The subject of the Assembly was Beyond 400 which was to highlight the 400th anniversary of Baptist Churches in Britain and to look beyond into the future. Our delegate to the Assembly was the Rev Ron Rivers. It was held on 4th-6th May 2012 in London.
Ron stayed
with hosts Rev. Robert Allaway and his wife Sylvia in Wood Green, N.
London and travelled to Westminster by Tube.
Friday 3pm
was welcome to the Assembly, but a lot of people had not arrived in
time for this.
The
evening opening celebration was led by Jonathan Edwards (BU) and
David Kerrigan (BMS). The address was given by Chris Duffett on “The
Big Hearted God” on whole-hearted commitment to the Lord’s
service.
Saturday
am - there were 13 day conferences to choose from and Ron attended
“Dissenting Descendants”. The afternoon session was the Whitley
Lecture by Ian Randall (religious liberty in continental Europe) Ron
has a book available if anyone wishes to see it.
Saturday
evening commenced with ministerial recognition (six were from the
Eastern region) - 12 women and 55 men in all. Then Tony Campolo spoke
about wholehearted commitment in his own inimitable way. There was
also a youth event taking place elsewhere.
Sunday
morning the annual business meeting of BMS World Mission and the
Baptist Union of Great Britain took place followed by morning worship
where they were joined by the Methodist Central Hall congregation.
Jane Day gave the sermon entitled “Living in the Beyond”.
Sunday
afternoon was the special part of the Assembly when they had an
opportunity to talk together about the future of our life together
within the Baptist Union.
Ron left
after this and went to evening service with his hosts. He felt it
was a good assembly and a great experience to be part of such a large
number (more than 2000 Baptists).
Summary
of Futures conversation so far:
The
Futures Process was initiated by the Baptist Union Council at its
meeting in November 2011 in response to an increasingly likely and
significant budget deficit. While it was something that could not be
ignored, this was seen as an opportunity to reflect seriously on what
our key priorities should be in the decades ahead. Baptist
Christians in the UK have been responsible and generous in their
giving to the work of God’s kingdom beyond their local church, and
it is vital to be equally responsible in the way that those resources
are used. It is important to re-state what has been true from the
outset; while this process was initiated by a financial reality, it
has never been financially driven.
The
Council at which this process began identified 12 key priorities
which are summarised:
Effective
formation and support of accredited ministers.
Equipping
and supporting non-ministerial church leaders and officers.
Fostering
effective and supportive relationships between churches and a sense
of identity beyond the local.
Providing
accessible support to churches in situations of crisis and
difficulty.
Inspiring
local churches for their engagement in mission.
Enabling
pioneer and strategic mission initiatives.
Provision
of legal and technical expertise in key areas of church life.
Development
of mission resources for the local church.
The
provision of a wider voice, for instance a “national or regional
Baptist perspective”.
Encouraging
ecumenical relationships and mission engagement
Pastoral
and professional support in times of difficulty or crisis.
Arrangement
of grants to local churches for mission and ministry.
Before
thinking about structures and strategies, it was felt important to
define and encapsulate the 8 key values and organisational principles
that had emerged. These were considered by the Baptist Union Council
in March 2012 and agreed in principle. These are offered to the
wider Baptist community as the basis against which to measure and
evaluate the emerging plans and proposals, as in the leaflet “Working
Together, Seeking the Future”.
Capacity
for on-going reform
Flexibility
and responsive to change
Financially
sustainable
A changed
organisational culture
Identifiable,
accountable leadership
Clearly
defined centre of strategy
Local
decision making wherever possible
Recognising
and giving due regard to what already exists.
