Assembly Reflections
Lots of blog posts about the Baptist Assembly (listed here, so far!).
Fear I'm becoming an Assembly junkie as I've been every year for the last while (trying to count, might be as many as 10!). I like the vibe, catching up with people, having coffee etc.

The demographic of grey haired, ageing, mainly white population still concerns me (but maybe those who weren't were all at Prism, which I never made it to).

It would be easy to get into what I did and didn't like - fair to say we are a diverse Union. Many bloggers commented on enjoying the worship at one of the sessions that I struggled to relate to. In fact I overheard one punter near by say "if this was Songs of Praise I'd definitely turn off"!

I appreciated the emphasis on listening to God and one another. Always a good thing, and I think that was a positive move forward, to drag us back to an assembly from a conference.

I am concerned by some of the blog and conversation reactions to the event (and to church life) which seem to have an almost snobbish dislike of popular evangelicalism, and its connected styles of spirituality and worship. Of course it can be overly sentimental and triumphalist, lacking in theological depth etc. But it can also be a blessing! And sometimes people need something uplifting.
Rant over!

So Assembly 2010 has been and gone.
And it was good to be there.
And I shall continue to enjoy lurking on the blogs to see what others have to say!

Children, Youth, Baptism
As a Baptist, baptism is important! I was reminded of this in the preaching at an event I was at on Sunday evening.
But a recent conversation with another minister re-ignited some thoughts about baptism and children and youth.

If baptism is on profession of faith, and not the sprinkling of children, is there an age or level of understanding needed before baptism? I've heard it argued that we need to find ways for children to publicly declare faith that are not baptism, so that baptism can be done when a young person is of an age to make a lifetime type of commitment to the way of Christ. In many ways that sits well with me. But I'm not 100% sure.

I'm sure we know of many younger people who have been baptised only to wander away, but then the same could be true for adults. I'm sure we do need to take preparation more seriously (catechises?).
But the question remains - if an 8 year old wants to be baptised and has an understanding of faith (all be it an 8 year old's understanding), should we go for it or not?
I think I'll need to reflect some more!

Baptist Ecclesiology
Interesting article on US Baptists and emerging church in the Baptist Standard (ht to Andrew for link).
Love this phrase from the final paragraph:
"Baptist history might offer an alternative explanation—ecclesiology is more defined by the practices of a Spirit-led community than by assent to the statements of a modern theological meta-narrative...the emerging church movement may provide hope for reformation to Baptists ignorant of the difference between modern truths and Truth incarnate"

T Shirt Must Have
Found this great tshirt. Available here.
And fear not there is a UK shop...

And if you scroll down you see some "Baptist Chick" tshirts, which actually worry me more!

Worship Training Day
Unashamed plug if any London Baptists (or any other local Christians) stumble across here for our worship training day on Saturday. Booking from from here

Assembly
The Baptist Assembly's over for another year, next year Plymouth (which doesn't begin with "B").
Plenty of blog comment (Andy has a bit of list of who has commented so far).
Overall it was a good time on Bournemouth, staying in a nice place (even if the staff struggled to do maths on more than one occasion when asked to split a bill), good weather (Tim has a great pic of the beach), and hanging out with good people.

In terms of the event itself, I always quite like these things. My boss, Pat Took did a great job speaking on the final morning on being "a Radical Community", and Kingsley Appiagyei spoke passionately about the need for renew and revival in the UK (seemed to me to be without some of the "revivalist" hype).

Could it be better? Probably. The average attender remains white and grey haired, but this is shifting for the better (and it is a strange way to spend May bank holiday!). But overall there seems to me to be a more positive "vibe" around the Union. I was glad to hear Kingsley's remarks about rejecting cynicism, a trap we can all fall into. And we need to take seriously the call to prayer. It's always going to be difficult to do an event for a diverse range of churches that make up the Union, but this is a good step in the right direction I think.


Some photos from this year and last are on Flickr (not mine!).

Bank Holiday Baptists
Yes it's coming to May bank holiday, and the annual pilgrimage to the Baptist Assembly (tomorrow). This year it's Bournemouth, I think there is a preference for places beginning with "B" as in recent years we've had Brighton (twice), Blackpool, Birmingham.
Simon is suggesting "Baptist Assembly Buzzword Bingo". He has a good list, I'd add "brothers and sisters" (said in a pious tone), and "let's wait and clap them all at the end" (for the recognition of ministers).
Anyway should be fun!

Back in Derbyshire
Taking a break from dissertation writing for a day or so, hopefully will clear my head before the final push...but I can feel the dealine looming
I'm at Baptist Union Council again at the Hayes Centre.
Will probably take the chance to nip up to Cliff College for visit to the Library to check out some stuff while I'm up this way.

Baptists together
This week we were away at High Leigh again with a small group of "district minsters" from the LBA. The Association is divided into 10 districts of 20-30 churches in each. Our conversation was around trans-local ministry (apostles anyone?), supporting pastors and other such stuff. Was a good time, and re-enforced the notion that we are to be "inter-dependent" despite our insistence on the autonomy of the local church.

On a separate (but maybe not totally unrelated) note, stumbled across this post from Nigel Coles, asking whether the Baptist Union should be more wikipedia than Oxford Concise. If you're a Baptist it's worth a read.

Pastors in the snow
Monday - Wednesday was our annual "Pastors Consultation" at High Leigh. Like many things it was affected by the snow, with only about half the delegates making the first day, but a good number made it by Tuesday. I actually got there quicker than normal thanks to the quiet roads, although it did take me 20 minutes to pull out of the parking space outside my flat.
Anyway it was a good time, and the vending machine still has 5 Alive in a can!

