Logo

 

Banner Image:   Baptist-Times-banner-2000x370-
Template Mode:   Baptist Times
Icon
    Post     Tweet

Baptists - book for Greenbelt!

 

As church finds itself more unable to ignore its engagement with politics, economics and society, the summer festival will help you look at and think about faith differently, says Baptist minister Andy Goodliff




Greenbelt


Greenbelt has a 40 year plus history as a Christian festival. From its beginnings as a music festival, it has developed into a festival of music, ideas, arts concerned with faith and justice. There is nothing else like it in terms of Christian festivals in the UK.

I first went in the 1990s as a teenager, then side stepped into Soul Survivor between 1998-2004. I returned in 2005 and have been there every year since (mostly all weekend, and once just for a day). It is a part of our summer as a family. This year we’re going as a family of five. Our older children (seven and four this year) love it – the camping, the outdoors, it's got lots to do and see – and this grows year on year as they get older.

I’m writing this article to say "Come on Baptists, get your tickets and come along." You won’t regret it. You will experience a diverse range of voices, music, and experiences, that will make you look and think about faith differently.

This year the theme is The Common Good and within the line-up are names you might recognise like Jack Monroe (cook and journalist), Kim Leadbeater (the sister of Jo Cox), Peter Oborne (journalist), Ann Pettifor (economist and the leader of Jubilee 200 campaign), Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Natalie Bennett (former Green party leader) and lots more. As church finds itself more unable to ignore its engagement with politics, economics and society, here is a group of voices that help explore the question of what do we have in common.

It would be great to grow the Baptist presence at the festival. It would be great to see one day the Baptist Union become an Associate of the festival like the Methodist Church has been and the URC currently are.

When is it? August Bank Holiday Weekend

Where is it? Boughton House, near Kettering (Northamptonshire)

 

Good deals on tickets remain available until end of June. 

 

Andy Goodliff is minister of Belle Vue Baptist Church, Southend, Essex

 

Related
“Division is a sin” - Greenbelt 2016 - Greenbelt's magical variety affirms a deeper truth
"It's Greenbelt, you know?" - Stumbling into a bright field to have a divine experience with God: Alex Baker reports on Greenbelt 2015

Greenbelt interviews: Gungor, Mark Yaconelli, Hazel Southam

Baptist minister and Greenbelt co-founder dies - John Peck was a Baptist minister who co-founded the Greenbelt Arts festival and has been described as “The Least Known Best Theologian in the World”

 
Baptist Times, 26/06/2017
    Post     Tweet
A bridge of hope? The Baptist witness in Israel and Palestine
Baptists in Israel and Palestine are a unique bridge between different people and cultures in the region, writes Mark Hirst, who recently visited Baptists there. He shares this and other reflections to help fuel our prayers
Gaza: our voices do make a difference
The news is indeed dreadful, writes David Nelson - but showing solidarity does have an impact
Bruno and other friends: encounters and reflections  
Baptist minister Ivan King explains why he has written a book honouring some of the ordinary people who have welcomed him into their world as a pastor
'The Inter Faith Network is in peril - please support it'
The government is withdrawing funding from the Inter Faith Network, leading to its potential closure. Paul Weller, a member of the Baptists Together Inter Faith Working Group, is encouraging Baptists to urgently protest the decision
Look outward in Lent 
For many Lent has become a time for self-examination and for deepening one’s devotional life. But the call to Christian discipleship is to look away from oneself - so let’s experiment in new ways of sharing our faith with others this year
'Remember the call I gave you...'  
While all the speakers at Fresh Streams 2024 highlighted how we are living in a time of significant change, there was a clear message from God too, writes first-time attender Simon Evans-White
     The Baptist Times 
    Posted: 12/02/2024
    Posted: 22/12/2023
    Posted: 16/12/2023
    Posted: 19/10/2023
    Posted: 19/10/2023
    Posted: 10/10/2023
    Posted: 26/09/2023
    Posted: 23/09/2023
    Posted: 20/09/2023
    Posted: 04/09/2023
    Posted: 17/07/2023
    Posted: 23/05/2023
    Posted: 17/05/2023
    Posted: 03/05/2023