After more than 50 years as a Christian, and more than 40 years as a Pastor, I have come to the conclusion that the only really acceptable form of evangelism is ‘friendship evangelism’. If we don’t genuinely care about people as people, and only see them as some kind of ‘conversion fodder’, we are doing a disservice to Christ and the Gospel and turning people away rather than drawing them in.

Throughout history, Christians have used many different approaches to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A quick internet search will reveal the numerous ‘titles’ given to these various methods. Wikipedia (that fount of all knowledge) alone lists 15 different approaches, and there are many others that are not mentioned there that I can think of. Some of these approaches to reaching out to people in Christ’s name are more creditable than others. I particularly like the idea of ‘lifestyle evangelism’ – an approach to evangelism characterized by someone demonstrating their faith by their actions, the byproduct of which is that people around them will be impressed with how God affects that person’s life and become Christians. Jesus certainly drew people to God through showing them kindness and performing good deeds, and this is certainly a method employed by the early church. Luke tells us that when the people of Jerusalem saw how these first Christians lived, the church ‘enjoyed the favour of all the people and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved’ (Acts 2:47).

My wife, Julia, also talks a lot about ‘evangelization through fascination’ – the idea that there can be something about a Christian or a particular church that just draws people to them, even though the people themselves cannot explain exactly why? Time and again, when I was at Elm Road, Beckenham, new people attending worship would say to me, ‘I don’t understand what you people are on about half the time, but I really like it here, and I want to know more about it!’ This was also true of the early church. Luke tells us that despite the ‘holy fear’ that apparently engulfed the whole of Jerusalem at that time – engendered by the sudden deaths of Ananias and Sapphira – ‘more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number’ (Acts 5:14).

The point that I am seeking to make here, however, is that whatever method of evangelism we employ – either as individuals or as churches – genuine love and friendship for others must be at the heart of all we do! Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments in the Two Commandments – ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength [and] love your neighbour as yourself’ (Mark 12:30,31). And by ‘neighbour’ Jesus meant ‘everyone we rub shoulders with’. Sadly, it is possible to engage in any method of evangelism without genuinely loving the person we are engaging with. Take, for example, the Alpha Course – seen by many as one of the most effective evangelistic tools employed by many churches in the UK today. It is quite possible for a church to put on an Alpha Course without actually really loving, or seeking to genuinely befriend, those whom they invite. I personally know of one town where several of the local churches ran Alpha Courses at the same time, and actually ‘warred’ with each other in their attempts to enlist people to attend, in order to boost their own numbers?! Even this aspect of ‘friendship evangelism’ that I am advocating here, has sadly morphed into a ‘system’ known as ‘Friendship Evangelism’ defined on Wikipedia as ‘an approach to evangelism characterized by Christians developing relationships with people in order to show them kindness and talk to them about God eventually’ which, to my mind at least, smacks of something false – befriending people because we have a hidden agenda rather than because we really love them?

I might be accused of being a tad skeptical of course, I admit. But I have seen so many churches over the years where a lot of interest and attention has been focused on people until they make some kind of commitment, only to find themselves ignored afterwards as the church moves on to the next likely candidate?! This may account to some degree as to why the ‘drop out’ rate in some churches is huge. One prominent leader of a big charismatic church told me – in a rare moment of honesty – that they had as many people leaving by the back door as they had coming in through the front door. I suspect that they are not the only church where this phenomena is happening, although I suspect that you will be hard pressed to get anyone to admit it?!

John Harris (Love In Action Ministries) suggests that seeing people simply as ‘conversion fodder’ is also know in some quarters as ‘scalp hunting’ – an old Wild West term stemming from a time when soldiers were paid for each Red Indian scalp they collected?! One of the rules of hermeneutics – the science behind correctly interpreting Scripture – is that there must be ‘an honest reading of the text’ rather than a bringing of our own ideas to a biblical text or passage. In much the same way we need to indulge in ‘an honest reading of the text of our own lives’! In seeking to share the good news of Jesus and the Gospel with others, do we do so out of genuine love for them? Perhaps the acid test is whether or not we intend to remain friends with people even if they never turn to Christ? As my good friend, Serena Newman, suggests, ‘You can be lifelong friends with someone, and they still may not choose to become a Christian … [but] that isn’t a reason to stop being friends … or [perhaps you may discover that] you never were a [genuine] friend in the first place … you were just playing the conversion fodder game in disguise!’

