The Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) will present the first ever Home Mission Exhibition in summer 2005 with the theme Every Church is a Home Mission Church. The exhibition captures 25 portraits of Home Mission's work today.
Home Mission is the Baptist Family joining together to enable mission throughout Great Britain, both locally and nationally. It helps churches to lay down mission strategies to enable efficient use of resources. It funds evangelists, missioners as well as chaplains working in education and industry. It also provides materials, help and advice for the propagation of the Gospel and Church growth.
During the last annual Baptist Assembly held on 23rd April at the International Conference Centre in Birmingham, England, the new Home Mission campaign for 2005 Every Church is a Home Mission Church was launched.
The General Secretary of the BUGB, the Revd David Coffey said that through Home Mission, the Baptist family can express unity in Christ by supporting each other.
The 25 portraits of Home Mission's work in the Exhibition are available on the BUGB website. They include Baptist Churches across the UK with a diverse congregation from all walks of life. Their mission stories are lively and illustrated by text, powerpoint presentations, or even videos.
Here is the list of the 25 mission projects in the Exhibition: Baptist Church Centre, Handsworth; Hereford Baptist Church, Hereford; Bristol City Centre Mission; Westoe Road Baptist Church, South Shields; Counterslip Baptist Church, Bristol; United Mission Church of St Andrew, Kirton-in-Lindsey; North Bushey Baptist Church,Watford; Amott Road Baptist Church, Peckham; London Arabic Evangelical Church; Eastern Baptist Association; Royal Docks Community Church, East London; Baptist Assembly; Newall Green Baptist Church, Manchester; Carshalton Beeches Baptist Church, Surrey; Sidmouth Junction Union Chapel, Feniton; Dream Tour 2003, South Wales; Heart of England Baptist Association; Witard Road Baptist Church, Norwich; Mersey Street Baptist Church, Openshaw; Hawkshead Hill Baptist Church, Cumbria; Gaer Baptist Church, near Newport; John Bunyan Baptist Church, Oxford; Sheddingdean Baptist Church, Burgess Hill; Weir Church, Bacup and Highgate Baptist Church, Birmingham.
BUGB treasurer, Bernard Rouget reported at the annual Assembly that a four percent increase in the Home Mission target for the forthcoming year had been agreed by Council, showing that the Baptists in the UK had raised their focus to mission. New posters and other Home Mission literature have been published to reflect on the theme of this year’s campaign. The Little Book of Home Mission will explain how the appeal benefits each church.
