Welcome to our website. THIS WEBSITE WILL NOT BE UPDATED AGAIN UNTIL AFTER 8th AUGUST COVID-19 SPECIFIC INFORMATION: UPDATED 18th July 2021 Dear friends, WELCOME! The Government has approved the move to stage 4 of the Covid-19 regulations which removes most, though not all, of the current restrictions but also counsels great caution, especially with rising numbers of Delta Variant infections. As a Church we have decided that the wisest course will be to move forward very carefully. This means ... SUNDAY MORNING SERVICES will be similar to the past few months. We will still be asking everyone to wear a face covering indoors (unless exempted) and to remain in their designated seating for now. We will still keep track & trace records. Communion will stay the same. However, we are pleased that we will be able to sing (with masks on). SUNDAY EVENING SERVICES will resume at the beginning of August. One service on the first Sunday of each month at 6.00pm. with Communion. Our MID-WEEK MEETING will resume on Wednesday 28th July. We will begin with optional refreshments at 7.30pm and have our Bible Study and Prayer from 8.00 - 9.00 pm. For the first month we will meet in the Church Hall. On Saturday 7th August we will hold a PRAYER & REFLECTION TIME 2.00 - 4.00 pm. This will be a shorter version of the Quiet Day that we held in 2019 with corporate prayer and worship plus time to pray alone. We had hoped to hold our annual BBQ in August but decided that it would be wiser to have a CHURCH PICNIC LUNCH in the church gardens instead. We will provide a 'ploughman's style' plated lunch & also drinks & ice cream. This will be on Saturday 21st August from 12.00 - 2.00pm (weather permitting). Those who are able to worship with us can continue to help by taking a little extra care by trying to limit the surfaces that you touch as you go to/ from your pew. We do want to thank everyone for their patience and faithfulness during this difficult time. We know that things are not fully back to normal yet but we are glad that we are able to get some structure back into our Church Life and Praise Jesus that He has been with us all the way. Please see click below to see our current Covid-19 secure risk assessments: Main Church building risk assessment (based on only Sunday morning worship) Hall buiding risk assessment (based on only the dance group using the hall)   Thank you   PLEASE WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE DETAILS AS THEY UNFOLD. 'The Source' is a local community group with telephone help-lines to help local people currently feeling anxious or low, or experiencing recent bereavement or loss. They also support people who may be simply lonely or who would just like someone to speak to. Please call 0300 302 3160 to contact the trained volunteers- supported by professionals.
	We do hope that you will find our Covid- 19 related information above both reassuring and useful. We also hope that browsing our website pages and its links to other organisations and useful websites will also be useful and interesting. We trust that our website will give you an insight into what we believe, our fellowship and what happens at Becontree Avenue. Whilst we naturally welcome you as a visitor to our website, you would be even more welcome to visit our church in person for worship or joining us at any of our bridge building weekday activities when they are safe to restart.   To read an Online Bible- click here         To read 'Our Daily bread'-click here To contact us click here   Click below to find particular items of information on this page:     Introduction                                                    About us                                                   What we believe                                                    Safeguarding Weekday activities                                                    What's happened and coming up at Bec Ave Links to Service recordings, fellowship pictures & monthly church diaries/ rotas   Introduction:   We are a close knit friendly fellowship located in Dagenham which is in East London. We are passionate about sharing the gospel with our local community. If you are looking for  a friendly, welcoming place to worship God or simply want to find out more about Christianity, who God is and what He thinks about you then you've come to the right place. None of us are perfect... but we know a perfect God who is interested in each individual human being He created!   About us   OUR PAST~ Our Church came into being in 1929 when the Becontree Estate (once the largest council housing estate in the world) was built partially for the families of soldiers who had served in World War 1. In the 1960's the "Dagenham Scheme" was launched (click here to see archive publications). This saw all four of Dagenham's Baptist Churches join together under the guidance of the Senior Minister the Reverend J.J. Brown. The scheme came to a natural end in the 1970's when the four Baptist Churches once again became independent whilst continuing to support and encourage each other as each church  seeks to serve God in  Dagenham. At Becontree Avenue, a new church building was erected in 1964 and the original church building became our Church Hall. The hall is now in regular use by our church organisations which help bridge between the Church and our local community. The hall is also used in a very limited way by as a community resource (e.g. local councilor surgeries).   