Jim Binney

I wonder if you are familiar with Rob Lacey’s amusing sceptical send up – too near the truth for the liking of many, I suspect – of the shallowness of much Christianity today: ‘O Lord, we worship your woodginess. For you are the Forever Fluffy One, the All Squidgy, Squiggly One. And we giggle and gush in your presence as we raise our hoorays all the days of our trouble-free-lives. For we are your simple dimples. And we trust in the warmth of your cuteness everlasting. And we declare that you are beyond all naughtiness, above all itchy twitchiness, and higher than all horridness. And we raise our hippity hip hoorays all the days of our trouble-free-lives. And we want to be your best friends. And we want to give you our sweeties – even the blackcurrant ones – because we think you are … just … so … nice!’

I think it was the late Chuck Colson who described American Christianity as being ‘three thousand miles wide and half an inch deep’. Colson specifically had the American ‘Bible Belt’ in mind, but the same could be said of much evangelical and charismatic Christianity here in the UK. A number of the various blogs I read on the internet have recently had a common theme – concern over the immaturity of so many evangelical and charismatic Christians today. As a Pastor of more than 40 years standing, I have got used to young people returning from events such as Soul Survivor very enthusiastic for Christ and the Gospel, determined to see the local church experience revival. On average this enthusiasm lasts about two weeks before the reality of living as Christians in the real world hits home. Some young people understand this, and are able to channel their experience of renewal into spiritual growth and Christian service (as those who lead Soul Survivor continually advocate those attending should do). Many, however, simply criticise their own churches for not being ‘like it was at Soul Survivor’, failing in the process to learn the lessons taught us by ancient Israel who had many a ‘mountain top’ experience, but found that all their battles were won in the valley! Some of these young people mope around saying things like ‘I can’t wait until Soul Survivor next year!’ as they wait for their annual ‘quick fix’!?

Now, to a degree we expect this of young people, simply because they are ‘young people’ and there are no ‘short cuts’ to growing up. Many young Christians will, hopefully, continue to ‘grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (2 Peter 3:18) and become mature men and women of God, men and women ‘full of faith and the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 6:5), who will be greatly used by God in the work of the kingdom. The problem comes when believers don’t grow in this way, but remain immature in the things of God, and ineffective in the work of the kingdom!

This, of course, is not a new problem. Way back in New Testament times we find the Writer to the Hebrews exhorting his or her readers to move on from baby food to solids (Hebrews 5:13,14). And for as long as I can remember, a recurring theme in Ministers’ Fellowships has been how best to help members of the church and congregation move on from simply being believers to becoming true disciples. It may be that I am guilty of seeing the past through rose tinted spectacles, but it seems to me this particular problem is worse today. I am personally grateful for all that the charismatic renewal, at its best, brought to the church back in the 1960s and 1970s. Charismatic churches of today, however, are very different from those of the 1960s and 1970s. Today, if a church sings lots of ‘worship songs’ it is classed as ‘charismatic’ even if there is no significant manifestation of the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit to accompany the singing.

I welcome the release from the legalism and formalism of much of the Christianity of my youth that the charismatic renewal brought, but recall the prophetic words of David Pawson to us as students at Spurgeon’s College in the late 1960s that ‘If charismatic renewal simply degenerates into the endless, mindless singing of worship songs, we will have missed all that God is seeking to do through this movement!’ It would appear those prophetic words have been sadly fulfilled, and it may well be that the charismatic movement has actually created as many problems as it has solved, not least in encouraging an atmosphere in which what we might call the ‘woodginess’ of so much evangelical and charismatic Christianity today breeds.

