An Introduction

In response to a request
I Am Because You Are was put together in 2022. The murder of George Floyd in May 2020 had challenged many of us about our attitudes towards race and, by extension, other areas of diversity. In the aftermath, over 150 accredited ministers signed a letter requesting that periodic training in equality and diversity should be mandatory for all accredited ministers, including themselves. In March 2021, the Baptist Union Council accepted this proposal, recognising that engaging well with our increasingly diverse society is an important aspect to our pastoral care, our mission and evangelism, and the health of our Baptist life together. 
 
I Am Because You Are consists of six videos. Each one contains some explanatory material, some reflections from various people within Baptists Together, and questions for your consideration. All accredited ministers and nationally recognised pastors were asked to watch and discuss the videos with fellow ministers during 2023. The next page explains what ministers had to do.

We continue to commend the resource to you if you are minister, whether accredited or not, and to others in Baptist leadership.
 
A starting point
I Am Because You Are is intended to be only an introduction to the topic of equality and diversity. A set of short videos can only hope to open up a conversation about how we experience discrimination and knowingly or unknowingly contribute towards it. I Am Because You Are is just a starting point.
 
Many of us as may have been trained in equality and diversity in other contexts. For ministers, this might have been during our recent ministerial formation, or as a chaplain, school governor, charity trustee, spiritual director, mentor, or in another role. Many of us may approach this topic with considerable experience and expertise. If so, we ask you to bring that experience graciously to any group with whom you discuss the videos. Your insights may prove invaluable to others.
 
I Am Because You Are explicitly aims to be a reflection on our Baptist life together. In putting this training together, we have very deliberately gone first to contributors from within Baptists Together. We are grateful to all those from our Justice Hubs, our colleges, and our churches who have shaped the resource or agreed to be interviewed. 
 
Target audience
Because I Am Because You Are is intended firstly as an introduction to equality and diversity for Baptist ministers, some of the content focusses on ministers especially. However, we have tried to make it accessible to those who do not have theological training or ministry experience, so that it might also be used among church leadership teams or congregations. If you are a minister, once you have watched and discussed it with your fellow ministers, please feel free to share it with others in your setting if you feel this would be helpful.