Mission – Ministry – Life
The 06:30 train from Macclesfield on a cold Saturday morning is not normally something to celebrate but it was the first leg of a great day attending the Baptist Assembly. This year held in Oxford. The day packed a lot into a short timeframe and was a significant improvement on last year. The morning started... 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 →
Project 3:28 have published their latest research into gender balance among the speaker teams of UK national Christian conferences. In 2014 two conferences had a 50:50 balance, the BUGB Annual Assembly and the Church and Media Conference. Also, notably, the Youth Work summit has been in second place for the last two years with an... Continue Reading →
My post on Baptist Assembly suggested I’d blog something about discernment and how we might create space to do so. The problem is that Assembly is too big a gathering to use many of the techniques familiar in Church Meetings. In groups of 30-100 people can get to know each other, in groups of 1000... Continue Reading →
This weekend has been the Annual Assembly for the BUGB (Baptist Union of Great Britain). A slightly different format this year as it was reduced to a two day event but overall, even without seminars or an exhibition to promote baptistic organisations, it worked well. Saturday morning saw the opening address by Chris Ellis, this... Continue Reading →
Among the reports and blogs about the Baptist Assembly and the theme of shining like stars I wonder what God might be saying to BUGB. What follows isn’t so much a blog as a mini sermon; not one I can imagine ever been asked to preach at a Baptist event though…… “I tell you the... Continue Reading →
Following my blog on Monday about Baptist Assembly I’ve now read a number of other blogs; so to add to the conversation here is my take on some of the issues raised (the issues surround the Futures process BMS/BUGB I will return to in a future post).1. Quality of the Bookshop should be easy to... Continue Reading →
Baptist Assembly is packed away for another year, the participants have returned home and the activity of the weekend is fast becoming a fading memory; another example of how our denomination manages to be less than the sum of its parts. Or alternatively???What if Assembly were to be the moment we look back on and... Continue Reading →
So Baptist Assembly (BUGB / BMS) has begun with an afternoon of seminars and opening evening Celebration during which Chris Duffett started his year as BUGB president.I’ve blown hot and cold about the idea of a president over the years but one advantage is it helps us listen to people whose insights can get squeezed... Continue Reading →
Today sees Baptists gathering for their annual assembly (well the BUGB / BMS one anyway). But things will be a bit different this year:- We are gathering in London. This means it is commuting distance for a larger number of people but also that fewer people will attend the whole event.- The Saturday events follow... Continue Reading →
Distinct Reflections 