National news: most popular stories 2018

**Viral baptisms in JCBs, tributes to Billy Graham and Firestarter events for Baptist church growth were among the most read national news stories in The Baptist Times in 2018**

Baptism JCB

1 Baptisms in a JCB in Canada
How do you respond when someone wants to be baptised, but there's no baptistery in sight? Army chaplain and Baptist minister Gary Birch takes up the story

2 ‘No other preacher could compare with him’
Tributes have been pouring in for Billy Graham, Baptist minister and evangelist, who has died aged 99

3 Baptist Union Council: March 2018
A report of Baptist Union Council March 2018, featuring progress on how we train, equip and encourage our future leaders

4 Events for Baptist church growth
A series of 24 hour 'Firestarter' events hosted by Baptist churches experiencing unusual growth have been organised – to see if this accelerated growth can become normal within our Baptist family

5 New safeguarding film for Baptist churches
A new film which aims to highlight excellence in safeguarding for Baptist churches has been released

6 'Creating a fresh momentum for change'
Our figures hide a background of embedded resistance to women’s ministry: the Baptists Together Gender Justice Hub is exploring ways of loosening some of the barriers. Mary Taylor reports from its most recent meeting

7 Baptist anger over Windrush crisis
‘Appalling and deplorable’. Baptists have spoken of their anger over the Windrush deportation crisis

8 'MLK continues to guide and inspire'
A selection of links to events, reflections and resources marking the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's death

9 Resourcing small Baptist churches
How best to resource, encourage and challenge small churches across Baptists Together?

10 'God was speaking deeply into their lives'
Sandra Crawford was not alone in experiencing a renewal of God's call on her life at the annual Fresh Streams conference

Baptist Times, 28/12/2018

Support from the Baptist family for Spurgeon’s students

The whole Baptist family has responded magnificently to BUGB’s Spurgeon’s appeal - £90,000 has been donated by churches and individuals to support Baptist students who had been studying at Spurgeon’s College when it unexpectedly closed its doors in July

New appointment to support ministry to and among 18-35s

Matt Ceaser has been appointed by the Baptist Union of Great Britain to succeed Isabella Senior as 18-35s Coordinator

Empowered to multiply - next Everyone Everywhere conference

A two-day gathering for courage and multiplication - the Everyone Everywhere working group shares more information about its next national conference

‘It helped us take our witness onto the street’

Organisers of the Shine Your Light Christmas campaign say they have been 'overwhelmed' by an unprecedented response from churches

Pantry network milestone, research shows impact

One of Britain’s biggest community pantry networks - Your Local Pantry - has reached its millionth visit, as new findings show it is preventing people from falling into acute crisis. Two Baptist churches share their stories