Baptists Together

Baptists Together (Baptist Union of Great Britain)
Logo of Baptists Together
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Baptist
Polity	Congregationalist
Distinct fellowships	Old Baptist Union, Baptist Union of Wales, New Connexion of General Baptists
Associations	World Council of Churches, Baptist World Alliance, Conference of European Churches, European Baptist Federation, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, Fellowship of British Baptists, Churches Together in England
Region	England and Wales.
Origin	The Baptist Union of Great Britain was formed when the General Baptists and Particular Baptists came together in 1891.
Separations	Grace Baptist Assembly, Association of Grace Baptist Churches, Seventh Day Baptists, Strict Baptists, Gospel Standard Baptists
Congregations	2,150 churches
Members	140,000 people
Aid organization	National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, BMS World Mission, Annuity Fund Baptist Aid Orphan Society
Official website	http://www.baptist.org.uk/

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Baptists Together (officially The Baptist Union of Great Britain) is the association of Baptist churches in England and Wales.

History

The Baptist Union of Great Britain was formed when the General Baptists and Particular Baptists came together in 1891.

The Particular Baptist Missionary Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen (later the Baptist Missionary Society, and now BMS World Mission) was organised in 1792, under the leadership of Andrew Fuller (1754–1815), John Sutcliff (1752–1814), and William Carey (1761–1834). When the Baptist Union was founded in 1813, it was a Particular Baptist organisation. In 1833, it was restructured to allow for membership of General Baptists. General and Particular Baptist work was united in the Baptist Union in 1891. The Baptist Historical Society was founded in 1908.

The basis of fellowship in the Baptist Union is a three-part "Declaration of Principle" stating belief in Jesus, Christian baptism, and world evangelisation. Structure includes an annual Baptist Assembly, and the Baptist Union Council, which is made up of representatives from the 13 regional associations and the six Baptist Colleges affiliated with the Union. The national resource and offices are in Didcot, Oxfordshire, England, having moved from Baptist Church House 2–6 Southampton Row,^[1] London in 1989.

In 2013 Lynn Green was elected, with no votes against, as the first female General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain to commence in September 2013. She was received at the vote by a standing ovation and her inaugural message included "I believe that our union is ready for generational change... It is time to cast off the institutional mindset that has served us well in the past, and embrace a new way of being for the 21st century."^[2]

Also in 2013, the Union publicly rebranded itself as "Baptists Together" and introduced a new logo to reflect the change (although it is still known in an official capacity by the old Baptist Union name).^[3]

Membership

The Baptist Union of Great Britain consists of about 2,150 churches with a total membership of almost 140,000 individuals.

Overarching organisations

Baptists in the organisation are also part of the wider Fellowship of British Baptists, the European Baptist Federation, and the Baptist World Alliance.

The Fellowship of British Baptists and BMS World Mission brings together in ministry the churches that are members of the Baptist Union of Scotland, Wales, the Irish Baptist Networks, and the Baptist Union of Great Britain. It is itself a member of The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS)^[4] because of its work to promote young people's personal and social development.

Inter-faith associations

The Union maintains membership with Christian ecumenical organisations such as Churches Together in England, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, the Conference of European Churches, and the World Council of Churches.

Structure

Since 2001 the Baptist Union of Great Britain has been divided into 13 regional associations:

• Central Baptist Association
• East Midlands Baptist Association
• Eastern Baptist Association
• Heart of England Baptist Association
• London Baptist Association
• North Western Baptist Association
• Northern Baptist Association
• South Eastern Baptist Association
• South Wales Baptist Association
• South West Baptist Association
• Southern Counties Baptist Association
• West of England Baptist Association
• Yorkshire Baptist Association

See also

• Baptist Union of Scotland
• Religion in the United Kingdom
• Regent's Park College, Oxford
• Baptist churches in the United Kingdom
• Spurgeon and the "Downgrade Controversy"

References

Bibliography

• Wardin, Albert W jr, Baptists Around the World .
• Payne, Ernest Alexander, The Baptist Union: A Short History .
• Brown, Raymond, The English Baptists of the Eighteenth Century .
• Briggs, JHY, The English Baptists of the Nineteenth Century .
• Clements, Keith, Baptists in the Twentieth Century .

External links

• Baptist Historical Society - official Web Site
• Baptist Union of Great Britain - official Web Site
• The Baptist Times - Web Site of the official newspaper of the BUGB
• Incarnate Network - Web Site of the church planting network of BUGB Missions Dept
• The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) - England-wide organisation of which the Baptist Union is a member