About us
We are a gathering of believers united in our love for Christ, where all are welcome to come and join us for worship, where we hear the Word of God preached faithfully. We confess the Reformed Faith as outlined in the 1689 Baptist Confession, holding to holy scripture as the only certain rule of faith and practice and seeking to glorify God in the town of Ramsbottom.
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Featured Updates
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Trust pays out nurses, commits to separate changing facilities
Christian Concern reports: The Darlington Nurses have secured substantial damages from County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, following their landmark Employment Tribunal victory in January 2026.
The case, brought by seven nurses at Darlington Memorial Hospital, Bethany Hutchison, Lisa Lockey, Karen Danson, Tracy Hooper, Annice Grundy, Carly Hoy and Jane Peveller, was supported by the Christian Legal Centre, which has provided the nurses with legal, media and pastoral support from the beginning of their ordeal.
The case has become one of the most significant legal challenges in recent years concerning the freedom of female staff to access single-sex spaces in the workplace, with the nurses being compared to the Ford Dagenham workers and being dubbed ‘The Angels of the North.’
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Thailand Update June 2026
Nico van Zyl writes: We thank everyone who is part of our journey in Thailand. May God bless you all for your financial and prayer support. We appreciate it. “And may God supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19. We had visitors from England in May. Benedict and his wife, Isabel, and daughter (Sofia) came to visit us for a week. Benedict who is a pastor was also involved teaching at one of our workshops. They came to “scout out the land” and are considering serving God in South East Asia and possibly in Thailand. Pray for them that God would make his call clear to them in the coming months.
Jesus said: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Matt 9:25). “Pray then to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers.”
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Reformed Baptist Study Centre Launch Service
Join us for a special service marking the launch of the Reformed Baptist Study Centre.
The evening will feature a lecture delivered by Professor Dr Michael A. G. Haykin, alongside a time of gathering as we formally inaugurate the work of the Centre. All are warmly welcome to attend.
Date/Time: Tuesday, June 23 • 7:30 PM - 9:15 PM
Location: Trinity Grace Church, Ramsbottom
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How Can I Be A Godly Father?
A recently purchased piece of furniture came with an instruction booklet of the assembly required, complete with pictures of what to do and what not to do. The what-not-to-dos came from common pitfalls that had undoubtedly led the common Allen-wrench craftsmen astray from properly constructing a fine piece of particleboard furniture. Yet it was the what-not-to-dos that proved to be especially helpful, saving me from much hand-wringing frustration. Similarly, through His Word, the Lord provides instruction for fathers that can save us from soul-wrenching pitfalls—pitfalls that can lead to our downfall, as well as the downfall of our children.
The Scriptures are filled with divine instructions of what to do as fathers—as well as what not to do—as demonstrated by the Apostle Paul’s dual instruction, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).
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House of Ants Update June 2026
Pastor Simione writes: Dear Sponsors.
We would like to share with you something of our journey during the first half of 2026.
We began the year full of hopes and expectations
of seeing our Casa das Formigas (House of
Ants), transformed. At the end of February, we
received a very special donation from a Paint
Factory named Neuce Tintas – as part of their
corporate social responsibility program. In
addition to the paint needed to repaint the entire
Casa das Formigas the donation included a
large quantity of non-perishable food items. I can assure you, CDF
has changed; it has been transformed and now
offers a clean, beautiful and very welcoming
environment for the children. We look after around 300
children every day across our various
workshops, not to mention the full-time care
we provide for more than 30 resident children
on a daily basis.
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The 1689 Handbook: 17th Century Theology, History & Devotional Doctrine
In this episode, John-Mark is joined by Dr. Robert Strivens to discuss "The 1689 Handbook", a chapter-by-chapter introduction to the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith with a foreword by Michael Haykin.
Strivens outlines his pastoral background in Bradford-on-Avon, his years at London Seminary, and his earlier career as a solicitor, then explains how he moved from suspicion of confessions to valuing them, especially the 1689 as reflecting Scripture. He describes the book’s origin in Reformation Today articles and its aim to provide a concise, non-polemical entry point alongside larger commentaries.
