Grace Extends to Aberdeen

Grace Extends to Aberdeen

For the past year, with monthly financial support via Grace Baptist Partnership, John-William Noble has been a church-planting intern at Grace Baptist Church Edinburgh. Now the work is extending to Aberdeen.

230,000 call Scotland’s third largest city home. What the city has in wealth from North Sea oil, it lacks in healthy churches. Throughout the Northeast region a Baptist church that holds to the doctrines of grace cannot be found. It’s 100 miles to Inverness: Nearly 70 miles to Dundee. The Church of Scotland in Aberdeen led the charge into apostasy, and the exodus of believers has put other churches in turmoil.

While every evangelical work is an encouragement, many thousands in the schemes and suburbs of Aberdeen are hearing nothing of the gospel. Aberdeen is the most irreligious city in Scotland. Over half the inhabitants profess no faith. Untold thousands remain untold. The situation in the rural county is bleaker still. Aberdeen has been a target of prayers and planning for some time.

Grace Baptist Church Edinburgh is sending John-William and Binglin Noble to plant a church in the largely unreached area of multiple deprivation, Hilton & Woodside. They will meet in a community centre and reach out by means of door to door evangelism, street preaching and tracting. Already another two couples want to assist the work, and another couple of brothers. Christianity Explored courses are scheduled and the house move is underway.

John-William was born in Aberdeen. He studied theology at Aberdeen University and assisted churches in Aberdeen and Edinburgh before pastoring the Chinese Church in the capital. Like many in Scotland, finding biblical churchmanship has been a difficult journey. A journey that is getting easier in Aberdeen.

“For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:15