Jesus, in what has become know as the Great Commission, exhorts his Church to ‘Go and make disciples’ (Matthew 28:19) and not simply believers. This is something we all need to recognise, given the emphasis today on the need to be ‘missional’ churches. The Greek word for ‘disciple’ literally means ‘a learner’ and draws a picture of a student learning from a teacher. We are reminded of Mary ‘sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to what he had to say’ (Luke 9:39). But the word ‘disciple’ also implies discipline, dedication – an athlete making the necessary changes to his or her lifestyle, taking on board a stringent training schedule, in order to win the Olympic medal and not just be an ‘also ran’.

In order to help members of the church and congregation become mature disciples some churches have started disciple training programmes, but the plain fact of the matter is that discipleship cannot be imposed upon people. Essentially discipleship is about self-discipline. There are plenty of resources out there – not least from God himself – which we can call upon if we truly want to become the men and women of God that God wants us all to be. Time, I think, for us to junk the concept of God as the ‘All-Matey’ and reinstate the concept of God as the Almighty – a God who both demands and deserves a thought-through, dedicated, commitment from those who name the Name of Christ. As C T Studd understood, many years ago, ‘If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him!’

Jim Binney

Abide with Me

Hands up all those who remember Max Boyce, the Welsh comedian, singer and entertainer. He rose to fame during the mid-1970s with an act that combined musical comedy with his passion for rugby union and his origins in the mining communities of South Wales. Having sold more than two million albums in a career spanning four decades, and playing to full houses all around the world, Boyce is one of the most successful and enduring entertainers in Welsh history. He is perhaps best known for his song Hymns and Arias which became popular with Welsh rugby crowds and which you will always hear sung at Welsh International Matches today. He is still performing today, although not as much on our TV screens as he was in the 70s.

Hymns and Arias was inspired by the Welsh love of singing, particularly the prominence of hymn singing in the non-conformist chapels of Max Boyce’s youth. Seemingly it is not just the Welsh (even the non-religious Welsh) who love hymn singing? Danny Boyle’s brilliant opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics incorporated several Christian hymns: Jerusalem, Guide me O Thou great Redeemer, Abide with me to name but three. Abide with me was sung in its entirety by Emeli Sandé even including the final verse:

Hold now your cross before my closing eyes,

Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies:

Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee:

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

H F Lyte’s famous hymn, sadly associated more today with cup finals than church, was the background to a very moving tableau on the theme of reconciliation and restoration which could have been understood in a number of ways, not least God seeking out lost humanity and drawing us back to himself in Christ.

Judging by the response of ordinary people – Emeli Sandé’s already strong popularity was boosted even further by her performance at the Opening Ceremony – we may well be missing a trick here as church by dismissing the old hymns. Many evangelical and charismatic churches today hardly ever sing the old hymns, preferring to use more modern ‘worship songs’ almost exclusively. A ‘worship leader’ told me recently that he never uses any songs more than two years old? I enjoy singing some of these ‘worship songs’. Some of them, without doubt, will find a sustained place in the musical tradition of the Church in time. These songs, however, have not yet gone through the ‘weeding out’ process of time that the scores of old hymns written through the centuries have already gone through. Sunday after Sunday, however, I sit in church and watch as half the congregation don’t join in with the modern ‘worship songs’ the band play so enthusiastically, because they are not familiar with the tunes or can’t get to grips with the tempo. And when ‘outsiders’ join us for special ‘outreach type services’ they never sing any of the ‘modern songs’ because they have never heard them before – and many of them are expecting the old familiar hymns to be sung anyway.

