Rev Kingsley Appiagyei: 'It's not over'

|PIC1|Rev Kingsley Appiagyei is the new President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and founder of the two largest Baptist churches in the UK – Trinity Baptist Church in South Norwood and Calvary Charismatic Baptist Church in Plaistow, East London.

Christian Today caught up with Rev Appiagyei at the Baptist Assembly in Bournemouth on Saturday to talk about his new role and what he thinks the future holds for Baptists.


CT: You’ve come to the helm of the BUGB at a challenging time for the church in Britain. In a positive way, what do you feel ready to grapple with?

KA: I would say to inspire confidence, faith and hope. And to encourage the church in the UK that it is not over; that in the midst of the economic downtrend and in the midst of people turning their back on God, God is also beginning something new.

And I believe the swine flu, our economic challenges, these are pointing us to the fact that the systems of this world cannot hold and irrespective of who you are you need something to hold onto that is permanent, solid and eternal. All things work together for the good.

CT: You spoke with conviction on the need for discipleship during the Assembly.

KA: Yes, we need to discover our zeal for discipleship because as a church the Great Commission has now become the great omission, and churches have now become more inward looking rather than taking up our mantle of being disciples.

Most of the people who come to church today, their hearts are not in the church. They do not understand what it means to be a Christian because churches no longer emphasise discipleship. And that is our real calling, to make people become like Jesus.

And around two-thirds of people in the UK call themselves Christian. I want to believe that but why are they not going to church? Because their churches are not relevant. If people begin to understand how to live a life like a Christian and begin to know that it is possible and that is their hope, they will do it. But we are not emphasising that.

In the UK there has been some decline in the BUGB but it seems to swinging back up again.

CT: Where do you think that turnaround has come from and do you think it will last?

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.

Certainly in our church the number of children attending is growing. We have so many children. Some of them their parents don’t even come to church! And that is a very good sign.

Resources must be geared towards that ministry to ensure that it does not become a future story where the children will grow up and say ‘oh I was in Sunday School’, but rather that they would find the church to be relevant and not to grow up to say that the church is irrelevant.

CT: This is a big year for the Baptist family and you have a Europe-wide 400th anniversary celebration in Amsterdam coming up. What are you most proud of as a Baptist?

KA: I think our major achievement has been our emphasis on the word of God. And even though every Baptist Church has an independent form of leadership and governance we are still very strong because we are united through associations.

Something that makes me especially proud as a Baptist after 400 years is that only believers are members of the Church. We don’t throw anybody away but before you become a member we will help you to understand the decision that you are making. We as Baptists don’t just add.

That is one of the things that this year I will be emphasising wherever I go – that it is discipleship and that we don’t lose sight of that. Because too many denominations have lost sight of that. As Baptists that is one of our strengths.

CT: In your personal walk of faith, do you feel challenged by the Lord in your new role as President of the BUGB?

KA: The challenge I am facing is the cynicism and that people are no longer daring. Many people are in the church but they have lost their faith … and the ebbing away of the rich tradition of this nation that has helped so many other countries of the world, its own citizens do not believe in it any more. Taking prayer away from school, our children being taught evolution. These are things I find to be very challenging and I am trusting God that he will grant me the courage – it is a daunting task, one man cannot do all of that, it will take the whole Union.

But in the midst of all these challenges I am deeply hopeful because 2 Corinthians 4.18 says we should not look at the things that we see but the things that we don’t see because the things we see are temporal but the things that are not seen see are eternal and the things that are not seen are the graces of God because the grace of God can do it.

So the current swine flu, the current apostasy, the current lack of faith, the current loss of confidence shouldn’t be things that should shake me but I should look ahead to the things that God is able to do.