Eighty per cent of households in Britain now have access to the internet, a figure which rises to 95 per cent of households with children. With over two thirds of the adult population now identifying themselves as being on-line daily*, having an attractive and accessible website has never been more important.

The launch of the Baptists Together magazine coincides with a major update and re-design of the Baptist Union’s website. This is more than simply re-organising the available information or maintaining a fresh and contemporary design, it has involved re-thinking who might visit our website and why.

The internet is shifting from primarily being a source of technical and reference information, to being the means through which people shop, keep in touch with friends, catch up with their favourite TV programmes and explore new ideas and experiences. Until now the BUGB website has been primarily designed to provide resources, information and support to local churches, and while all of these features will remain, we have recognised that it could increasingly become the gateway through which many people are introduced to the story of Jesus and life and witness of their local Baptist Church.

The new site has much more of a “feel” of engaging with a spiritual community and seeks to make it easier for visitors to find their way around.

We are first and foremost a community of interdependent churches, associating together to make Jesus known in our communities and to the world. It is in those churches that our message is primarily lived out, so it is the life of those churches that we want to highlight, alongside of course providing them with the technical support, advice and resources that they need.


A feature of both the website and this magazine is a new logo that will be increasingly used as a symbol of our working together. Designed around the shape of a letter “b” it retains the core symbols that have been used by our Union for over half a century – these are more than mere graphics, but an expression of who we are:

The cross – at our very heart is the Gospel message of Jesus, whose life, death and resurrection is the foundation of our faith; a symbol that connects us with a wider Christian community and defines us as centred on Christ.

The fish – one of the earliest symbols of Christian community, reminding us that we belong to each other and are called to walk together and watch over one another in love.

Water – expressing our defining commitment to believer’s baptism and the cleansing and renewing by God’s Spirit that undergirds our identity as disciples of Jesus.

As our world becomes increasingly “on-line”, we hope that this site will be a valuable mission presence that Baptists can be proud of. We hope that it might inspire and encourage local churches to recognise that their own websites are a vital window to the community around them.