Normally I blog about my experiences of BUGB Council which starts today. However, I'm not there this time as I'm teaching in Iquitos; working alongside the Baptist Churches of the Peruvian Baptist Convention here who BMS world mission partner with. I will blog about both when I get the chance. However, internet here is to... Continue Reading →
Futures, culture and #Bugb
The BUGB debate about its future moves onward, Council meets again in two weeks to make some decisions about the way forward. I’ll do another blog post about some of the proposals but I remain concerned we haven’t grasped the scale of the challenge we face and the culture change needed to move forward.Whatever structures... Continue Reading →
BUGB Council: good, bewildering, agonising
So March Council is now over; but what to say? Hopefully there will be a brief on line account of the material the ‘Futures Group’ shared in the next 24 hours (if not I’ll have a go at summarising). [Futures update gives the background here but not the suggested ways forward] Good: Overall it feels... Continue Reading →
BUGB Council – humility is undervalued
BUGB Council meets again. 400 years after the first Baptist church in England we are starkly reminded that our faith should not be placed in institutions, our treasure should not be in investments and our confidence should not be in numbers. As we recall Jesus walking purposefully to Jerusalem we are reminded that he invited... Continue Reading →
Futures proposal for #BUGB
Over the last few weeks I've been thinking about how we might move the conversation forward; particularly since BUGB Council meets again next week. So I have produced two things. The first is a video giving an overview of the steps we need to take. The second is a longer paper giving more detail (here).... Continue Reading →
Praying for BUGB futures
A number of folk are trying to encourage prayer for the BUGB futures process and are inviting people to pray at 8:50 every Tuesday morning. In amongst all the opinions, words and pictures shared about the future it is vital we hold the process before God. As we go along this journey we want to... Continue Reading →
Quick thought
I spotted this quote in an Associated Baptist Press opinion piece and wondered what it may say to us in BUGB about our own futures process. "I think it is important to resist allowing the framing of the issues to be set by people acting independently of their local congregations. Denominational meetings are often hijacked... Continue Reading →
Beyond 400 – thoughts so far
Now the 6th voice has been published I thought some reflections might be in order; though for the full effect you need to read each entry and the comments yourself. Three things have struck me so far: 1. We need to acknowledge how broken the current denomination is. Peter Dominey spoke of grieving what is... Continue Reading →
Thank you BUGB
I smiled at an email today saying this blog had the top clicked story by staff at Baptist House this year. Thank you to those who visit here and interact with what I write. But I also want to use this as an opportunity to say thank you to the staff who work for the... Continue Reading →
Keeping up with BUGB debate (updated)
For those of you trying to keep up with the Baptist blogs and the various contributions Andy Goodliff has produced a summary here As far as I know there have only been three new contributions in the last couple of days. The first from Steve Holmes (here), the second from Simon Jones (here) and the... Continue Reading →
Distinct Reflections 