Preaching this coming Lord's Day.

God willing, this coming Lord's Day I shall be ministering at the morning service at Brooke Baptist Chapel. High Green, Brooke, Norfolk. Brooke is a historic Strict Baptist Church, and one of the few nonconformist chapels mentioned in Pevsner's 'Buildings of England'. The entry is as follows: "BAPTIST CHAPEL, High Green, 1831. Already Tudor, and with a stepped gable. Nonconformists in the 1830s usually still built classically." ('North-West and South Norfolk', P. 101).

As is all too common with rural churches today, Brooke has a small congregation. Pray for them and for all the village churches that are weakened by the modern trend for large city congregations with members travelling many miles.

Why does this matter? some may ask. Simple. The city church cannot reach out to the people of the village (large or small) fifteen miles away, even though members of its congregation are travelling that distance to attend church meetings. The village church CAN reach out to the unbelievers in the village. Village chapels cannot compete with the large city centre church in providing entertainment, but then, is that really what the church is for?