About Us

Including: Who we are; Our history; What’s in a name; Sunday services; and Our beliefs

Who we are

Welcome to Rainham Christian Fellowship.

We are a small, informal and friendly church, located close to the centre of Twydall - a community within Rainham in the Medway towns in Kent, south-east England.

When we say small, our normal Sunday attendance (pre-Covid) would be around 40-50 people, including children and those running the service. During lockdown, this has generally reduced to 25-30 and is probably somewhere in between these days.

All the leadership roles in the church are filled by volunteers, including our Elder, Peter, who has a full time ‘day job’ working at the hospital. We run a variety of groups through the week including a coffee morning, book/film club, prayer meeting, bible study and youth group - some weekly, some monthly; see our ‘noticeboard’ page for details.

RCF - June 2024

Our history

Rainham Christian Fellowship was ‘planted’ in September 1994 in Medway by Parkwood Christian Fellowship and originally met in a house in Rainham, Kent. There were initially 9 couples and their children.

We thought no-one would join us whilst based in a house, but God proved us wrong by sending someone from Gravesend. When we outgrew the house, we met in an infant school in Rainham, complete with infant-sized toilets and infant-sized chairs!

Just about the time we were getting too big for the school, the local Baptist Church in Twydall (that had become too small for their building) gave their building to us - lock, stock, barrel and finances. And praise God, all the remaining members became members of Rainham Christian Fellowship.

What’s in a name?

What is a “Christian Fellowship” - are you a proper church?

We are a (proper) Baptist church, part of the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) and the South East Baptist Association (SEBA). We could possibly have been called Rainham Baptist originally but, as were planted by Parkwood Christian Fellowship (also a Baptist church), there was a passing down of the name, like passing on a surname to your children! We also work closely with the other churches in Twydall and Rainham.

Why is it “Rainham” Christian Fellowship, not “Twydall” Christian Fellowship?

We get this a lot! Part of the answer is simple - that’s what we were called when we were first established (by Parkwood Christian Fellowship) and changing your name when you ‘grow up’ is quite a big deal - everyone knows who you are by the name you were given. And changing it isn’t simple - there’s lots of legal stuff to deal with (like changing names on bank accounts) and it would require a change of the church constitution.

But part of the answer also lies in the fact that the definition of Rainham, Twydall and Gillingham is open to some interpretation. We consider Twydall to be part of Rainham (as is Parkwood, which was originally known as Rainham Park - fun fact), so we think the name is still appropriate!

Sunday services

Our Sunday morning services have obviously changed a little during Lockdown, but the ‘flavour’ is still the same. Here’s an idea of what to expect:

Relaxed - no dress code and no need for ‘Sunday Best’ (our online services did see one or two participants in their pyjamas), but you’re welcome to dress up or down
Lively - plenty of chit-chat, cups of tea and discussion; we welcome questions and contributions from the congregation
Music - we use mainly ‘modern’ worship songs but with a scattering of traditional hymns, usually led with guitar, keyboard and drums (electric drums, not too noisy!). And we’re happy for people to stand, sit or dance about - whatever works for them.
Prayer - a typical service will include prayer from those leading the service but often a time of ‘open prayer’ where anyone in the congregation can pray aloud (or ask for someone to pray on their behalf).
Children - due to our small size, we generally take a ‘responsive’ approach, adjusting our provision to suit the current cohort of young people. We would normally encourage younger children (primary age) to stay in the service for the first 10-15 minutes and then go to Sunday School in one of the back rooms. Secondary school children are encouraged to participate with the adults for the remainder of the service and teaching. We can provide a creche for younger children, should it be needed, and are happy for older children to join the Sunday School if they would prefer. We’re also experienced at dealing with a range of special needs, and all our youth leaders are DBS checked.
Teaching - we generally include a ‘sermon’ in most morning services, delivered either by Peter, our Elder, by volunteers from the leadership or congregation, or by visiting speakers from other churches or Christian organisations. In most cases, this will be around 20-30 minutes long, but it can vary.
Communion - we generally include communion about once a month as part of the service

Worship

A mix of lively and reflective, mostly modern but sometimes traditional. We have a small team of musicians, so the line-up can vary and might feature guitar, keyboard, bass, drums, clarinet or violin.

Prayer

A crucial part of every service, with time for individual reflection, the opportunity to make prayer requests and to be prayed for.

The Word

We recognise the importance of solid Biblical teaching and are fortunate to have a range of regular speakers within the congregation and a number of frequent guest speakers. Please feel free to dip into our ‘sermon archive’ for some examples.

Our beliefs

Declaration of faith

We believe in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, who are three in one, the Trinity, the One and Only God.
We believe in the Virgin Birth, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he was God in human form, God Incarnate.
We believe that Jesus died on the cross for the redemption of our sins, that He rose from the dead and went up into heaven to be with the Father. He lives today with us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We believe in salvation by repentance towards God, and the forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Jesus Christ. We believe that the only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ.
We believe the whole of the Holy Bible to be the inspired word of God and that it is the whole authority in matters of Christian doctrine and discipline.

Our vision for our church

C - Christ centred

Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12: 2) He is the head of the church (Ephesians 1: 22). We are saved only by faith in him (Acts 4: 12) and seek to live in love and obedience to him (John 14: 15).

H - Holy Spirit filled

The Holy Sprit is the gift Jesus left for all of us (Acts 2: 38, 39). He is our counsellor and guide (John 14: 26), who leads us into all truth (John 16: 13), convicts of sin (John 16: 8) and lives in us as a guarantee of our belonging to Jesus (Romans 8: 16).

U - Universal, for all

The Church is for all. Jesus came so that anyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. (John 3: 16). We are all learning and growing together and each one of us has a part to play as the Holy Spirit enables us. (1 Corinthians 12: 12 -27).

R - Real and Relevant

We are forgiven; we do not have to put on a show or pretend to be different than we really are. We have been set free to be honest and open without fear or guilt (Romans 8: 1, 2). Jesus affects us in every part of our lives at home and at work as well as when we meet together (Romans 12: 1, 2).

C - Compassionate

Jesus is motivated by love in everything he does (Matthew 9: 36). As we have benefited so much from that love we too should love others. (Matthew 10: 8 & John 15: 12). We can bring love joy and peace to a hurting world (Matthew 10: 7, 8). We are called to share the salvation of Jesus with everyone (Matthew 28: 19, 20).

H - Hope filled

Our hope is not a vague wish it is the sure and certain knowledge that Jesus will return and put all wrongs right and bring peace and justice. This should inspire us to great effort and personal sacrifice to earn the reward of his pleasure when he returns. (Hebrews 12: 2, 3).

Note - all images used throughout our website are either our own or taken from approved royalty free sources such as Unsplash or Pixabay.