| Baptists Together (Baptist Union of Great Britain) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Baptist |
| Scripture | Protestant Bible |
| Theology | Evangelical Baptist |
| Polity | Congregationalist |
| President | Steve Finamore |
| Vice-president | vacant |
| 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 andWales |
| Headquarters | Didcot |
| Founder | John Rippon andJoseph Ivimey |
| Origin | 1813 (or 1770 |
| Separations | Grace Baptist Assembly, Association of Grace Baptist Churches, Seventh Day Baptists, Strict Baptists, Gospel Standard Baptists |
| Congregations | 1,875 |
| Members | 100,103 |
| Missionary organization | BMS World Mission |
| Aid organization | Baptist Aid Orphan Society Annuity Fund |
| Tertiary institutions | 1 |
| Seminaries | 4 |
| Official website | baptist |
Baptists Together, formally theBaptist Union of Great Britain, is aBaptistChristian denomination inEngland and Wales. It is affiliated with theBaptist World Alliance andChurches Together in England. The headquarters is inDidcot.
The Baptist Union of Great Britain was officially established in 1813 by 45Particular Baptist churches inLondon.[1] In 1832, it was reorganized to include theNew Connexion of General Baptists (General Baptist) as partner.[2] In 1891,General Baptist andParticular Baptist work merged in the Baptist Union of Great Britain,[3][4] and The Baptist Historical Society was created in 1908.
In 1922, Edith Gates became the firstordained female cleric in the BUGB.[5]
In 1978,Nell Alexander became the first woman to be appointed as BUGB President.[6]
In 1987,Margaret Jarman became the first woman minister to be appointed president of the BUGB.[7]
In 1999Cham Kaur-Mann became the first Asian woman minister in the BUGB.[8]
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."[9]
Also in 2013, the union publicly re-branded itself as "Baptists Together" and introduced a new logo to reflect the change (although it is still known in an official capacity as the Baptist Union of Great Britain).[10]
In 2006, Revd DrKate Coleman from Ghana, the first black woman to be an accredited Baptist minister, became the first black female President of the BUGB.[11]
According to a census published by the Union in 2024, it claimed 1,875 churches and 100,103 members.[12]
The Fellowship of British Baptists andBMS World Mission brings together in ministry the churches that are members of theBaptist Union of Scotland,Wales, the Irish Baptist Networks, and the Baptist Union of Great Britain. It is itself a member ofThe National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS)[13] because of its work to promote young people's personal and social development.
The union maintains membership with Christianecumenical organisations such asChurches Together in England,Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, theConference of European Churches, and theWorld Council of Churches.
TheBMS World Mission was organised as Baptist Missionary Society in 1792, under the leadership ofAndrew Fuller (1754–1815), John Sutcliff (1752–1814), andWilliam Carey (1761–1834).[14][15]
The union has aBaptistconfession of faith.[16] It is a member of theBaptist World Alliance.[12]
The Union is a partner of 4 theological seminaries, namely South Wales Baptist College, Northern Baptist College, Bristol Baptist College andSpurgeon's College, and a university college,Regent's Park College.[17] In March 2024, the St Hild Centre for Baptist Ministry, previously an affiliated centre of Northern Baptist College, entered membership with the Baptist Union of Great Britain in its own right.[18]
The principal of the Union is the General Secretary. A number of paid staff provide leadership and practical support from the Union's headquarters in Baptist House,Didcot, in areas such as finance, ministerial accreditation, and legal support.
Since 2001, churches in membership with the Baptist Union of Great Britain have been organised into 13 Regional Associations:
Regional Association teams, led by a number of Regional Ministers and a senior Regional Ministry Team Leader (RMTL), oversee and facilitate ministry in local churches. This may include pastoral support for ministers, signposting regional events, organising regional conferences, and supporting churches without a minister.
At the Baptist Union Assembly in April 1971, Michael Taylor, then Principal at the Northern Baptist College, asserted, "I believe that God was active in Jesus, but it will not do to say quite categorically: Jesus is God." The statement bred controversy, and some charged him with denying the Deity of Christ.[19][20][21][22]Nigel G. Wright, later Principal ofSpurgeon's College, commenting on the affair, claimed the, "Spectre of theological downgrade had lingered within the denomination throughout the 20th century," alluding to theDowngrade Controversy of a century earlier.[19]
Affirm network was founded in 2000 in favor to the inclusion of LGBTQ people in the Union.[23]
In 2020, the Ministerial Recognition Committee received a letter from 70 members of the Union asking that the rules be changed to allow ministers in same-sex marriages to no longer be guilty of gross misconduct. The request was referred to the national Council, who discussed it in March 2022 and initiated a process of consultation whereby ministers and churches in membership with the Union were asked their thoughts on the proposed change.[24] During this time a group formed, initially known as 'Baptist Ministers for Orthodox Marriage' and later 'Evangelical Baptists', who campaigned against the change in rules.[25] The results of the consultation were presented to Council, who decided against the change in March 2024 with a vote of 65% against:
Council has concluded that our Ministerial Recognition Rules concerning marriage and ministry will remain unchanged. Therefore, an accredited minister should not themselves be in a same-sex marriage. Nonetheless Council reiterates that sexual orientation is no bar to accreditation. Furthermore, Council upholds the liberty of the local church to appoint ministry according to their governing documents.
— Baptist Union Council, 2024,[26]
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