Over 350 people gathered in Southport on the last Saturday in January for the official opening of Grace Baptist Church's new building.
The service gave the church an opportunity to thank God for his goodness in providing a new place of public worship for the growing congregation. In recent years, some church members had to worship each Sunday morning via a TV link in a separate part of their old building.
After the Sunday morning service, the Sunday school children launched 118 balloons - 117 for the age of the old building, and one for the new! A little tag attached to each balloon explained the reason for the celebration, and asked the finder to contact the church to let us know how far the message had travelled! (The balloons were last seen heading north towards the Lake District).