Mission

Keeping mission relevant, alive and supporting your church is important to all of us here at the Baptist Union of Scotland.

Our first Mission and Ministry Advisor, Rev Dr Jim Purves, began work with our Union on 1st January 2012.

We have now appointed a new Mission Development Coordinator with BMS World Mission. Rev Judy White started work in this role on 1st February 2012.

Our hope is that this new post will serve our churches well as mission in Scotland is informed by a global perspective and we continue as a nation to show our commitment to overseas mission.

Our DNA group explores opportunities for mission under the chairmanship of Rev Dr Jim Purvis.

 

for more information contact: judy@scottishbaptist.org.uk 

 
 
 

Baptist Christians Working Together to Engage Effectively in Mission

During 2010 and 2011, discussions took place amongst Baptists to explore ways in which Baptist Christians could better work together for the sake of the gospel. Gradually it became clear that God was calling us to think and work collaboratively.

 
The outcome of this has been the formation of a new Mission Forum with representatives from:
" Baptist Union of Great Britain
" Baptist Union of Scotland
" Baptist Union of Wales
" BMS World Mission
" Irish Baptist Networks
" Baptist Colleges
The group met for the first time in June 2011.
 
The new Mission Forum will be a place for prayer, discussion, exploration and reflection and out of this we hope and pray will come new creative, imaginative and insightful ideas, thinking and resources to reach people with the good news of Jesus.

Missionscene is the bi-monthly newsletter from the Mission Forum with news of mission events, training and resources to help you and your church in mission.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
'Connect’, our Union's monthly newsletter, interviewed Andy Scarcliffe, former Mission Advisor to the Baptist Union of Scotland, about the new PRISM pioneer planting initiative, about to be launched. CLICK HERE to find out more.

The Big Welcome

We are delighted to share news about a brand new mission resource - The Big Welcome. It is particularly exciting that churches in all three of our Baptist Unions – (the Baptist Union of Wales, Baptist Union of Scotland and Baptist Union of Great Britain) will be taking part in this initiative this year.
 
Throughout the U.K., over 480 Baptist churches took part in last year’s Big Welcome, as part of the national ‘Back to Church Sunday’ initiative, and those churches welcomed over 6000 additional people through their doors as a result of the Big Welcome.
 
What IS the Big Welcome?
Its is a simple concept that encourages us to invite one person we know to something we love. We hope that through the simple word 'Welcome' local churches will find ways to invite people into their church. This may be through a Sunday service, a special Sunday lunch, Cafe Church, a concert or whatever. The important thing is that you invite people by personal invitation, and when they respond you make them feel very welcome.
 
Whilst ‘Back to Church Sunday’ is celebrated by churches across the denominations on 25 September, your church is free to adapt the Big Welcome resources and use them for events on other dates (the date can easily be removed from the bottom of the poster).
 
There are many resources available to help church present the Big Welcome in a professional way. Details are here. 
 
 
From Dumfries Baptist Church - Memories of Back to Church Sunday
On September 27th 2009 Dumfries Baptist Church participated for the first time in the Back to Church Sunday initiative. The idea was presented at a church meeting in May and selected from several potential outreach initiatives for the coming Autumn. Very quickly a task group set about preparing the church to welcome family and friends of members and to think through what it would be like to arrive at church for the first time.
 
The big concern that we all had was that no one would come. So as September arrived people began to pray more earnestly that family and friends would accept the invitation. The local newspaper were happy to run the story that we were inviting people to “come as you are” and made a big fuss of the fact that I promised to be wearing my jeans that week. Church members then began to invite people to come. We were overwhelmed by the response. It was the busiest service of the year with a 33% increase in attendance on the day.
 
The church grew in confidence that day as they realised people were still willing to take a look at church and consider its place in their life. Some took more than a discreet peek and began to come with some regularity, which was a great encouragement. Overall, the church learnt a lot in the preparation for the day about how to welcome guest warmly and make sure they feel at ease when in our company. It really made us think what it meant to give people a big welcome.
 

More Than Gold

The Baptist Union of Scotland has partnered with “More than Gold”, the organisation recognised by the Olympics for developing a Christian faith-based response to the arrival of major sporting events in a nation.
 
For us that particularly means the Commonwealth Games is 2014 however the opportunity exists, with next year's Olympics just around the corner, to have a trial run and even prove to regional authorities our ability to organise events.
 
The number of opportunities that exist for Christian service and mission attached to a major sporting event are almost endless. I am very excited about the possibilities and pray that this opportunity will give us open doors to showing the love of Christ and witnessing to the gospel.
  • Details on how churches can get involved in sending mission teams to the Olympics are available here
  • Information on More Than Gold mission teams is here
  • A More Than Gold mission team Application Form is here
Although the Olympics will mostly take place in London, I encourage you to have an eye on the Olympic torch parade which is
likely to come to a city or town near you. Many towns and villages will seek to celebrate the arrival of the torch in a big way with local children and community servants taking part in the parade. This may give local churches the opportunity to engage with their community in a festival atmosphere and increase the town’s awareness of our Baptist Churches.
Alan Donaldson
 
 

Conferences

 Lifesize. This is a resource for smaller churches, helping them celebrate smallness, and engage with their communities. It is available to Scottish Baptist Churches which offers a number of ways that the smaller church can think freshly about how they live the Jesus Life.

Among other issues, the course covers: Belonging before believing – (creating a culture of welcome), Discipleship in a smaller church, creative engagement with the community, and buildings – are they servants or masters.

The course comes with a leader’s handbook and DVD. The Mission Department is also offering supplementary videos from the Scottish context, along with extra Powerpoint material for leading the course.

 

Lifesize could be done over four or five evenings, or two half days. One Scottish church as already completed the course, and four plan to run it in the near future. The course costs £4 for each workbook & DVD.

See Lifesize Video Clip here

 
 

Mission enquiries

For all mission enquiries contact:
Email: mission@scottishbaptist.org.uk
Phone: 0141 433 4551
Post: The Baptist Union of Scotland, 
48 Speirs Wharf, 
Glasgow, 
G4 9TH
 

 

 The Baptist Union of Scotland (Charity Registration No. SC004960)