150th Anniversary Year

DBC celebrated its 149th anniversary on 14th November 2021 and is now entering a year of activities to celebrate the 150th anniversary year.

'For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.' 1 Corinthians 3:11 (NIV)

To mark the start of our 150th anniversary year, the local primary schools participated in a logo design competition. Congratulations to Rosie Dalrymple, the overall winner, from Georgetown Primary School pictured here with her winning entry. Many thanks to all involved!

Sundays at DBC

From 22nd August 2021 we returned to one Sunday morning service at DBCC at 10.30am and livestreamed online via the DBC YouTube channel at DBCC Gillbrae. Also, remember that you can visit the YouTube channel at anytime after it has been posted up on to our site.

Sunday evening services recommenced on 5th September 2021 at 6.30pm in DBCC.

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.

Find Us Here

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