Westcliff Baptist Church

About Us...

We are Westcliff Baptist Church in the seaside town of Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex.

We are a warm and friendly family church reflecting the diverse population of the area.  We aim to follow God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and to worship, build our faith, share our faith and serve in this place and community for this time.

We are a Baptist Church affiliated to the Baptist Union of Great Britain.  The church is led by our minister Rev'd Andrew Marshall, and a team of deacons who are elected by the members.  The minister and deacons meet monthly to discuss the spiritual and practical needs of the church but the final decision making body of the church is the monthly church members' meeting.  The members are those who have been baptised and welcomed into membership by the church meeting. It is not necessary to be a church member to attend church, everyone is welcome 

to come and join us in worship and any of our activities.  
We welcome all to come and express or explore faith with us.

What are our Sunday gatherings like?

We gather together from 9.30am for prayers and reflection (a great way to start the day!).  From 10.30am we have refreshments and a time to catch up with each other and at 11am we have our main morning gathering.

We love to praise God so we do through prayer and worship.  We love to sing and believe prayer makes a difference so we pray together every week interceding for local, national and international issues.

The Bible is really important to us and currently we're enjoying a preaching program led predominately by our minister; however some Sundays are led by different speakers who, together with Andrew, bring the Bible alive by teaching us, inspiring us, challenging us and showing us how it applies to our everyday lives. (Check out our Youtube recordings page).

We use multimedia and have a good sound and viewing system plus an induction hearing loop.

We share communion together on the 4th Sunday of every month,  and we try to be a caring and supportive community; we share each other’s cares and concerns and enjoy each other’s celebrations.  We laugh a lot and are known to hang about for ages after church drinking tea/coffee, chatting and sharing news, pastoral needs and other concerns.  We welcome anyone who seeks to love and follow the Lord Jesus Christ to join in.

What else goes on at WBC?

We try to be a church that reaches out to our local community so we keep links with the local foodbank, the local hospice, the local group for ending Modern Slavery, the local Christian’s Against Poverty group and we hold a Winter Night Shelter for the homeless during the winter months.  We have a Small Steps project which aims to address issues of poverty and justice in small ways by making donations or becoming activists in social justice campaigns.  Through the church finances we support many charities.

From time to time we offer walks, picnics, meals, BBQs, anything that’s easy to come to ourselves and easy to invite our friends along to.  We  have a weekly Discipleship group for those who want to ask questions and find out more about what it means to be a Christian, a follower or Disciple, of Jesus Christ.  All of these events aim to be crossroads or bridging places where we hope to provide a way of connecting the local church with the community and sharing our interests and concerns with each other.  

We have midweek Homegroups that meet throughout the month, these are informal, friendly gatherings in someone’s lounge/garden to share fellowship and might suit someone who wants a gentle introduction to church life or the chance to make closer ties with a small group of people.

From time to time we have a Week of Prayer using various more creative styles of prayer, such as prayer walks or prayer stations, on various themes.

We also have an annual Church Away Day some of which have been held at Barnards Farm and The Othona Community at Bradwell-on-Sea among other places.  They have provided an opportunity for us to be together for a whole day, to worship, relax, chill, chat, eat, have fun and take time to discuss important items together in a fresh environment.

Of course the best way to see what we're really like is to come and find out for yourself - we look forward to seeing you!