A new church came into being in Wigan on Saturday 15 September when Jireh Baptist and Pemberton Evangelical Churches ceased to exist and their members became part of Pemberton Free Grace Church.
A big crowd of friends, mostly from the other churches of the West Lancashire Reformed Baptist Fellowship but also from further afield, gathered for the launch event at Jireh Chapel and then on to a packed service at Rehoboth Chapel.
Praise and prayer
The service was marked by the solid sort of singing produced by a large congregation in a small space and was a blessing in itself. Pastor Matthew Gray, previously pastor of Jireh, welcomed everyone and led the meeting. The other elder, Jim Mollitt, previously elder at Pemberton Evangelical, gave an account of the two years of prayer, increasingly close fellowship, negotiations and painstaking administrative work that had led up to the day’s celebration. Peter Day, a long-time overseeing elder of Jireh, prayed for the two elders and three deacons. Pastor John Palmer of Bethany, Leigh, led the congregation in prayer, having first shared that it had been his prayer since the 1980s that the two churches would merge. Jon Davies, pastor of Cromer Baptist, brought the Word of God over the whole weekend, preaching through 2 Peter 1 in three sermons.
The Sunday morning was a baptismal service, when Michael and Christine McCormick were baptised, having been converted at an international church in Gran Canaria. This was a blessing to all and a wonderful way to start life together as a new fellowship. The service was followed by the church meeting around the Lord’s Table for the first time and reading the Covenant of Membership together as a sign of commitment to the Lord and to each other.
