About the Boaters’ Christian Fellowship

The Boaters’ Christian Fellowship is a group of Christians who appreciate the Inland Waterways. We are from all denominations, and we only ask that members support our aims.

In 1995, Nottingham couple Alan and Hazel Dilnot, committed Christians who owned a canal boat, wanted to get in touch with other like minded people. They wrote a letter to Waterways World magazine. The response was good, and in November 1995 they held a meeting where 30 people gathered. The Boaters’ Christian Fellowship was formed and the rest, as they say, is history.

From the start, BCF members became involved in public events, like the IWA National, and work was started on the BCF church directory. BCF members started to become involved at local rallies, but with little recognition at first. Sometimes they had to plead and use powers of persuasion to be allowed to introduce a Christian presence to these events.

The BCF started to produce their own literature, such as Still Waters and The Sword. Children’s literature, such as Friends Afloat, Bertie the Boat, etc, have proved popular, and the BCF magazine (The BCF Word) has won awards. Organisations, such as the Inland Waterways Association and the Canal and River Trust, now welcome our presence at events, and sometimes invite us to become involved in specific ways. In recent years we have taken part in several week-long missions around the waterways, in collaboration with local churches and with Canal Ministries and Waterways Chaplaincy.

Growth has been steady, and current membership is in excess of 500 (individuals, couples and families), with approximately 300 privately owned boats between them. However, owning a boat is not a condition of membership. We have members who hire, some who live near a canal, some who crew on other members’ boats – and some who live abroad!

The BCF logo is now a familiar sight on boats up and down the country. Since 2004, we have been a registered charity, No 1101100, with our own constitution.

At the AGM in 2015, Alan and Hazel stepped down from their position as joint chair of the committee, and Jan Halford was elected as chair. BCF is immensely grateful to them for their 20 years of leadership, and for the initial vision that got it all going in the first place.

If you share our love for the Inland Waterways and our Lord, then you are eligible to join the Boaters’ Christian Fellowship. Although we are spread throughout the country (as well as having International members!), we try to make it possible for members to get together. We have an annual Fellowship weekend and our AGM is another good time to meet up, as we keep the business side to a minimum. Every two years we hold a Spring gathering – a chance to meet up before the start of the main cruising season. Plus, of course, boaters meet up informally as they cruise the system. Members also organise ad-hoc get-togethers. Sometimes a pub lunch, maybe a canal or river walk. We have also enjoyed a trip through the Dudley Tunnel with the Dudley Canal Trust, followed by a fellowship lunch.

We are corporate members of the IWA (Inland Waterways Association) and AWCC (Association of Waterways Cruising Clubs). We are a registered charity.

The aims of the BCF are Fellowship, Worship and Witness.