'If you have a heart for seeing people reached for Jesus, this is for you'
Everyone Everywhere, the recently launched Baptist collaboration that seeks to equip Baptists to share Jesus fully, is hosting a national conference on Tuesday, 8 October
The day-long event takes place at The Well in Sheffield and features speakers across the Baptist family alongside Dave Ferguson of Exponential and New Thing, two grassroots mission and church planting networks.
The event is 'a conversation for all Baptists exploring or committed to starting new communities for Jesus in all sorts of different ways and different places,' organisers state.
'A day to catalyse the starting of new Christian communities, when, where and in ways they are needed so Jesus is made known.
'Brilliant for leaders, ministers, ordinary members, teams, ministers-in-training, Regional Ministers and college tutors across our Baptist Together movement.'
The Everyone Everywhere collaboration launched at the Baptist Assembly in May, and aims to bring together our best resources, ideas, and energy to equip 'every Baptist and every church to reach everyone, everywhere.... to equip churches and individuals with the tools they need to see new people become Christians and new churches start in their communities.'
It is steered by a working group of Alex Harris, Pam Davies, Andy Glover, Isabella Senior, Simon Goddard, Kwame Adzam and Paul O’Neil.
Pam, pioneer minister of Southend City Baptist Church, encouraged as many people as possible to book for the conference on 8 October.
She said, 'Everyone Everywhere is a Baptist-wide initiative and is all about equipping people to share their faith and try new things.
'Whether you are someone who is super familiar with concepts like church planting, mission or evangelism, or you're working through them for the first time, we would absolutely love to have you on this journey with - so I really hope to see you at our first national gathering on 8 October.'
Isabella Senior, Young Leaders' Development co-ordinator, added, 'I'm delighted to encourage you to the first Everyone Everywhere national Baptist gathering. Together we'll think about sharing Jesus and starting all sorts of new churches, Christian communities, missional expressions, micro churches and more to reach people with the good news of Jesus.
'If you have a heart for seeing people reached and communities having an authentic Christian gathering to engage with, this for you.
'You might be someone a young adult who is all out for Jesus, or perhaps you've got ideas for a church plant or pioneering initiative - I know you'd be welcome and inspired, and I look forward to seeing you there.'
Conference contributor Dave Ferguson is the co founder of Exponential, a non-profit organisation that serves the broad, evangelical church planting community, and New Thing, which exists to catalyse reproducing disciples, leaders, churches, networks, and movements. He will be sharing his experience of God at work in movements that seek to prioritise mission, evangelism and the starting of new churches and Christian communities.
The conference is going to be 'all about sharing Jesus, and starting all kinds of new churches', he explained.
'Whoever you are, if you have a heart for seeing people reached for Jesus, this is for you. It's an opportunity to come together with one heart to strategise about reaching people for Jesus and start new churches all across the UK.'
Referencing General Secretary Lynn Green's address at the Baptist Assembly, Alex, Regional Minister for Pioneering and Church Planting in the Yorkshire Baptist Association, said, 'The unique missional fingerprint of the Baptist movement in the UK expresses itself in all sorts of diverse ways. There is a wonderful variety of opportunities for Jesus to walk off the pages of the Bible and into people’s lives. Baptists make a brilliant contribution to the missional landscape of the UK.
'We want to inspire and help each other in sharing Jesus.
'This gathering is for you if you would love to see new, authentic expressions of church sprouting up in the ways and the places they are needed – even right on your doorstep.
'This gathering is for you if you are a church minister, a pioneer, a church planter, a deacon or member of a leadership team, a volunteer, a young adult, a church member, an evangelist, a chaplain, a missional listener or entrepreneur.
'This gathering is for you if you have a heart for seeing new people reached and having an authentic Christian community to engage with.'
Everyone Everywhere has also partnered with Fresh Streams for its prayer and fasting day on 26 September
Everyone Everywhere is a Baptists Together wide collaboration hosted by the St Hild Centre for Church Planting.
Funded by Baptist Insurance Company, and with a wide advisory group made of various elements of our Baptist family, Everyone Everywhere is steered by a working group of Alex Harris, Pam Davies, Andy Glover, Isabella Senior, Simon Goddard, Kwame Adzam and Paul O’Neil.
For more visit everyoneeverywhere.church
Speaking about Everyone Everywhere at the Baptist Assembly, Lynn Green said,
'My heart has always been to see Baptists Together working even more collaboratively and strategically in mission and evangelism so that we can fan into flame the full potential of our movement.
'Many months of prayer, planning and action have resulted in the Everyone Everywhere initiative.
'We are all aware that the vast majority of those in our communities are not yet followers of Jesus.
'If we want to really make a difference, I believe that we really need to lean into the beauty and strength of being a grassroots movement, whilst also being radically inter-dependent and collaborative. Everyone Everywhere is a great example of this.'
Baptist Times, 19/07/2024