We meet each week in Dumfries Baptist Church Centre for our Sunday morning worship service at 10.30am. The style is relaxed but reverent. Worship is led by one of our praise bands. Much of the music is contemporary, though we also use some of the best Christain worship from previous generations. We will sometimes have drama, an interview or a video clip and then a 20-30 minute message.
Young people share in the worship in the service before splitting off for their own activities in Crèche, Discoverers and Intense.
On Sunday evenings we meet in Dumfries Baptist Church Centre at 6.30pm. Again we are led by one of our praise bands in worship, and take time to pray and study the Bible together.
To find out more see the Weekly Bulletin and the current Quarterly teaching programme.
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.
ALISTAIR PURSS - Senior 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 Senior Pastor of Dumfries Baptist Church. Alistair and Sharon have three adult sons, Ryan, Kieran and Aidan. One of their sons lives and works in Newcastle and the other two live in the greatest city in Scotland, Glasgow! They are proud of each of their sons, they bring Alistair and Sharon a lot of joy and an empty bank balance!
DAVID WHITE - Associate Pastor (Part-time) - Retired 30th April 2019
David was born in Horbury, near Wakefield, West Yorkshire. He has had a varied career as a chef, in the police force and running his own café/restaurant business. David had a simple faith in God as a child but in 1986, God broke into David’s life and he was born-again at a Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship meeting in Moffat. Under the ministry of Raymond Arnold at Dumfries Baptist Church (DBC), David was baptised in 1987 and became an active member. Sadly in 1997, David’s first marriage ended. David and Paula married in June 2002. Sensing the call of God to full time ministry, and as a result of much prayer, David sold his business in 2006 and commenced studies at the Scottish Baptist College in Paisley. David graduated in May 2010 and in July of that same year, was inducted as the first Baptist Minister of the newly constituted Fort William Baptist Church., formerly a United Free Church. In December 2013, David was called back to DBC as Associate Pastor and was inducted on 28th June 2014.
ANDY FEATHER - Youth and Community Worker
Andy was born and raised in Keighley, West Yorkshire but moved to Norfolk in 2011. He is married to Claire and they have five children - Jonas, Sofia, Judah, Levi and Lucas. Andy became a Christian in 2007 after months of questioning and trying to prove that Christianity was wrong! Andy’s working background has included: Teaching Assistant at a Special Educational Needs School, Semi Professional Rugby League Player, Paediatric Nurse and Health Worker in a Youth Offending Team. In September 2017 the Feathers moved to Dumfries when Andy was appointed as the Youth and Community Worker at DBC.
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.
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.
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.
