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Hawkwell Baptist Church
Rectory Road, Rochford, Essex, SS4 1UG
Minister: Richard Iles,
01702 542000
INTERVIEW: Richard Iles: (14th October 2010)
Richard is the minister of Hawkwell Baptist Church
Rochford Life: Richard, how long have you been here at Hawkwell Baptist Church?
Richard: Just over four years.
RL: If what I’ve heard was right, you were co-pastoring with the previous minister here?
Richard: Yes, I came as an associate in 2006 and worked with Carl, who was the previous minister, for a year and who then felt called to move on to pastures new.
RL: OK, what are the distinctive that make you the church you are, and I realise I haven’t given you any time to think about this, but what comes to mind?
Richard: We are a church that is governed by the people, so although I am the church leader, I am answerable to the church and the church, within its voting process, has the right to accept or reject what we bring to the church. It’s every-member ministry.
RL: But you are their full-time man?
Richard: Yes, I am their full-time man.
RL: What does it mean that you are a ‘Baptist’ church?
Richard: A fundamental difference or the thing that makes us ‘Baptists’ is that we believe in adult baptism of believers, and church membership.
RL: How many services do you have on a Sunday?
Richard: We have a Sunday morning service at 10.30am and that is our only service.
Richard is the minister of Hawkwell Baptist Church
Rochford Life: Richard, how long have you been here at Hawkwell Baptist Church?
Richard: Just over four years.
RL: If what I’ve heard was right, you were co-
RL: OK, what are the distinctive that make you the church you are, and I realise I haven’t given you any time to think about this, but what comes to mind?
Richard: We are a church that is governed by the people, so although I am the church leader, I am answerable to the church and the church, within its voting process, has the right to accept or reject what we bring to the church. It’s every-
RL: But you are their full-
RL: What does it mean that you are a ‘Baptist’ church?
Richard: A fundamental difference or the thing that makes us ‘Baptists’ is that we believe in adult baptism of believers, and church membership.
RL: How many services do you have on a Sunday?
Richard: We have a Sunday morning service at 10.30am and that is our only service.
Churches
Hawkwell Baptist Church
Hawkwell Baptist Church
RL: So if someone comes at 10.30 on a Sunday morning, what are they going to find here?
Richard: Hopefully a nice warm welcome, first of all. The children and everyone comes in to the main part of the Service; we’ll have Bible readings, sometimes we’ll have sketches, we’ll use video presentations, Power Points, video clips. There will be a time of open worship with songs or hymns, hopefully in a contemporary style led by a band, and we open the Bible for teaching. Every Sunday is different; we don’t have a particular set format.
RL: And presumably you have a number of activities during the week?
Richard: Yes, church facilities are used by such organisations such as Baby Sensory (see www.babysensory.com) which is not connected to the church but looks after little ones, we have a parent and toddler group which meets on a Wednesday, and we have Boys and Girls Brigades which are very well attended.
RL: Different leaders have different passions, different things that drive them. What are yours?
Richard: I probably should have been an evangelist because I am very mission orientated into the local community, not pushing Jesus down people’s throats but actually getting alongside people and seeking what their needs are. One way that we do that, and we did this before I came, is that we run a charity shop and we give away ten per cent of the income to various organisations in the locality, on a quarterly basis.
RL: Do you have a leadership team here?
Richard: We have a leadership team of five at the moment, and they look after different aspects of the life of the church – home groups, pastoral care, finances etc. and a general secretary.
RL: If on a Sunday morning after the Service say, I grabbed one of your congregation, and asked them, “What does this church mean to you?” what would you hope they’d say?
Richard: I would hope they would say that it is a place where they find comfort and compassion and care in the name
of Jesus.
RL: You do things for the community at Christmas I believe?
Richard: Yes, generally we run various social activities that are community orientated. We open the church up for various functions. We’ve done barbecues, strawberry fairs, and a Christmas fair, which is at the end of November this year. We run an annual ‘Labyrinth’ based around the Christmas story. This year were going to look at Christmas through the ages. Last year we did Christmas around the world and we invite the local schools in. Last year we had eight schools from the locality, mainly infants, but this year we’ve also been asked by Junior schools if they can come in. It’s also spread so we’re also getting one school from Shoebury and one from Canvey. Word of mouth has taken it further out than we had anticipated.
RL: Tell us a little about yourself.
Richard: I’m married to Sue, I have three almost grown-up kids; my youngest is eighteen and my eldest is twenty three.
RL: In five years time, how different would you like to see the church?
Richard: In five years time I’d like to see the church open seven days a week, twenty four hours a day, touching areas of the community that are needy. In the climate at the moment, there are areas that are going to be affected by the cutbacks and I think if we as a church can begin to support some of those areas, I would like to think that we could be part of that. For example at the moment we have contact with a bereavement care provider and we’ve been able to help a number of people who have come along, not necessarily to be part of the church but they’ve heard we run bereavement care. Because bereavement affects such a high proportion of the community, it’s something We’ve keen to provide, so it would be along those sort of lines I think.
