Woody

Known to virtually everyone as Woody (real name Julian Woodcock), he is married to Judith and a proud father of two sons.  Woody is the Head of Sixth Form in a Birmingham school and loves both the outdoors and his drums (which he plays regularly in church). Here Woody shares how he first came to our church and his journey so far.

Background

My father did his duty and as a child I went to Rock church, indeed I was a choirboy there (albeit one who never sang), from about 5 until 8 when we stopped going.

There then followed 20 odd years of rock climbing, drumming and partying with little interest in church. But my love of the mountains, cliffs, wildlife and all things outdoors led me to a broad conviction that there was definitely something else behind it all holding everything together.  

A situation at a close friend’s house when I was 27 changed my thinking. Her parents were staunch Catholics and her mum has just died after a long illness.  The priest had just come and I was privileged too attend a short service around her bed. Afterwards I stopped knocking organised religion  – rather than being critical I thought of those who had faith as being lucky.

Noahs’ Ark has a lot to answer for!

The real turning point came in 2003. Now married with two young kids, we were told by a friend not to bother with other play groups as Noah’s Ark at the Baptist church was by far the best and so Judith took Thomas and Matthew.  Through the play group and various kids’ parties I became friendly with a couple of men and we started mountain biking early on Sunday in the Forest.  The rides were by necessity short because we had to get back so that one could go to church.  Then the other started going to the same church.

The first visit

One morning Judith put the case very strongly for the kids attending Bewdley Baptist to be with their friends from play group and to get the benefits of a structured Sunday school.  With some trepidation, I decided to give it a go and they made me feel very, very welcome.   I planned on attending only half the Sundays but ended up coming to most of them, finding the services increasingly interesting and relevant. Then we did the Alpha course to find out more  which was a lot of fun and a lot of serious issues were explored in depth.

I also joined the Spirited Exchanges group and the questions of faith that have been discussed there have gone some considerable way in moving my faith forward.

Deciding to be baptised

The decision to get baptised was one I wrestled with for some time, largely on the grounds that I was not worthy and could not in my own view honestly tick all the required boxes for being a good Christian.  All this was having a profound effect on my life, I was noticing it but others had begun to notice it too and seemed to think it was an improvement – you have an “inner bounce” you didn’t have before as one person put it. I’m certainly much happier, both in my life and within myself, not so at war with myself as I used to be.

Now

Now I feel a constant reassuring presence and feel more secure, more complete.  I am always amazed at how beautiful the natural world can be, especially on our doorstep.  I love playing the drums in Church and leading walks in Snowdonia for the Men's group.

To anyone reading this web page, I would say give it a go - you might find that a life changing experience awaits you.