I am not convinced that ‘contemporary worship’ actually has the pulling power that some people claim it has. For me it is very monotone and one dimensional and, quite frankly, can get rather boring after a time. I am not at all sure that ‘young people’ really are attracted by ‘contemporary worship’. It seems to me that, by and large, the emphasis on ‘contemporary worship’ today is largely driven by the 50 plus age group ‘baby boomers’ trying to re-live their youth. Even the 20 plus somethings that advocate the exclusive use of ‘worship songs’ are usually musicians themselves who play in the ‘worship band’? At the same time there would appear to be a resurgence (incorporating a lot of young people, if my experience of Taizé with its weekly attendance of 4,000-6,000 young people throughout the summer is anything to go by, or the growing ‘pulling power’ of festivals like Greenbelt) of interest in liturgical worship.

For myself, I am an advocate of  what has become known as ‘ancient-future worship’ or ‘blended worship’ – making use of the best of the old and the best of the new in terms of music, prayer, liturgy, communication, participation, and so on, including the use of old hymns as well as modern songs. At least if we had some of the old hymns like Abide with me at our services (sung in a lively but meaningful way) everyone present would at least be able to join in, even if they only recalled it from the Cup Final?!

Jim Binney

Emerging from the Smoke

We have out home group coming round next Tuesday for a barbecue so we thought we had better make sure that our new fire pit barbecue worked o.k. It was a lovely sunny evening but a bit windy. The barbecue worked fine, although the wind meant that the smoke blew in the direction of our patio table and chairs. Julia took charge of barbecuing the various stuff we intended cooking, and it was quite amusing watching her cooking behind a curtain of smoke, emerging now and then from the cloud of smoke with plates of food! Fortunately the barbecue eventually stopped smoking and we were able to enjoy our meal without coughing and choking on the smoke.

I was reminded of that verse in the bible that tells us that at present we see through ‘a glass darkly’ or in ‘a mirror dimly’ (1 Corinthians 13:12), that is, we don’t see all kinds of things clearly now, but one day in the future everything will become clear to us. This is true about really important things to do with the meaning of life, but it can also be true about every day things as well. For Julia and  myself, having to leave the pastorate of Beckenham Baptist Church in the autumn of 2010, was rather like being cast adrift. Suddenly, unexpectedly, we lost our jobs, our ministry, our home, our friends and were cast  into darkness. It has been a long haul back, and the future has often seemed to us like looking through smoke at something that had some kind of shape and form but which remained indistinct.

It has taken us some time to recover from the hurt and pain of leaving Beckenham, but we have become more and more convinced that God hasn’t finished with us and still has a work for us to do. Smoke and mirrors is a metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial explanation or description. The source of the name is based on magicians’ illusions, where magicians make objects appear or disappear by extending or retracting mirrors amid a distracting burst of smoke. In the field of computer programming, however, it is used to describe a program or functionality that does not yet exist, but appears as though it does. This is often done to demonstrate what a resulting project will function or look like after the code is complete. Throughout the last 18 months we have become more an more convinced that ‘God has plans for us, plans for good and not for evil, plans to give us hope and a future’ (Jeremiah 29:11) and that these plans incorporated a return to ministry for us somewhere or other. That is the reality – it doesn’t exist as yet – but by God’s grace it is going to!

The Baptist Union Settlement Process has been slow going with many false trails. This has not bothered us unduly because we wanted to make sure that Julia was fully recovered from her ME, and that we eventually settled in the right situation – a situation that would be caring and supportive for Julia (who would be the Minister), and would also give me the opportunity to exercise a wider ministry (since I would be there as a non-stipendiary Minister) supporting Julia but helping out elsewhere from time to time.

Nevertheless it has still seemed at times, that we are peering through a fog of smoke – we see shapes but not form! We believe that we will know the situation when we see it, just as we knew Elm Road, Beckenham was the right situation (as they knew we were the right people to be their Pastors) when we went there in 2004.

Next Monday we are going to meet with the leadership of a small church here in the south west. We don’t know if it is the right situation, but it is encouraging for Julia especially to be approached about the possibility of her becoming their Minister. Please pray for us, and for them, that we may clearly discern the Lord’s will in this.

Jim Binney

Bradley Wiggins

We have got our bikes out of the barn, cleaned off all the dust, pumped up the tyres, found our cycling helmets, and I have even found the Tour de France T-Shirt that I bought a few years ago which even fits me still – if I breathe in! Now we have done all this, we might even go out for a bike ride!

