Baptists Together


Baptists Together 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 was organised in 1792, under the leadership of Andrew Fuller, John Sutcliff, and William Carey. 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. The 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, 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."
Also in 2013, the Union publicly re-branded itself as "Baptists Together" and introduced a new logo to reflect the change.

Membership

Baptists Together consists of around 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 because of its work to promote young people's personal and social development.

Inter-denominational 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:
The principal of the Union is the General Secretary.

List of General Secretaries

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. Nigel G. Wright, later Principal of Spurgeon's College, commenting on the affair, claimed the, "Spectre of theological downgrade had lingered within the denomination throughout the 20th century," alluding to the Downgrade Controversy of a century earlier.