them. This has been produced by 4front theatre company and a new video is posted every two weeks.

3. The Baptist Union of Scotland National Prayer event

This will be live monthly on the first Sunday of the month from 7-7.30pm on the BUS Facebook page. You will be reminded of this event and provided with access details every week via Facebook and email.

4. DBC Youth

Each Sunday the Youth team are meeting with our young people morning and evening. The Youth team are also connecting up with our young people in other ways through WhatsApp. Please contact Kristoff or Sabrina for more info by email youth@dumfriesbaptistchurch.org.uk

Monday, Wednesday, Friday (Wednesday only from 7th July)

5. DBC evening Devotionals/Reflections

Alistair, Eoghan and others are producing evening devotionals which are going out via Facebook, DBC YouTube at DBCC Gillbrae and by email. These are posted online at 9pm.

Tuesday

6. The Deacons prayer meeting (the Deacons are the elected church leadership team)

The Pastors and Deacons will be meeting via Zoom online for a weekly time of prayer from 8.30-9pm.

Wednesday

7. The Deacons Meeting

The Deacons will be meet as normal for their monthly meeting via Zoom online from 7-9.30pm.

Thursday

8. Food parcel deliveries - started during lockdown, a small team continue to shop, pack and deliver food parcels to those in need within our community. We are grateful to all who continue to gift money and time to allow this vital work to continue.

Friday

10. DBC Prayer Gathering

Every Friday, Eoghan or Alistair will be hosting and leading a DBC Prayer Gathering from 7.30pm via Zoom. An email will be sent out to all our DBC church family with an invitation and a link. If you want to join in please download the Zoom app onto your phone, tablet, laptop or home computer. You do not need to sign up to Zoom to join the meeting. From September the Prayer Gathering will be held on the first Friday evening of every month.

We trust and hope that you will be able to access and benefit from some or all of these different opportunities in the weeks to come.

God bless you.

With our love,

Alistair and Eoghan

Sundays at DBC

From 11th April we will be having two Sunday morning services at DBCC at 9am & 11am and livestreamed online at 11am via the DBC YouTube channel at DBCC Gillbrae. Numbers at DBCC will be limited to 120 and places must be booked in advance. Also, remember that you can visit the YouTube channel at anytime after it has been posted up on to our site.

In addition, short evening reflections are available on Wednesday evening at 9pm. You will be able to access the Sunday worship and other short video messages/ reflections at DBCC Gillbrae. Further updates are available here

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Mission & Vision

We Are:

Created to Worship – Matthew 22:37

We believe that we are firstly Created to Worship the one true and living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our worship includes the whole of our lived experience within and outwith the context of church. We believe that God is calling us to be an inclusive Christian community made up of people who have found salvation through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Commissioned to Reach – Matthew 28: 16-20

We are Commissioned to Reach all those who do not yet know Christ, believing that salvation comes through hearing the Gospel good news proclaimed and by witnessing to the reality of God’s incarnational love, lived out in our lives on a daily basis. Within the church we are committed to genuine biblical Christian fellowship and discipleship, leading to maturity; and to the resourcing and enabling of local, national and worldwide mission.

Compelled to Serve – Ephesians 4: 11-13

We are Compelled to Serve – which includes everyone who considers Dumfries Baptist Church to be their spiritual home. This service will be costly, involving time, money and effort as we seek to support and respect one another’s needs, whilst reaching out with the same practical love to those living and working in the geographical areas in which God has placed us, corporately and individually.

Who's Who

ALISTAIR PURSS - Lead Pastor

Alistair was born and brought up in Irvine, Ayrshire. He is married to Sharon and together they have been in Christian ministry since 1991. Alistair has served as the Pastor of Brigadier Free Church, Enfield (1991-1995); Sawyers Church, Brentwood (1995-2005) and Senior Pastor of Bethany Christian Centre, Houghton-le-Spring (2005-2010). In November 2010 Alistair was inducted as Lead Pastor of Dumfries Baptist Church. Sharon works for the NHS and also enjoys serving as part of the music/worship ministry at DBC. Alistair and Sharon have three adult sons, Ryan, Kieran and Aidan, who live in Sunderland, Glasgow and Aberdeen respectively.

