In a packed Baptist Union Council that both debated proposed reforms to the structure of the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) and heard encouragement in places as diverse as North Korea, Uzbekistan and Brick Lane in London, mission was an underlying theme.

Council consists of 200 members who are mostly drawn from churches, Associations, colleges and co-opted delegates, and meets twice a year to discuss the work of the Union and the issues it faces.
A large proportion of this week's meeting in Swanwick was spent working through detailed proposals for a re-shaped Union.
 

A number of recommendations were approved and are reported here.Aside from these structural reforms, space was deliberately made to focus on other areas of Baptist life.

This included a report from the Revd Ian Bunce, head of mission at BUGB, which looked at mission and stopping the decline of the church.

The report began by asking: are we so keen to preserve the church, Associations and Union as it is that we are in danger of losing it all?
It stated there are now an increasing number of churchless Christians, 'who love God and trust Jesus but who have lost faith in the church or have been hurt by it.'

Pointing to Jesus' commission in John 20:21, Mr Bunce painted a picture of whole-life discipleship, not just church for an hour on a Sunday morning which is 'unconnected from the rest of life'.

Council was asked to approve a number of recommendations, including one to re-imagine 'a new ecclesiology and practice beyond the church and Sunday gathering, towards a shared life and community that empowers whole life discipleship'.

An example of a new expression of church was presented on Tuesday evening, with a film of a café that has opened in Brick Lane with the support of Home Mission. Kahalia is both a business and a church, and is the vision of minister Paul Unsworth after he visited Brick Lane one Sunday morning and realised there were no Christians among the 20,000 people there - because they were in church.

The Younger Leaders' Forum also gave a vibrant presentation of their activities, which include the Missing Generation website (www.missinggeneration.com) and the success of their first national event in October.
 

An appeal was made to churches to equip and encourage the 20s and 30s in their congregations in their mission to reach that generation.

Another significant report featured proposals for a more widely enacted pattern of networking.

On Monday BMS World Mission spoke of their advances in China and possible developments in North Korea, while the Revd Tony Peck brought news from the European Baptist Federation, specifically a recent visit to Uzbekistan.

Despite this restrictive former Soviet-state viewing evangelical Christians in the same light as 'Al Qaida Muslims', the small Baptist denomination has carried out 68 baptisms this year.

'It made me realise,' said Mr Peck, 'Christ is building His church and nothing can prevent that.'