Core Leadership Team - January 2024

Our Core Leadership Team (CLT) met for the first time at Yarnfield conference centre near Stone in Staffordshire, 23-5 January. We valued the opportunity to be together for 48 hours as we discussed our Financial Model Review (FMR), expertly led by Support Services Team Leader Chris Jones and Project Analyst David Smith. We were blessed with the spiritual accompaniment of our President Tim Presswood. I began with leading a time of stillness and prayer. Morning prayers were led by Association Team Leaders Adrian Argile and Lisa Kerry. 
 
Over the three days stories and updates were shared from our Mission Forum. This was to ensure we kept mission at the centre of our conversations, informing our decision making about finances. This began with Regional Minister for Mission in our South West Association Carl Smethurst. He shared how we are moving forward in the digital space. The Change Makers Project is live. This project is bringing together creatives and digital enthusiasts from across the Baptist Together. They share a mutual passion for using digital media to engage with social justice and gospel sharing through creativity. Also, transform.church our first exclusively online Baptist missional community. 

Co-facilitators of the Children, Young People and Families Round Table Clare Hooper and Mike Lowe shared stories and an update. Listening to the voice of the child across our movement is a missional priority. A ‘200 voices’ research project is underway which will hear from 200 young people across Baptists Together. This year’s Baptist Assembly will hear from and integrate children throughout the programme. Through 2024 Youthscape Essentials Training will be rolled out across our Associations. This course equips and strengthens anyone working with or ministering to young people in churches and community projects.

David and Chris led seven workshops spread over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to facilitate the financial model conversation. We are continuing to engage with Association teams and trustees about the future of our joint financial model.  We are holding an extra Council in June devoted to this particular issue where we will agree a model for the future.

The FMR team are creating a discrete section of the Baptist Together website to provide context and further detailed information keeping churches up to date with developments. Prayer was central to these conversations focused on our core purpose, that of disciple making and Kingdom seeking.

We also listened and reflected on other important areas of our shared life together.

• President for 2025-6. No nominations were received for the Presidency that will follow Steve Finamore. The expressed preference was to recommend to Council a fallow year rather than bringing particular names for nomination.
• Praying Together contributors. Joth Hunt shared about this ongoing initiative, with weekly prayers and monthly livestreamed prayer gatherings planned. The next two are 7 February and 6 March, both at 10.30am.
• Assembly Update 2024 & 2025. Diane Watts shared details of this year’s Assembly, with bookings now open. Different to previous years are several additions. These include a Young Adults Assembly package, a full Friday afternoon programme and an opportunity to support the local community by participating, or volunteering at the Telford parkrun. Diane also shared that Telford will be the venue for our 2025 Assembly which will be 16-18 May.
• Everyone Everywhere. Alex Harris via video gave a Mission Forum update on the newly named ‘Everyone Everywhere’ initiative. This is a grassroots desire to serve our Baptist Family to catalyse and create collaboration for two things:
  -        Ordinary Christians in ordinary ways being able to speak about Jesus.
  -        Ordinary churches in ordinary places being able to start new Christian communities where they are needed and in the way they are needed.

 
Sandra Crawford and Steve Tinning shared a Mission Forum justice issues update. Sandra began by saying that Steve has joined the Mission Forum Core group. Mission is about Kingdom Seeking and issues of justice and our engagement with them are integral. Sandra and many other Baptist ministers have contributed stories to a new book ‘Jesus and Justice – Stories of radical Christian living’.
 
Via video Steve Tinning shared the plans the Joint Public Issues Team have for 2024, including the Let’s End Poverty campaign, Voter Registration Champions and the Constituency Action Network.

Tim Presswood shared a story of a local church he was involved in closing. Amidst the difficulty of the situation, it was showed we are a resurrection people. A lasting memory was created from the long-standing pulpit and from it small sculptures were created from it:
 
It's great to see how Baptists Together are leaning into challenging times and engaging with issues with prayerful faith, Spirit filled hope and with a desire to be disciple makers and Kingdom seekers. Thank you for all the ways that you are part of this. I am looking forward to seeing what God is going to do amongst us during 2024!

Lynn Green
February 2024
The Revd Lynn Green is General Secretary of our Baptist Union

The Core Leadership Team (CLT) is an expression of covenant and interdependence for us as Baptists.  It draws together many of those offering leadership across our Movement (Regional Team Leaders, College Principals, Specialist Team Leaders, our President, Treasurer, General Secretary, the Moderators of Council and the Trustee Board, together with a leader from each of our current priority areas) and its purpose is to perceive what God is doing, to encourage flourishing across Baptists Together and to model together what it means to be a Kingdom Movement. 

Please share these messages with your church