EOGHAN PATERSON - Pastor

Eoghan grew up in Whitburn, a small mining village near Livingston, West Lothian. He committed his life to the Lord at the age of 9 and enjoyed being part of a lively and thriving local church – Whitburn Gospel Hall. Eoghan studied Naval Architecture at Strathclyde University, then went on to train as a Maths teacher in Leicester. He started dating his wife Debbie while studying at University. They married in May 1994. Debbie worked as a dietitian for the NHS for 17yrs. In 2011 they both were given a clear call from God to leave their employment and study full time at Tilsley College. During their time at college God called them to serve full time for Him at Banchory Christian Fellowship Church in August 2013. Eoghan was then called by the Lord to serve as Associate Pastor at DBC which started on 21st October 2019. Eoghan and Debbie have 2 beautiful girls – Lucy and Rosanna. They love cycling, swimming and various team sports.

KRISTOFF HENDERSON - Youth Worker (Part-time)

Kristoff was born in Blairgowrie in Perthshire, and was brought up on the family fruit farm. He has been involved in local church ministry for a long time, predominantly as a volunteer in youth work. In 2012 he graduated from the International Christian College in Glasgow with a BA in Theology, and in 2013 married Katrina and moved to Ayrshire to take up a role as a full time youth worker. In 2014 a career change for Katrina brought them to Dumfries, where they both got involved in the youth work at here at DBC. Since then Kristoff has studied photography at college and been a stay at home dad for their son Cameron, born 2017. He took up the role of youth worker in 2021 alongside his colleague Sabrina.

SABRINA WALLACE - Youth Worker (Part-time)

Sabrina was born in Montevideo, Uruguay and later with her family immigrated to Texas where she grew up. She is one of many Christians in her family both in Uruguay and the States. She grew up attending church and started volunteering with youth when she was 14 at Sandy Creek Bible camp (where several years later she met her husband, Alistair Wallace). After careful consideration and prayer they moved to Alistair's home town of Dumfries. Sabrina is now mum to Reuben, born 15 October 2020. She took up the role of youth worker in 2021 alongside her colleague Kristoff.

Pastoral Care

The Pastoral Care ministry within DBC exists to encourage, promote and develop within this church, Christ’s principles regarding genuine love for one another. Jesus said, ‘My command is this: love each other as I have loved you’ (John 15:12). To find out more see the Pastoral Care leaflet.

Prayer

The church has a dedicated prayer team who are always willing to help. If you would like to make contact with the prayer team then please ask one of the welcomers on a Sunday.

There are also prayer cards available on the literature table in the auditorium which you can complete and leave in the box provided. You can be assured that your prayer requests are treated in strict confidence.

Giving

The Bible reminds us that everything we have is a gift from God and really belongs to Him, not to us (Psalm 24:1 and Deuteronomy 10:14).

God’s greatest gift to us was His Son, Jesus, who, by dying on the cross, took the punishment for sin that should have been ours. Paul encourages us to give generously to the church, not only in gratitude for this amazing gift, but also as a way of following Jesus’ example of generosity (2Corinthians 8:7-9).

Giving can take many forms: financial, time, talents, but whichever way we give, it is a key part of our discipleship.

The ‘Giving’ leaflet concentrates on financial giving. If you need more information on how to give in other ways, please speak to a member of the Leadership Team.

Giving to God cannot be restricted to pounds and pence.

All we have comes from Him and belongs to Him.

At Dumfries Baptist Church we encourage people to give of their time.

Financial Implications of Coronavirus – March 2020
The decision to temporarily close the Church Centre, to include Church Services, will clearly have a significant effect on the financial income, while the expenditure will continue much as before. It is therefore important for us to try and ensure that there are opportunities available for people to continue to give to the church, if they are able.

For those who give directly through their bank there should be no problem and these offerings can be processed in the usual way.

For those who give by means of ‘weekly’ or ‘monthly’ envelopes, there are a number of options. If you have a bank account with a ‘standing order’ facility it would be possible to set up a regular payment directly to the church (probably monthly) which can be cancelled at any time. The easiest way of achieving this is to fill in a simple form and return it to your bank. A copy is available from the DBC office email office@dumfriesbaptistchurch.org.uk and can also be downloaded here. If this is not possible and you wish to continue to use the envelopes or donate anonymously, then please contact the DBC office to discuss a way of getting your offering to the Treasurer on a regular basis.

Thank you for your ongoing support of the work of the church which will continue.

Giving Leaflet