We have been inspired, of course, by Bradley Wiggins wonderful victory in the 2012 Tour de France. Julia and I have become avid viewers this year and thoroughly enjoyed the Eurosport coverage on TV. Usually we are away in France on holiday at this time of the year so we miss seeing the Tour de France on TV, although a few years ago we actually managed to see one of the stages live as it passed through the place where we were staying. This year, however, we took an earlier holiday so we were actually back in the UK for the Tour.

We both love sport but actually like watching different things. I love football, and  rugby, and cricket, and Julia loves tennis. Having commandeered the 40” high definition screen for the football season, I had to relinquish it to Julia for Wimbledon. The cycling, however, was something we both enjoyed watching together. We loved the excitement of the Tour de France, the amazing helicopter shots of the great French scenery, wonderful views of places we knew so well, and knowledgeable and amusing commentary by the Eurosport presenters.

Since we have been home from France we still find ourselves occasionally coming out with the odd French phrase, and watching Bradley Wiggins performance, indeed the performance of the whole Sky Team, the phrase ‘tour de force’ comes to mind. The dictionary defines this phrase as ‘an impressive performance or achievement that has been accomplished or managed with great skill’ or ‘a feat requiring great virtuosity or strength, often deliberately undertaken for its difficulty’. Bradley Wiggins ably demonstrated this virtue or strength not only by winning the coveted Yellow Jersey in the end, but by taking the lead and retaining it for so much of the Tour. But it isn’t just Bradley Wiggins who deserves the plaudits.  He had a great team of riders with him –  Chris Froome, Ritchie Porte, Michael Rogers, Mark Cavendish, Bernhard Eisel, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Christian Knees, and Kanstantsin Siutsou. He also had an amazing management team behind him including Dave Brailsford (a visionary leader), Sean Yates (a real encourager respected by the whole team of riders), and Shane Sutton (who is never afraid to speak the truth and tell the riders how it really is).

There are lessons to be learned here for us as a nation – lessons about developing character and resolve, about working together, about seeing a way through – which we need to take on board if we are to get out of the current crisis situation we are going through. There are similar lessons to be learned here particularly for those of us who are professing Christians – lessons about developing Christ like character, virtues, and values, lessons about pulling together as Church, lessons about recognising those amongst us who clearly demonstrate God-given vision, who are encouragers, who speak God’s ‘now word’!  We are told in the early chapters of the Acts of the Apostles that the first Christians, and the New Testament Church, were a tour de force in their own right. They displayed these kind of characteristics and as a result they had a real influence on the community. We are told about them, that ‘People in general liked what they saw’ and as a result, ‘every day their number grew as God added those who were saved’ (Acts 2:47), they ‘filled the streets with their teaching’ (Acts 5:28) and ‘turned the world (of their day) upside down’ (Acts 17:6) … or ‘right side up’ as someone has more accurately suggested!

Jim Binney

The Dog Show

‘It was fixed!’ said the lady to her husband as they walked past us on their way back to the car park. ‘The winners were all related to the judges!’ she continued, picking up her poodle and giving it a hug. Julia and I were walking down the lane to the village Fête in Langton Herring. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and we gathered that the Dog Show was over by now. My late father-in-law used to enter the family flat coat every year, and eventually he won a rosette … we think it was for the most persistent owner!? We gathered that this lady, and her poodle, had not won anything.

We enjoyed the Fête. It was good fun and there were lots of people there. They were raising money for the village hall and the local church. We had a go at most of the side shows and I amazed Julia by winning a cocoa nut with my first throw … it was the only thing we won but it was all for a good cause. The glass of Pimms was a bit steep at £2.50, as was the glass of wine at £2.00, so we settled for a cup of tea and a piece of cake for £1.00. We missed the Morris Dancers, but were in time for the Children’s Entertainer. We liked his closing free offer to all the children present: ‘Take one of my magic cards, get your parents to phone the number on the card, and by magic I will appear at your birthday party!’ We bought a few things on our way round the various stalls: some knives and forks for our picnic set, some plants for the garden, some paper back books, and a key ring for the mother-in-law.