Our theme was "living togther in love", a vital theme for churches in a diverse city such as London. Was great to hear some stories of churches working out how to do this, bringing groups together etc., as well as honest comment about the struggles and pains of church life.

Weather permitting I'm due back at High Leigh again next week...

Away (again)
So I'm away again.
Last week having got back from Youthwork the Conference, I had a couple of days away at Hothorpe Hall. This was for a process called the "Residential Selection Conference", basically a couple of intensive days of interviews. Wayne describes the experience well here. This is a route in to "accredited" Baptist ministry in the UK for those who didn't study an accredited course at a Baptist college. I did some stuff at Spurgeons, but currently coming to the end (hopefully!) of an MA at Cliff College. Anyway it was a successful process for me, so in January I will be reocmmneded to be enrolled on the list of accredited Baptist Ministers...

At the moment I'm at High Leigh, for a "regional and national teams" thing. It's the senior management of the Baptist Union plus the Regional Teams (of which I am part of the London Regional Ministry Team). This is an annual gathering and is a good chance to compare notes, pray and look ahead as a Baptist family without the pressured agenda of BU Council and other bodies.

But the best thing about being here is that they still have Five Alive in a can! Something I have seen nowhere else.

Derbyshire (again)
Am back in Derbyshire at the moment for a couple of things.
Currently hauled up at The Hayes in Swanwick for Baptist Union Council. A few Baptist bloggers here but not much comment as yet, probably due the nature of the agenda which varies from session to session. Interesting session on the European Baptist Federation this evening, which covers a huge geographical area. Some inspiring and challenging stories of churches and pastors risking for the gospel.

Tomorrow off to a dissertation day at Cliff College. I've done my 4 modules, so just the dissertation to crack if I want to get my MA! I see I'm missing Andrew Jones by 1 day, as he's a guest lecturer on the emerging church course on Thursday, at the invitation of Ron Willoughby, with whom a previous set of emerging church module students (myself included) shared a few fun conversations in the local watering hole a year or so back.

Essential Shopping?
Just found this site with some fantastic "I am a Baptist" merchandise: tshirts, hoodies and more.
What more could you want?
Even this Baptist Bear!!!!
Maybe this year my colleagues at the London Baptist Association will get a Christmas present...

Leadership and Control
Not processed much or posted much around leadership for a while.
But have seen a few things where leadership ends up looking like power and control, rather than leadership. Always a danger for us I think, and for me I see that in the Baptist context it can sometimes result in one person having a lot of power/responsibility, so much so that it becomes their identity (and it is often not the minister).

Len is helpful as ever, in a recent post on leadership and listening.
Quick quote:
'“leadership” itself has become almost useless as a word, carrying the awkward baggage of modernity and hierarchy, managerial measures and technocratic traffic; at its worst “command and control"'.

He goes on to talk about leadership as a process, not a "heroic individual", which is very helpful.

More random links
A few links worth looking at:
Dave Gilpin: "Holy Crapola" Some great thoughts on faith, miracles etc.from a "contemporary church" type pastor (hope that's not an insult to the man!) especially in the light of the summer's events down in Florida. Here's a quote:
"It’s time to say no to nonsense and silliness and create a faith life that’s filled with the real deal of how God actually operates and wants to operate in the twenty first century"

Andy Goodliff on "10 Books every Baptist Minister should read". I'll confess now I haven't read many on his list, but it did get me wondering what would be on my list, and maybe one day I'll get round to posting that...

And finally a less serious one - showing my age. Here's a video link to an ad. for a long lost chocolate biscuit. Plus if you're a biscuit fan this site is essential

Maybe its because I'm a Londoner...
Just read this:
"Every Christian denomination should be on the alert for London; it is the first duty of Londoners themselves, but believers in the country are also concerned in the right condition of the metropolis. London is in some respects the very heart of the world; it influences every land, its vice is a plague to the whole human race, and its religion may be a balm to the remotest lands. London must be the Lord's; we long to see it set as a gem in the diadem of Jesus, as the Kohinoor among his crown jewels."

Amen! These are Spurgeon's words from 1875.
But how we need that to be our prayer today...

An Honourable Tradition
Working from home, and without much amiable meeting space (without incurring room hiring costs) in the LBA offices, I have sometimes felt guilty of spending too much time in cafes and coffee shops.
So I was pleased to see that I'm part of an honourable tradition, as Roger Hayden notes:
"The joint meetings of London and provincial Baptists in the early 1690's soon ceased, as London Baptist ministers preferred to meet in London Coffee Houses...".
I'm sure it wasn't Costa or Starbucks, but I'm pleased to be following such a great heritage!

For such a time as this...
Great stuff at the Bite the Bullet Conference today.
Unprecedented media coverage for a Christian event. All the major UK TV channels sent crews and reports made both local and nation news. Wow.
Lets pray for an end to the ongoing violent youth crime

The Bible says..
I stumbled across this site a couple of days ago which suggests that "The Bible Says" has been "the mantra of Baptists throughout their history". (Amusing that a conservative site would suggest that Baptists have a mantra!).
So it was even more apt to find Sean commenting on that very phrase on his blog today. Check out his post and the post from Doug Chaplin he links to for an alternative view of that loaded phrase...

Youth Crime
Seems everyone is talking about youth crime and violence again.
BBC London did a debate a couple of weeks back and had a day of programmes about teenage life in London today (which in fairness covered more than that issue).
Channel 4 has a series Disarming Britain next week.

In a couple of weeks time the Baptist Union, along with Street Pastors and others has an event called Bite the Bullet.
Happening at Brixton Baptist on 12th July there are some good, experienced people coming to speak (including Deputy Mayor Ray Lewis). The plan is it'll be more than a one off event, and hopefully make a positive impact.