Mission – Ministry – Life
It’s been a fascinating few days at the BMS “How to mission” event; designed to help folk in the UK to listen to voices from the world church and consider what lessons can be learned for mission here in the UK Some of sessions covered ideas familiar to readers of this blog but there is... Continue Reading →
Tripe soup for breakfast? Welcome to the Peruvian Baptist Assembly; a gathering of people from the 160 churches that make up the Convencíon Evangélica Bautista del Perú. For those readers used to English Baptist life the format is a mix of the UK Baptist Assembly and BUGB Council. We arrived Tuesday afternoon and left Friday... Continue Reading →
Mission is an extreme sport. And to help me get in shape I'm spending this week at the BMS World Mission training centre in Birmingham (UK) doing the course they run to prepare people for going overseas as short / mid term volunteers. It's a strange experience being a student, these days I spend lots... Continue Reading →
It’s that time of year when preparing Christmas services comes to an end. Or, if you’re not into planning, starts with increasing levels of panic as the deadlines loom. Finding fresh ways of working familiar themes is always a challenge but also needs care as, for most UK churches, Christmas is a season where many... Continue Reading →
The Baptist Union (Baptists Together) is looking to recruit a new team leader for the Ministries team based in Didcot. Someone who will be one of the new specialist team leaders involved in leading the Union. Details of the post are here Noteworthy in the details is that the person is likely to be someone... Continue Reading →
I’ve just returned from my latest trip to Peru: teaching at the BMS supported training centre in Nauta. As usual it was a great time. The main aim of the first week was teaching at one of the regular training weeks. The idea is that the centre provides basic training for pastors and church leaders... Continue Reading →
As I’ve pondered my trip to NZ there are a number of things about Baptist life in our two countries that we might learn from each other. So as a final post on NZ let me draw some threads together. Ministry led or congregational There is much in the healthy church / ministry led model... Continue Reading →
In the last blog I looked at three elements which define Baptist life in Christchurch: activist / community orientated, minister led church structures and in the influence of Pentecostalism. These then flow into some other aspects of life there. Independence After the earthquakes churches, like the rest of the community, pulled together to get life... Continue Reading →
One reason for visiting New Zealand was to learn about Baptist life in Christchurch. Rob, my host, is Senior Minister of Opawa Baptist and he organised lots of opportunities for me to interact with other local pastors and people involved in Baptist life. Christchurch is, of course, a particular place with its own history and... Continue Reading →
Back in the UK I attended the annual BUGB/BMS Baptist Assembly on Saturday. This year it was a one day event, which worked better than I thought it might. Obviously reducing the events length means that there are lots of things there isn’t space for, such as opportunities for other Baptist Organisations, plenary sessions with... Continue Reading →
Distinct Reflections 