Baptists Together

Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox Christian denomination

Template:Baptist Baptists Together, formally the Baptist Union of Great Britain, is a Baptist Christian denomination in England and Wales. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance and Churches Together in England. The headquarters is in Didcot.

HistoryEdit

The Baptist Union was founded by 45 Particular Baptist churches in 1813 in London.<ref>William H. Brackney, Historical Dictionary of the Baptists, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 76</ref> In 1832, it was reorganized to include the New Connection of General Baptists (General Baptist churches) as a partner.<ref name=":0">Stephen R. Holmes, Baptist Theology, T&T Clark, UK, 2012, p. 51</ref> In 1891, the two associations merged to form a single organization.<ref>Robert E. Johnson, A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2010, p. 104</ref> General Baptists and Particular Baptists work was united in the Baptist Union in 1891.<ref>William H. Brackney, Historical Dictionary of the Baptists, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 77</ref> The Baptist Historical Society was founded in 1908.

In 1922, Edith Gates became the first woman ordained pastor in the convention.<ref>Erich Geldbach, Baptists Worldwide: Origins, Expansions, Emerging Realities, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2022, p. 111</ref>

In 2013 Lynn Green was elected, with no votes against, as the first female General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain to commence in September 2013. She was received at the vote by a standing ovation and her inaugural message included "I believe that our union is ready for generational change... It is time to cast off the institutional mindset that has served us well in the past, and embrace a new way of being for the 21st century."<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Also in 2013, the union publicly re-branded itself as "Baptists Together" and introduced a new logo to reflect the change (although it is still known in an official capacity as the Baptist Union of Great Britain).<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

MembershipEdit

File:Gold Hill Baptist Church worship service.jpg

Worship service at Gold Hill Baptist Church, near London.

According to a census published by the Union in 2024, it claimed 1,875 churches and 100,103 members.<ref name="Members">Baptist World Alliance, Members, baptistworld.org, USA, retrieved July 24, 2024</ref>

Missionary organizationEdit

The Fellowship of British Baptists and BMS World Mission brings together in ministry the churches that are members of the Baptist Union of Scotland, Wales, the Irish Baptist Networks, and the Baptist Union of Great Britain. It is itself a member of The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS)<ref name="NCVYS members">Full list of NCVYS member organisations Template:Webarchive</ref> because of its work to promote young people's personal and social development.

Inter-denominational associationsEdit

The union maintains membership with Christian ecumenical organisations such as Churches Together in England, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, the Conference of European Churches, and the World Council of Churches.

Missionary SocietyEdit

The BMS World Mission was organised as Baptist Missionary Society in 1792, under the leadership of Andrew Fuller (1754–1815), John Sutcliff (1752–1814), and William Carey (1761–1834).<ref>Robert E. Johnson, A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches, Cambridge University Press, Royaume-Uni, 2010, p. 99</ref><ref>J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann, Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 292</ref>

BeliefsEdit

The union has a Baptist confession of faith.<ref>Baptists Together, Declaration of Principle, baptist.org.uk, UK, retrieved 5 December 2020</ref> It is a member of the Baptist World Alliance.<ref name="Members"/>

SchoolsEdit

File:Regent’s Park College.jpg

Regent's Park College, Oxford.

The Union is a partner of 4 theological seminaries, namely South Wales Baptist College, Northern Baptist College, Bristol Baptist College and Spurgeon's College, and a university college, Regent's Park College.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Title missing</ref> In March 2024, the St Hild Centre for Baptist Ministry, previously an affiliated centre of Northern Baptist College, entered membership with the Baptist Union of Great Britain in its own right.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

OrganisationEdit

The principal of the Union is the General Secretary. A number of paid staff provide leadership and practical support from the Union's headquarters in Baptist House, Didcot, in areas such as finance, ministerial accreditation, and legal support.

List of general secretariesEdit

1898 – 1924 John Howard Shakespeare
1925 – 1951 Melbourn Aubrey
1951 – 1967 Ernest A. Payne
1967 – 1982 David S. Russell
1982 – 1991 Bernard Green
1991 – 2006 David Coffey
2006 – 2013 Jonathan Edwards
2013 – Lynn Green

Since 2001, churches in membership with the Baptist Union of Great Britain have been organised into 13 Regional Associations:

Central Baptist Association
East Midlands Baptist Association
Eastern Baptist Association
Heart of England Baptist Association
London Baptist Association
North Western Baptist Association
Northern Baptist Association
South Eastern Baptist Association
South Wales Baptist Association
South West Baptist Association
Southern Counties Baptist Association
West of England Baptist Network (formerly West of England Baptist Association)
Yorkshire Baptist Association

Regional Association teams, led by a number of Regional Ministers and a senior Regional Ministry Team Leader (RMTL), oversee and facilitate ministry in local churches. This may include pastoral support for ministers, signposting regional events, organising regional conferences, and supporting churches without a minister.

Doctrinal controversiesEdit

At the Baptist Union Assembly in April 1971, Michael Taylor, then Principal at the Northern Baptist College, asserted, "I believe that God was active in Jesus, but it will not do to say quite categorically: Jesus is God." The statement bred controversy, and some charged him with denying the Deity of Christ.<ref name=btimes>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Nigel G. Wright, later Principal of Spurgeon's College, commenting on the affair, claimed the, "Spectre of theological downgrade had lingered within the denomination throughout the 20th century," alluding to the Downgrade Controversy of a century earlier.<ref name=btimes />

Affirm network was founded in 2000 in favor to the inclusion of LGBTQ people in the Union.<ref>Affirm, About, affirm.org.uk, UK, accessed July 24, 2024</ref>

In 2020, the Ministerial Recognition Committee received a letter from 70 members of the Union asking that the rules be changed to allow ministers in same-sex marriages to no longer be guilty of gross misconduct. The request was referred to the national Council, who discussed it in March 2022 and initiated a process of consultation whereby ministers and churches in membership with the Union were asked their thoughts on the proposed change.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During this time a group formed, initially known as 'Baptist Ministers for Orthodox Marriage' and later 'Evangelical Baptists', who campaigned against the change in rules.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The results of the consultation were presented to Council, who decided against the change in March 2024 with a vote of 65% against:

Council has concluded that our Ministerial Recognition Rules concerning marriage and ministry will remain unchanged. Therefore, an accredited minister should not themselves be in a same-sex marriage. Nonetheless Council reiterates that sexual orientation is no bar to accreditation. Furthermore, Council upholds the liberty of the local church to appoint ministry according to their governing documents.{{#if:Baptist Union Council, 2024<ref>EF, British Baptists not open to same-sex married pastors, evangelicalfocus.com, Spain, 22 March 2024</ref>|{{#if:|}}
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NotesEdit

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ReferencesEdit