Distinct Reflections

Baptist Futures survey

As part of the conversation BUGB is having about the future their website has a survey that anyone involved in Baptist life is invited to complete. SurveyMonkey questionnaires are of course only part of the solution, the danger sometimes is that they make a monkey out of survey results; by forcing you to make choices based on the questions asked rather than the values and assumptions behind them.

Nevertheless if you haven’t done the survey can I encourage you to do so here. And as you do think what aspects of the current Union and Association set up could we live without and which parts are essential. If you or your church were paying directly for the services, what would you do without? If we separated out giving towards the cost of Union and Associations from Home Mission Grants to churches what proportion of your current giving would you give to each?

And what if we scrapped the lot and started again, perhaps encouraging larger churches to take responsibility for wider Baptist life in their areas; developing low cost advice provision for churches; funding 30 people who had regional & national co-ordination responsibilities and conducting much of our national life through working groups accountable to a Council? (I recognise this isn’t without cost, not least to the people who are currently employed and am not proposing we do it, simply suggesting options).

As always comments welcome.

CVM day: Iron sharpens Iron

“Was it worth it?” I asked in the car as we returned from the CVM / New Wine Men’s day in Manchester. “It was a great day” was the reply. Joining in with 750 men for a day, with worship, teaching, seminars and opportunity to talk is not something I’ve done before but it felt important.

Important because it is rare to gather men in church together to encourage and inspire them. Important because a key focus for the day was about how the church can reach out to men; who are under-represented in church life.

We can argue about the extent that the church is feminised (and how this happens at the same time that patriarchal elements persist) but we can’t argue that this side of eternity, gender is part of what makes us human. For some, separate events for women and men seems unnecessary or even play to stereotypical views of what it means to be masculine or feminine. For others, more than we acknowledge in our culture, getting together with people of the same sex is affirming and encouraging. 

Having stressed the positive elements of the day, there are a couple of questions I’m still mulling over. How can we ensure that men’s work doesn’t just appeal to those who are searching for some ‘macho’ Christian thing? How can we develop men’s ministry so it promotes the values of a peaceable kingdom, and re-images militaristic metaphors for life not killing. (I'm interested to note that it was evangelical men's work which initially promoted moves away from violence and 'softened' men in the church link ).

Personally I am encouraged by the work that Carl Beech and the folk at Christian Vision for Men are doing. As churches we have a challenge on our hands learning what it means to be male and female, committed to equality and to be determined to see young men and women grow into the people God calls them to be. We also have a challenge learning how to relate to people beyond the church. Days like this are an important ingredient in provoking the church, particularly the men, to respond to the challenge.

CVM's website is here if you want to know more or even join in.

Beyond 400 - join the conversation

Starting tomorrow the Beyond 400 website will carry a wide range of thoughts and ideas about the future of Baptist life in Britain (primarily focused on BUGB).

Initially 40 people have agreed to participate by writing a short piece, or creating a video, that will stimulate conversation about re-imagining Baptist life for the future.  The aim is for others to join in the conversation so that the full breadth of voices can be heard.

This is a great project. Whilst a number of baptist bloggers are involved in it (including me) the purpose is not for us to have another platform but to create an open space for people involved in the BUGB to share insights, creative ideas and more.

Please take a look at the website www.beyond400.net and spread the word