Maldon Baptist Church have harnessed the simple power of sharing stories as part of a programme to build connection with their local community.
In 2024, the church started Saturday morning Men’s Breakfasts and Women’s Coffee Mornings, 3 or 4 times a year. Christians from different fields are invited to share their story, including their everyday contribution to community life and how God uses them to help others. Guest speakers for the events have included a surgeon, a sport’s chaplain, an ex-policeman, a Salvation Army officer, a serving missionary, a sitting Member of Parliament, and a prison support worker.
The invitation to these events is spread across the small town of Maldon via posters, hand-outs, and the town’s Facebook community notice board. The ladies Coffee Mornings usually have at least 35+ attendees, and encouragingly, the Men’s events are building with over 30 men attending the last breakfast, 25-30% of whom are not regular church goers. To assess the impact of these functions, the church looks at how many of those from the community come back to these events – encouragingly, a large percentage of attendees have done so.
Well done Maldon Baptist.