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!

One World, One Mission
Thanks for the entrants to the competition (previous post), both of you!
Will be in contact with my sponsor to see if there will be a prize...

Meanwhile it's May bank holiday, which means 2 things:
Dodgy weather
And the Baptist Assembly, the annual UK gathering of Baptists.
This year it's Plymouth, with the theme "one world, one mission".
Will see what comes out of this years gathering...should be fun!
And if Twitter is your thing the hash tag to look for seems to be #baptassem

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!

Assembly Reflections
Several bloggers reflecting on the Baptist Assembly.
Andy here, Geoff here.

I confess to enjoying the annual gathering. Being in the Norbreck Castle made it easier for socialising/networking and catching up with people compared to other venues where people are rushing back to separate hotels (plus the advantage of not having to find food places at 5pm, and places to go after hours). In terms of the content of the Assembly, I've heard the usual mix of moans and joys. There are things I thought could have been better, but I never know if that's about where I'm at at the moment or the event itself!

Brighton Rocks?
Tomorrow is the start of the annual pilgrimage to the Baptist Assembly!
This year we're back in Brighton, so I hope the sun keep shining.
The theme is "In Search of Freedom", marking the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Prism, the creative/alternative stream is also happening again this year. The bits of that last year I dipped into seemed to be good.