On our way back to the car park we walked along with a man with two gorgeous spaniels who had both won prizes in the dog show … second and third in the waggiest tail category?! We asked him if he was related to any of the judges? ‘Of course not!’ he replied, tapping his nose. We wonder about the lady with the poodle we met on the way in? The French have a phrase, fait accompli, which  means ‘an accomplished fact; an action which is completed before those affected by it are in a position to query or reverse it.’ The literal translation is a fact realized or accomplished – what might these days be called a done deal. Strangely, it entered the English language via a travelogue of Spain rather than France. Richard Ford’s A Hand-Book for Travellers in Spain (1845), was and still is, regarded as a classic of travel writing. In it Ford included the phrase ‘This is now a fait accompli’, in regard of some previously decided fact.

A lot of people believe in ‘fate’ – ‘a supposed force, principle, or power that predetermines events’. This usually results in something unfavourable it is suggested. I don’t know what I feel about fate? Certainly there is an awful lot of stuff that seems to go wrong in our world. And left to our own devices the majority of us seem to make a mess of things, more often than not. Leave God out of the equation and this is inevitable I suppose. This is why, personally, I find the Bible helpful when it tells us that ‘Our times are in God’s hands’ (Psalm 31:15) and that God has ‘plans for us, plans for good and not for evil, plans to give us hope and a future’ (Jeremiah 29:11). It inspires a determination within me to keep close to God, and to sensitively seek to live in the centre stream of his plans and purposes for my life, in the knowledge that ‘in everything God works for the good of those who love him, those who seek to walk according to his purposes’ (Romans 8:28).

Jim Binney

The other day Julia and myself took a load of stuff down to the Weymouth Recycling Centre. We loaded up our car with all kinds of unwanted stuff that had been gathering in our barn for several months. There was something quite therapeutic about it – getting rid of all the rubbish! There were plastic bottles galore, and quite a few glass ones as well. There were old bits of metal, broken fires and lamps and radios. There was household rubbish and garden rubbish. You name it, we seemed to have it.

We like Weymouth Recycling Centre. It is not exactly the place you would choose to go for a day out or a picnic, but it is well kept and seems to have a place for just about everything – containers for plastic bottles, and glass bottles, household rubbish and garden rubbish, recycling points for electrical appliances and unwanted metal – nothing seems to be wasted here, everything seems to be capable of recycling in some way or other.

There were quite a few people there when we arrived – all of us getting rid of our rubbish. There was a very happy atmosphere, everybody laughing and joking, telling one another where to go to get rid of particular rubbish, even helping each other to carry stuff (that was too heavy for just one person to carry) to various places where they could get rid of it. We all seemed to be relieved to get rid of all the rubbish we had accumulated one way or another. Perhaps, like us, they too had been storing it up for far too long!? We also liked the fact that nearly everything was being recycled rather than just being taken to an incinerator or land fill site somewhere or other.

I was reminded of that verse in the Bible where the Apostle John tells us that ‘If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ [1 John 1:9]. We all have rubbish in our lives that we need to get rid of, and the best place to get rid of it is at the foot of the Cross. Some stuff does need to go to the incinerator! But perhaps a lot of stuff can actually be recycled. God is the one person who can actually get good out of bad. I recall those words of Phillips Brooks, ‘The only thing you can do with a past that you are ashamed of, is to get a future out of it … God will waste nothing!’ With God, there is always a way back, a way out, a way up!

