National news stories in 2020

Baptist churches receive funding for youth work

Five Baptist projects have received a funding boost to help them connect with young people, as part of the latest round of the national Growing Lives grant programme

‘A great servant of God and of the British Baptist family’

Tributes have been paid to the Revd Douglas Sparkes, who died on New Year’s Day aged 92

Who is God calling to be the President of our Union?

With a Presidential election upon us, Richard Wilson explores how we might go about discerning which candidate to vote for

Reaching the places other Christians can’t reach

Ros Bayes reports on the first Disability Inclusion in our Churches event, hosted by Through the Roof - which featured a particularly powerful testimony

New partnership for NBC and The Light Project

Northern Baptist College and The Light Project College begin new partnership to form evangelists and pioneers as nationally accredited Baptist ministers

Training a new generation of Baptist pioneers

Sally Mann provides an update on a partnership project between Baptists Together and Spurgeon’s College to create a suite of new units to train missional leaders and pioneers

'Easiest evangelism now even easier'

The popular website www.christianity.org.uk has relaunched with a brand new look for 2020 – and every church has been encouraged to link it

'Tireless in his advocacy for the neediest'

Tributes have been paid to British Baptist Paul Montacute, who has died in Virginia, USA after a long illness

Responding to the February floods

A number of Baptist churches opened as emergency centres; others have been flooded; prayer points offered

Thousands light a #candleofhope in the darkness

Tens of thousands of Christians across Britain united to pray as part of the National Day of Prayer and Action on Sunday

Baptist Union Presidency for Geoff Colmer

Baptists have discerned that Geoff Colmer will serve as our President in 2021-2022

Churches unite around Covid 19 statement

British and Irish church leaders release Holy Week statement following meeting convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury

Time for a Christian listening ministry

Tim Harding introduces a new, multi-denominational Christian listening ministry, due to launch in May

Baptist Union Council: March 2020

Council members were invited to participate in a Survey Monkey for some items on the agenda for the cancelled March meeting - here are the outcomes

New telephone befriending tool launched

A new telephone befriending project which enables local churches to reach those particularly impacted by self-isolation has been launched by a Christian charity

The Great Unshaken Celebration!

A number of women in Baptist ministry gathered online on Saturday night to bless and encourage those due to have had their 'handshake' at this year's Baptist Assembly. Catriona Gorton explains more

New leadership team at Parish Nursing

It is hoped parish nursing can reach even more communities with the arrival of a new leadership team to build on what has already been developed

Thy Kingdom Come despite lockdown

Thy Kingdom Come launches new elements including ‘prayer and care’ in response to COVID-19

National competition to help churches rebuild communities

A national competition is seeking to find ambitious church-based social action projects that are supporting local people with housing needs and building community

Coronavirus, Church and You survey

Introducing a survey that's assessing responses to the Covid-19 crisis among churchgoers in the UK - and is seeking responses from Baptists

Climate Sunday: giving a voice to local churches

Marking World Environment Day, a new initiative has launched to provide focus for churches from across Britain and Ireland committed to action to combat climate change

New online initiative for Baptist Historical Society

The Baptist Historical Society has taken a key initiative to engage in online webinars during 2020 themed “Uncovering Baptist Stories”

Coronavirus and changing church

New research has given some insight into how churches have responded in the coronavirus crisis

Churches embrace telephone befriending tool

A new telephone befriending tool which launched in lockdown is already being used by a number of churches around the country

Langton Award for Wave

A charity founded by Christians which brings individuals with and without learning disabilities together has won an award from the Archbishop of Canterbury

Churches more 'cut off' from young people in lockdown

Research reveals nearly a quarter of churches see drop in contact with children and young people during lockdown, alongside creative use of the online space to connect

Angus Library grant for digitisation

The Baptist Historical Society awards a grant of £2000 to the Angus Library for the digitisation of early records from important Baptist churches

Book honour for Myra Blyth

Recognising the contribution she has made to Baptist and ecumenical life, Myra Blyth has become the first female British Baptist minister to receive a festschrift – a set of essays in her honour

The Baptist Union Environment Network

A new Baptist network that will connect people with a passion for the environment and climate change is to launch on 6 September

Continuing Ministerial Development framework to launch

A new scheme to support the development and wellbeing of all in Baptist ministry is launching this autumn

Keyboard volunteers recover lost Bible translations

Three Bible translation agencies have teamed up to make the Bible more widely available in hundreds more languages through a digitisation project - and seek more volunteers

Online Assembly 2020

The online Assembly for the Baptist Union of Great Britain took place on 16 September 2020 - a report of what happened

Baptist Historical Society webinars launched

More than 40 people participated in the first in a series of four webinars Uncovering Baptist Stories developed by the Baptist Historical Society

Baptist scholar involved in British Academy research on COVID-19

Professor Paul Weller has secured British Academy special COVID funding to conduct research on The Organizational, Financial and Human Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Christian Faith-Based Organization Service Sector in Great Britain

Back to the future?

The annual Fresh Streams conference will explore what it might look like to be co-creators of the future with God rather than curators of the past for God

‘A clear, contemporary integration of faith and work’

Baptist trio join forces to produce new book outlining the history of Industrial Christian Fellowship (ICF)

Baptist Union Council: October 2020

Justice issues were at the heart of the first ever Baptist Union Council to take place solely using video conferencing technology

'5 million meals per month during the pandemic'

Churches across the UK have provided more than 5 million meals per month during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report

Mosque-Church conversations

Andy Williams introduces an Inter Faith Week project which initiates conversations between local mosques and churches

Helping EU nationals stay in the UK post-Brexit

Many EU citizens who have the right to stay in the UK after the Brexit transition period may struggle to do so – which is why a campaign that enables churches to support applications to the EU Settlement Scheme has launched

Uncovering our Baptist stories

The Baptist Historical Society has completed a series of webinars under the general title "Uncovering our Baptist Stories"

Planning a Covid Christmas

One of the themes for the Small Church Connexion webinar in November was Christmas and how to bring the good news of Jesus within the unusual context of 2020

Share the light this Christmas

Introducing a church-wide, nationwide communications campaign to inspire our nation this Christmas. By Mike Elms

'Set 75 per cent emissions cut by 2030' PM urged

General Secretary Lynn Green and our former President Dave Gregory have joined British church leaders in urging Boris Johnson to set a 75 per cent emissions cut by 2030

The Charge is gathering momentum

Clergy motoring specialists Newgate reports a marked increase in people choosing electric cars, with Baptists at the forefront – and adds installing charging points on their premises presents a possible missional opportunity for churches

Breaking County Lines

County Lines is one of the most prevalent forms of modern slavery in our country - and the church has a 'vital role to play' in the fight against it. New training will equip it to do so