Surviving Council

Baptist Union Council is now over till March. I will blog some reflections over the next few days but there are two questions that lie behind much of the discussion we had. First, what is the relationship between the Union, the Associations and the Churches? In many discussions this is either the unnamed elephant in the room or gets mentioned with some bland statement about the need to be relating together. Second, how much diversity of view can be owned by denomination before we say that someone’s opinion means that we can no longer recognise them as fellow baptists?

Most of Council’s business is necessarily about details, reports and proposals. But there are times when we would benefit from more people who can articulate an account of who we are and paint a picture of what we might become as a denomination. If Council business is the prose of Union life we need a few poetic voices. People who can speak from a deep understanding but in a way that illuminates and captivates the imagination.

It was also Sean Winter’s last Council as Moderator. He has done a first class job and we will miss him when he leaves for Oz in January.