Jim Binney

Moment to Shine

Yesterday we braved the elements, and the flooded roads, and drove down to Abbotsbury to see the Olympic Torch pass through on its way to Weymouth. Given the awful conditions – it was absolutely pouring with rain – there were a lot of people, all wrapped up in waterproofs, sheltering under a wonderful collection of umbrellas, displaying that ‘blitz spirit’ that is clearly part of the British DNA. Abbotsbury was festooned with flags and banners, bunting and posters, flowers and objects d’art on an Olympic theme. Quite a lot of the bunting and flags had been put up in time for the Queen’s Jubilee and left there for the Olympic Torch relay – they are canny these Dorsetshire folk, no point in wasting time and energy? Sadly the almost perpetual rain we have been experiencing for the last few weeks meant that flags and bunting were completely sodden and left clinging to flag poles and buildings as they sought protection from even more rain. Nevertheless we all had a great time – even the man selling hamburgers half-price at the village barbecue did so with a smile on his face.

We arrived just in time to get a really good position to see the handover of torches – the kiss as it has become known because the respective torches touch each other affectionately in order for the Olympic flame to be passed on from one torch to another. We didn’t know who the runners were – they were not local people but people chosen from a select list of those deemed good and worthy – but they obviously enjoyed the moment. They were both preceded, and followed, by a cavalcade of buses carrying other runners, stewards, the press, and goodness knows who else. I was struck (figuratively not literally) by the sign on one of the buses that read ‘Moment to Shine’. The sun may not have been shining in Abbotsbury at that moment, but everything else about the occasion shone!

With the Olympic Torch passing through our part of Dorset, the Christian Churches in the area have instigated several projects including a special prayer to accompany the Torch: ‘As this light travels our nation, may your light, O God, shine in the hearts of all who gather to celebrate the energy, skill and dedication of others. Send your Holy Spirit to light up our lives and set our hearts on fire with love for you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.’ The Diocese of Salisbury has devised a Pilgrimage Trail, highlighting ten churches of which St Nicholas in Abbotsbury is one. Inside each church visitors can find a leaflet pointing out something interesting and unique about the church in question but also containing a reflective meditation to lead the thoughts of all who follow the Pilgrim Trail. Many other initiatives are also planned to enable the good news of Jesus Christ, the light of the world (John 8:12), to be shared with the thousands of people who will flock to this area for the Olympic Sailing Events.

Speaking of light shining in darkness, Julia’s profile (and mine as well in some cases) has been sent to several Baptist Churches looking for Pastors, this month. Please pray for them, as well as us, and for all the other vacant churches looking for Pastors, and Pastors looking to move. The National Settlement Board of the Baptist Union have a difficult task trying to ‘marry up’ Churches and Ministers, and they get a lot of criticism, but it probably remains ‘the best worst option’. Some churches have been in the settlement process for some time and are perhaps too ‘picky’ – is this person ‘sound enough’ theologically for us; maybe there will someone better in the next list of names we are sent? Some churches are very fearful about the future – can we afford another minister; what will happen if we get it wrong; dare we really consider a woman? As we pray for God’s light to shine in the darkness of our land, let us also pray that God will give light to Diaconates and Search Committees as they seek to discern the way forward – and for us Ministers, that we too may discern the Lord’s guidance.

Thanks for your interest, thoughts and prayers. We will keep you posted as to any progress. Sign up as ‘followers’ for our new web page and be first to get the news.

Jim Binney

Back to the Future

We have not long arrived back in the UK after a month’s holiday in France. This year we went to Provence and enjoyed wall-to-wall sunshine whilst the UK seemed to ‘enjoy’ wall-to-wall rain. Even though I am ‘retired’, and Julia is not working, the break did us both a lot of good and we have come home with a sense of excitement and anticipation regarding the future.

While we have been away the Baptist Union Council have been discussing the ‘Future’ of the Baptist Union and various ‘decisions’ have been made, we gather. We don’t purport to know much about exactly what these ‘decisions’ entail – I am ‘retired’ and retired Baptist Ministers (for all the best possible reasons you understand) are not really consulted about the future of our denomination, and Julia is not currently ‘in pastorate’ (having officially been on a year’s absence from the Baptist Ministry although now back in the ‘settlement process’) and therefore doesn’t get informed either. No doubt it will all become clearer in due course as the news filters down from above. Without doubt the structures need an overhaul. Whether or not the discussion that has taken place, and the ‘decisions’ that have been made by the Baptist Union Council will resolve these issues remains to be seen.

