KA: It will last. The swing has come back. One of the things the Baptist Union has done well is its inclusiveness which has opened the door for many people like myself - who are very different in terms of accent, background - for all of us to become part of an association and even electing me to become their President.
Whichever way we look at it God has visited the downtrodden and I believe that when it comes to church growth it is important to know where the trend is and right now growth is dominant in Africa and Asia and it is the choice of God. So you will find that many of the minority ethnic churches are growing in leaps and bounds and it all adds to our union. The good news for many of us is that our children are British and they have been brought up with Christian values and we are working very hard to get one of their own to come into leadership so that growth and perspective would be sustained.
CT: Persecution featured on the Assembly agenda. Some Christians feel that there is increasing persecution in the UK. Would you agree with that?
KA: It is everywhere. In our country we are being intimidated. I believe we are becoming second class citizens in our own country. By the rivers of Babylon the children of Israel when their captors asked them to sing one of the songs of Zion they said how can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? We have become strangers in our own country. Political correctness has become so predominant. Can you imagine Christmas is offensive to people?! And Christmas trees?!
The desire to please everybody, to become correct, if political correctness is not handled and the Christians in this country do not arise – I do not want to talk down any religion – but the favours that are being given to all other religions and the treatment that Christians are receiving is totally unfair.
So the persecution is glaring. Most of the councils, the last thing they want to hear is a church wanting to expand its building. But when other faiths come, they immediately grant them permission. I don’t know if it is because of fear or an attempt to become inclusive. That is not the way to become inclusive. If you want to be an inclusive society then be fair to everybody.
We are not saying any religion must be banned. What we are saying is that this nation has its own heritage. What gave birth to the renaissance the industrialisation and Great Britain was the faith of the forefathers. We can’t just throw it away because now we are a developed country. We can’t forget our roots and our beginnings.
CT: BUGB is part of the cross-denominational ‘Will you make a difference?’ campaign to inspire children’s ministry and a lot of churches now are focusing on the discipleship of their child members. How much of an agenda is that for the Baptist Union?
KA: That is a major agenda for the Baptist Union and the whole department is being energised to handle that and they are offering assistance to churches that would want to help the young people discover their faith.
At Trinity Baptist Church in London, every summer we hold a vacation Bible School which is purely geared towards children and where through activities, plays and learning they are able to understand that they don’t become Christians because their parents are saying that, but that they will start to get a very strong foundation upon which they can build as they grow up.