OUR PRESENT~ As already said, we are a small, caring and friendly fellowship devoted to serving God. Sunday morning services has a fellowship age range of about 3 to 90 years). Worship is fairly traditional in style with a mixture both old and modern songs taken from “Songs & Hymns of Fellowship”. Songs and readings are projected onto a screen with hymn books and the NIV Bibles also available if required. With family life at the heart of our outreach, we hold family services on alternate Sunday mornings with Childrens' Church providing separate time and space for our young ones on the other Sunday mornings. The morning services are usually recorded and available to download (see below). Our meetings on Sunday and Wednesday evening are very informal times of fellowship, worshipworship, Prayer and Bible study. Our various weekday social and outreach activities are designed to build links between our fellowship and our local community. Click here for details of our weekday activities.   OUR FUTURE~ is unknown to us but known by God. By faith, we believe that He reveals His plans and mission for us in His way and in His time. Our focus is always to seek to follow God's leading and serve the people of Dagenham by bringing the Good News of salvation to our community.   OUR BUILDINGS~ The main Church building has a hearing loop system for those with hearing difficulties. Both the main church & hall are wheelchair accessible and equipped with with accessible toilets.   Our hall is NOT available for hire to the general public (e.g. for parties etc.) We are members of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Eastern Area Baptist Association .   What we believe: About God: We believe that God is "three in one"... God the father who made us, loves us, has good plans for us and longs for us to know Him as our loving heavenly Father.  God the Son is Jesus Christ, God's eternal Son who perfectly shows us God's nature and character. God the Holy Spirit is given to his followers by God the Father and Son to reveal the truths of God, Jesus and the Bible.   About the Bible: We believe the Bible is God's inspired word and the key to understanding God's perfect plan for us... His special creation "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119.105). We place a strong emphasis on discovering the practical relevance of the word of God in our spiritual, personal, family and social life.   About Baptism: The Bible explains that believer baptism by full immersion is the public demonstration of an individuals personal response to an individuals acknowledgement of being imperfect (a sinner) and having repented of those sins, and accepted by faith that Jesus took upon himself the punishment for those sins committed and accept Jesus as their personal Saviour "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins" (Acts 2.v.38).   Our Mission Statement: “We exist for God, taking the good news of Jesus to those in our community, sustained by worship, Bible teaching and the loving support of each other”.   Safeguarding- Keeping Everyone Safe! We believe that everyone (young, old or vulnerable) who is connected to the life of this Church has the right to both feel and be safe. We have therefore adopted the Baptist Unions "Safe to Grow" principles and policies to help us ensure the safety and well-being of Children and young people for whom we feel a responsibility. We have adopted similar principles and policies for any vulnerable adults for whom we feel a responsibility through our activities.   Whats been happening at Bec Ave...!   Click here for summaries of what has happened recently at Bec Ave. God willing, our monthly diary (see link below) gives details about events in the very near future. Our church calendar (see link below) give details about events further into the future. Our colleagues at the Eastern Area Baptist Association have recently appointed two new Regional Ministers one of whom (Reverend Claire Blanchford) will be responsible for churches in our area. Claire replaces Nick Lear. Click here for more information. Please also click on the links below for information about our services and weekday bridge-building activities. Worship Sunday services and mid week Bible study Activities for our communities older people: "Young at Heart Activities for local people of all ages: Art & Craft group Activities for children and young people: Sunday Childrens Church & Kids Klub.   Church calendar of both regular and special meetings & events- Click here.   August 2021 Church diary/ rotas- (Click here)   Fellowship birthday list UPDATED JULY 2021- Click here (password protected - previously emailed to fellowship).     Audio Recordings of Sunday morning message- Click here.    Fellowship photos- Click here.   An archive collection of documents and literature from our churches past: Click here            Contact us- (Click here)   If you can not see information or a link that you believe should be there (such as a Service recording), you may need to "refresh" the website on your device to see it. Click here for more information about what this means and hoDecade in Dagenhamw to do this or use a search engine (e.g. Google) to find guidance how to do this for your device.   Counters Webmaster: Send mail to becontreeavenuebaptistchurch@hotmail.co.uk with any questions or comments about this web site. Copyright © 2021 Last modified: 25/07/2021