RL: What would you say is at the heart of who you all are?
Richard: I think one of the key things about being church is the whole issue of the reality of Christ in our lives and that is central to who we are. We don't just turn up on a Sunday to sit in a service; we attempt to live Christ-like lives, twenty four hours of the day, seven days a week, and that is the emphasis we try to make. Being part and parcel of the local community, if we can do things, we’re not doing it because it is us doing it, but we’re doing it because we want to serve others with the love that we have been shown in what Christ has done for us. I think that is our ethos of who we are. We have received and so we want to give.
RL: You said earlier that you yourself have got the heart of an evangelist. Do you try to balance that by having someone in the church who has the heart of a pastor, providing the care that is needed?
Richard: This is the dilemma that I have, because although I would love to be an evangelist, I think I have the heart of a pastor because to run a church, first and foremost you have to have a pastor’s heart, you have to be able to care, to get alongside people. I think both my wife and I have tended in the past to go beyond the call and that is what a pastor is – available! I don't want to say twenty four hours a day, but as a general rule, if there was a need, we will be there, because we want to be there, not because I have a function.
Richard: Hopefully a nice warm welcome, first of all. The children and everyone comes in to the main part of the Service; we’ll have Bible readings, sometimes we’ll have sketches, we’ll use video presentations, Power Points, video clips. There will be a time of open worship with songs or hymns, hopefully in a contemporary style led by a band, and we open the Bible for teaching. Every Sunday is different; we don’t have a particular set format.
RL: And presumably you have a number of activities during the week?
Richard: Yes, church facilities are used by such organisations such as Baby Sensory (see www.babysensory.com) which is not connected to the church but looks after little ones, we have a parent and toddler group which meets on a Wednesday, and we have Boys and Girls Brigades which are very well attended.
RL: Different leaders have different passions, different things that drive them. What are yours?
Richard: I probably should have been an evangelist because I am very mission orientated into the local community, not pushing Jesus down people’s throats but actually getting alongside people and seeking what their needs are. One way that we do that, and we did this before I came, is that we run a charity shop and we give away ten per cent of the income to various organisations in the locality, on a quarterly basis.
RL: Do you have a leadership team here?
Richard: We have a leadership team of five at the moment, and they look after different aspects of the life of the church – home groups, pastoral care, finances etc. and a general secretary.
RL: If on a Sunday morning after the Service say, I grabbed one of your congregation, and asked them, “What does this church mean to you?” what would you hope they’d say?
Richard: I would hope they would say that it is a place where they find comfort and compassion and care in the name
of Jesus.
RL: You do things for the community at Christmas I believe?
Richard: Yes, generally we run various social activities that are community orientated. We open the church up for various functions. We’ve done barbecues, strawberry fairs, and a Christmas fair, which is at the end of November this year. We run an annual ‘Labyrinth’ based around the Christmas story. This year were going to look at Christmas through the ages. Last year we did Christmas around the world and we invite the local schools in. Last year we had eight schools from the locality, mainly infants, but this year we’ve also been asked by Junior schools if they can come in. It’s also spread so we’re also getting one school from Shoebury and one from Canvey. Word of mouth has taken it further out than we had anticipated.
RL: Tell us a little about yourself.
Richard: I’m married to Sue, I have three almost grown-
RL: In five years time, how different would you like to see the church?
Richard: In five years time I’d like to see the church open seven days a week, twenty four hours a day, touching areas of the community that are needy. In the climate at the moment, there are areas that are going to be affected by the cutbacks and I think if we as a church can begin to support some of those areas, I would like to think that we could be part of that. For example at the moment we have contact with a bereavement care provider and we’ve been able to help a number of people who have come along, not necessarily to be part of the church but they’ve heard we run bereavement care. Because bereavement affects such a high proportion of the community, it’s something We’ve keen to provide, so it would be along those sort of lines I think.
RL: What would you say is at the heart of who you all are?
Richard: I think one of the key things about being church is the whole issue of the reality of Christ in our lives and that is central to who we are. We don't just turn up on a Sunday to sit in a service; we attempt to live Christ-
RL: You said earlier that you yourself have got the heart of an evangelist. Do you try to balance that by having someone in the church who has the heart of a pastor, providing the care that is needed?
Richard: This is the dilemma that I have, because although I would love to be an evangelist, I think I have the heart of a pastor because to run a church, first and foremost you have to have a pastor’s heart, you have to be able to care, to get alongside people. I think both my wife and I have tended in the past to go beyond the call and that is what a pastor is – available! I don't want to say twenty four hours a day, but as a general rule, if there was a need, we will be there, because we want to be there, not because I have a function.