Baptist's hold Rural Churches' Day

The Baptist Union of Great Brtain recently held an event for ministers and others in leadership roles in rural churches to explore together some of the issues, challenges and opportunities for ministry and mission.

The main speaker at this event was Barry Osborne with additional input from a Baptist rural minister, Val Pyper.  There was also ample opportunity for interaction and the sharing of stories from the participants' experiences.

Baptists churches are the third most common in rural England, and the setting up of this event is an encouragement to many who are concerned for the advance of the kingdom of God in rural areas. 

Baptist churches are autonomous so it is ultimately up to each rural Baptist church to use their resources appropriately in response to the mission challenges and opportunities they face in their own location.  This autonomy which is common to Congregational churches and a few other denominations in rural areas offers some advantages in these days when many denominations with more ecntralised resource management face increasing economic pressure.

A pdf document of the PowerPoint talk by Barry Osborne can be found by clicking the link to the left of this page.  This is available for personal use only and primarily as an aide memoire for those attending the event.