The conversation highlights how confessions and church history help believers see beyond modern cultural assumptions, clarify doctrine on God and human freedom, connect to earlier councils and Reformation confessions, encourage careful understanding of language, and show that theology should serve piety and pastoral Christian living.
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Assisted suicide legislation set to return to Westminster
Plans to legalise assisted suicide will be brought forward again at Westminster in the form of a Private Member’s Bill.
Labour MP Lauren Edwards came second in the Private Members’ Ballot last month, and says she will bring forward legislation that is identical to Kim Leadbeater’s Bill, which narrowly passed in the House of Commons one year ago.
By using identical legislation, Edwards could invoke the Parliament Acts. This would mean that if the Bill is voted through the House of Commons in an unchanged manner, the House of Lords – where the Leadbeater Bill stalled – could table amendments, but would be unable to reject it outright.
The Parliament Acts have only been used seven times in the last century, and never for a Private Member’s Bill.
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Pray For Persecuted Somali Christians
Christians in Somalia live in one of the harshest environments in the world and persecution arises from multiple sources. A key one amongst them is the extremist group Al-Shabaab, which openly executes anyone they suspect might be a Christian. Conversion to Christianity comes with extreme risk – believers can be disowned by their clan which leaves them highly vulnerable, and some are even killed by their own relatives to preserve the ‘honour’ of the community. Aweis, a Somali believer, received a threat from his father when he found out about his son’s interest in Jesus: “My father said, ‘I cannot stop you from reading your Bible, but if you become a Christian, I will be the one to kill you.’”
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The Importance Of Male Leadership In The Church
Christ has not been unclear about who may serve as a pastor in any church that bears His Name. He cares deeply about how His churches are organized and operate. We see this in the language that the Apostle Paul uses to instruct Timothy about giving leadership in the church at Ephesus. He writes, “I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:14-15). God cares about how His people conduct themselves in His house. In other words, His house—His rules.
And God has made it a rule that only qualified men can serve as pastors in His church. This is abundantly evident from the plain teaching of the New Testament both in the examples we have (no church was led by women pastors) and in the qualifications prescribed for pastors—“he must be…the husband of one wife” (μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα, a “one woman man;” emphasis added), 1 Timothy 3:2. Additionally, the Apostle Paul addresses the question directly in 1 Timothy 2:9-14.
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Devoted
Devotion is a word we hear often. We hear it in love songs and in references to early morning times with the Lord. To be devoted is to be loyal and dedicated to some cause or to a person.
Stories of devotion abound in our world. In The Return of the King, Samwise Gamgee sees the utter exhaustion of his friend, Frodo. They are at the foot of Mount Doom—so close to the end. Sam does not simply take the ring and finish the journey himself; he lifts his ring-bearing friend onto his shoulders and carries him up the mountain. He is devoted to the end.
Films like Saving Private Ryan and Braveheart likewise portray devotion to a cause, where one is willing to risk his own life for the freedom of another. Devotion inspires heroic acts of courage in the face of looming threat.
We love stories like these because we know how difficult devotion really is.
The Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)
In 2011 we made the decision to officially adopt the Second London Baptist Confession (1689) as our confession of faith. We exhort you to read it.
What's on?
There is always something going on here at Trinity Grace Church, learn more on our ‘What’s on’ page.
Resources
Here you can find a vast array of helpful, encouraging and edifying resources to further your understanding of the Christian faith.
Churches & Organisations
Here you can find the Churches and organisations we support as a fellowship. We support these works with resources which God has blessed us with and prayer for the glory of God.
Overseas / Missions
Trinity Grace Church has supported overseas missionary ministries for many years. We first began our involvement in the early 1970s and since then have expanded our gospel outreach to a needy world. We believe it is the responsibility of local churches to engage in this ministry, and we have rejoiced to play our part in the building of God’s kingdom throughout the world.
