Marriage and Ministry Consultation Update
The following message was sent to all Members of Assembly on 7 December 2023
Greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through this year you have been invited to participate in our Consultation about Marriage and Ministry. The closing date for contributions has now passed and I want to say thank you for being part of this listening and discerning process. I recognise it has been challenging for many and so your faith, prayerful and careful engagement with this issue is much appreciated. I will now explain what will happen over the next few months. Please watch this short video message:
Below is an updated timeline which I hope is useful.
Our external researchers are now collating contributions and producing their report. This means we are not able to comment on what has been shared. Should you have any general queries we will continue to monitor and reply to emails sent via our Consultation contact form. Once Council have finished their discernment, full public access to the report will be given via the Baptists Together website.
Our Core Leadership Team is now calling Baptists Together to enter a time of prayer in the coming months. I want us to be focused on the Lord, his Kingdom and his mission and how he will use us for his good purposes. Whilst national prayer initiatives are being planned I want to encourage us all to continue to build a culture of prayer across our Union. Please create spaces to pray in your church, cluster, association, college or other setting.
This has not been an easy time for Baptists Together. I believed that our response to the question we have been asked must be prayerfully and carefully discerned, involving significant listening. Through our consultation process, we have attempted to give as many as possible the opportunity to share their convictions and insights. I have been encouraged to see the different ways that gracious conversations have been enabled locally, regionally, and nationally and am grateful to all of those involved in this.
Nevertheless, I am acutely aware of the strong convictions and opinions we hold across our Union. I appreciate waiting is hard. We will need to be very sensitive to each other as we walk together going forward. Again and again, we have come back to this passage from Ephesians 4,
“I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
As Baptists we believe that discerning together is vital as we seek Christ revealed through Scripture. We trust that as we listen carefully to the Lord and each other we will see more clearly how we can be faithful disciples in this season. Please join me as we continue to uphold our Union and this time of discernment in prayer.
Grace and peace,
Lynn Green
General Secretary