I am led to believe that one of the major problems we face as a denomination is a lack of trust or confidence, by the majority of Baptist Ministers and church members, in those who are perceived to be our leaders – members of the Baptist Union Council, Regional Ministers of one kind or another, the Principals and Tutors at our Baptist Theological Colleges, etc. There would appear to be a certain ‘remoteness’ between the aforesaid people and the hoi polloi but, in fairness, the ‘head in the sand’ independency of many Ministers and local churches may have contributed to this. I have to confess however that, as someone who has been very loyal to the Baptist Union and its structures over many, many years – too loyal some would say considering the way we have been treated at times, although in fairness I have not always behaved too well myself – I too feel this sense of remoteness. Many of our problems as a denomination have stemmed, in my humble opinion, from some of the changes implemented 20 or more years ago when Regional Associations were made larger, rather than made smaller and increased in number as I would have wanted. At the same time the Baptist Union Council appears to have assumed an authoritarian decision-making role (whilst the opportunity for discussion, debate, and decision-making at the annual Baptist Union Assembly was both severely curtailed and pushed on to the back burner). Even in the current round of discussions over the future of the Baptist Union it is noticeable that the decisions are being made by the Baptist Union Council and that the rank and file of the denomination has not really been consulted. Perhaps this is necessary in order to implement necessary change, although I hope that opportunity will be given for the ‘rank and file’ to affirm these changes at some point.

This week, however, our own future will be coming up for discussion. Having made a good recovery from her chronic fatigue problems Julia is looking to return to the Baptist Ministry and is back in the ‘settlement process’.  The idea is that she will become the Pastor of a local church somewhere, and I will be alongside her to support her as a ‘non-stipendiary’ Minister if the church concerned would want that, perhaps helping out in some way in the local Baptist Association as well. I also want to continue with some writing, studying, and Online Tutoring for Spurgeon’s College as well as continuing to contribute my regular ‘Of Interest to You’ column for the Baptist Ministers’ Journal. This week the Baptist Union National Settlement Team will be meeting once again to try and ‘marry up’ vacant churches looking for Ministers with Ministers looking to move churches (or in Julia’s case return to the Pastorate). We have a very good Regional Minister, the Rev Jez Brown, looking after us, and he has worked very hard on our behalf. Indeed, I believe all the Regional Ministers (certainly those that I know personally) are good people, and try really hard to fulfil the role of pastor pastorum  to the Ministers, as well as cope with an increasing amount admin stuff at the same time.  In the 10 months that Julia has been back in the settlement process her name (and sometimes mine as well) has been sent to about 20 churches. One or two have shown an interest, most have rejected her without meeting her, and several have not even bothered to contact her at all.  On paper, Baptist Churches do not have a problem with appointing women Ministers – we have had women Ministers in the Baptist Union since the mid-1920s. The reality would appear to be somewhat different, however. Some Baptist Churches remain very opposed to having a woman Minister, sadly, but the majority claim to be open to the possibility. It is not that the Diaconates or ‘Search Committees’ of churches looking to fill their pastoral vacancy deliberately reject women candidates like Julia – they just consider the male candidates first? This is such a shame because those who know Julia know what an excellent preacher, worship leader, compassionate and caring Pastor she is – and I am sure that the same could be said of many other women Ministers as well.

This week Julia’s name and profile will probably again be sent to two or three vacant churches, and we await to see what the outcome will be – her profile ignored, rejection emails, or perhaps a phone call to see if she is still available and interested? We do not know what the future holds for us, but we do know who holds the future. We return from France confident that the Lord has a place for us, and it will prove to be exactly the right place. We take to heart a scripture that has long meant a lot to us – ‘I have plans for you, says the Lord. Plans for good and not for evil, plans to give hope and a future’ [Jeremiah 29:11).

Jim Binney