The Regional Minister bus

There are more interesting things to blog about than Baptist
Associations appointing Regional Ministers but I can’t help but notice the
large number of appointments being made at the moment.

I’ve had the opportunity to be involved in one here in the North
West myself, so I know that many of these folk are
gifted individuals who will make a positive contribution to Baptist life around
the country.

My hesitation springs from a concern about how we are going
to fund these posts in the years to come. As the Central Resource in Didcot
gets used to being a smaller outfit with fewer people, the next place to feel
the heat will inevitably be either Associations or mission grants to churches.

The picture is complicated because each Association is a
separate charity, with its own reserves and monies that it uses as it sees fit.
I’ve no doubt that each Association has the funds in the immediate future to
pay them, and the structure of most Associations means that they need several
Regional Ministers to function effectively, but I can’t help but wonder what
the future might hold. I know some are temporary appointments, some part time
and some replacing people who have recently retired; but overall I would expect
to see the number of Regional Ministers decreasing rather which is not what’s
happening.

So what have I missed?