To celebrate 250 years of the church, Oakham Baptist held their Big Community Birthday Party on Pentecost Sunday, May 28th in Oakham’s central park. With local bands, a free café and plenty of family focussed activities including bungee runs, football shoot outs and even visits throughout the day from Peppa and Chase, the church were hoping the day would be well attended, but little did they expect to see crowds of over 4,000 people.
“Rutland is the smallest county in the UK with a population of just 40,000, yet to see so many come to celebrate with us is a real indication of the way our community feels about the church and its wider role in society.” Says Tom Bowring, minister at OBC. “We launched with a renewed focus on mission and community last year and this event shows just how far the church has come in that time.”
Local radio station Rutland and Stamford sound hosted the event, with DJ Rob stating “this is the busiest I’ve ever seen the park. It feels different to other events; there’s a sense of peace and joy that’s filling the place.” Families packed out the park from 11am where the gospel was preached and praise was lifted to Jesus, before settling into a day full of excitement and laughter.
Despite the fact food vendors all sold out and the cream teas in the café vanished quite quickly, the park was full until the final prayer was given at 4pm.
The church, which has flourished post-covid, is currently undergoing a large scale building project and re-imagining how they meet on Sundays to accommodate further growth, but one thing is sure- the church is a central part of life in Rutland, and Jesus is doing amazing things through OBC.
