New films share the story of our radical roots
 

Andy Goodliff introduces Radical Roots - a series of films and accompanying course from the Baptist Historical Society and Church from Scratch telling the stories of five people to help better understand where Baptists came from 

The Baptist Historical Society exists to study and share the story of Baptists. A while ago, Lynn Green asked the Society to find some new ways to make the history of Baptists more widely known. 

The history of Baptists is full of fascinating and radical lives — the most famous being John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress and Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers. Our Baptist churches today are the result of those who lived in the past.

So a group of us began to write some monologues about several different Baptist figures.

Around this time we received a phone call for Peter Dominey, Baptist minister at Church from Scratch in Southend. He wanted to create some Baptists resources which he could use with his congregation, but might also have some wider use. He wanted to created a film, to make it accessible as possible.

And so the two ideas came together and Radical Roots was born: five films telling the stories of five Baptists.

Peter involved Rachel Dingle to write the script and direct the filming. Rachel is the founder of Show Up productions.

With the input of members of the Baptist Historical Society, she crafted together a brilliant script that sought to faithfully imagine five Baptists from different centuries meeting and the conversations they might have, drawing out some of the principles that make Baptists tick.

Then over a couple of days, a group of professional actors came together to film at Southend City Baptist Church.



The videos all feature in specially created sessions alongside accompanying questions and activities to enable participants to discover Baptist distinctives and examine themes of continuity and change in our history.

We think Radical Roots is something special. We will be launching on 3 February, and hope it will be a great resource for churches in learning about where Baptists came from, and what is at the heart of Baptist life.
 

Radical Roots was launched on 3 February on YouTube, and contributors included our General Secretary Lynn Green 

The Radical Roots films and accompanying course material are available at: radicalroots.uk

As well as Baptists Together, seven Associations and two colleges have sponsored the videos. These include Central Baptist Association, Eastern Baptist Association, Heart of England Baptist Association, London Baptists, Northern Baptist Association, South Wales Baptist Association, Yorkshire Baptist Association, Northern Baptist College, and Spurgeon's College.  


Andy Goodliff is the minister of Belle Vue Baptist Church, Southend. He is a lecturer in Baptist History at Regent's Park College, Oxford