President's Diary - May 2024
Saturday 18th May
It was great to have an opportunity at Assembly to express my love and appreciation for our Baptist family and then to say something about two issues that are close to my heart – the intentional recruitment and nurturing of younger leaders, and the place of the Scriptures in the life of our churches, associations and union.
However, the part I found most significant was greeting the ministers being recognised and praying for them. In part this was because I have worked with a number of them in college and also that I recognise the work and commitment this represents for all of them. But mostly it was because of the sense that we can know that God is at work among us if he is still calling people of such quality to be ministers among us. For me, this is always a ‘holy ground’ moment at Assembly, and it felt a great privilege to be more actively involved.
Monday 20th May
Becca – my wife – and I had decided to stay in mid-Wales overnight on our way home from Assembly and on the Monday, I was able to take a riverside walk, and then to sit for a while at a point where the water flowed round some rocks, through some pools and back out into the faster currents. I’ve often found that being at those places where water and land meet helps lead me to ponder the way God is active. Sometimes it’s the sense of being an insignificant drop in a greater whole, swept along with little control over things; at other times there’s a feeling of being part of something slower like a ripple that is reflecting something greater than itself. It felt like a helpful way to begin this new period of service.
Sunday 26th May
When I retired last year, Becca and I moved to Burnham-on-Sea on the west Somerset coast. We’ve joined the local Baptist church and have enjoyed getting to know a new group of friends and settling into a fresh pattern of church life. I think it was a coincidence that my first invitation to preach at our new home church was my first Sunday as President. We are working through the Acts of the Apostles, and I was asked to select a section of Chapter 18 as the basis for the sermon. I spoke from the story of Priscilla, Aquila and Apollos in verses 1 – 4 and 14 – 28 and made the following points.
Lots of good things came about because of the frightful imperial decree to expel the Jewish people from Rome. Sometimes God takes things that are wrong and even things intended for harm and brings good out of them.
The characters in the story come from very different places, Rome, Pontus, Tarsus, Alexandria and God brings them together to have a positive impact in other places, like Corinth and Ephesus. We, in our turn, might hope that God will bring us together with people from all over the world to good things in the local communities in which we live and serve.
Priscilla, Aquila and Apollos are minor characters in the New Testament. They don’t have grand titles or books named after them, but they do have a significant effect. We should all be encouraged that even apparently minor characters can have a major impact.
When Priscilla and Aquila realised they needed to correct Apollos, they didn’t overreact or accuse him of false teaching or contradict him in public. They took him to one side and explained things more clearly. And Apollos accepted their correction and became more effective as a result. Perhaps we should all learn to be gentle teachers and humble learners.
Finally, I note that when we first meet Priscilla and Aquila, his name comes first. Yet pretty much every other time they’re mentioned, her name comes first. This suggests that she was the better known of the two as a church leader, teacher and co-worker of the Apostle Paul (Romans 16.3). This is another reminder of the way that the New Testament promotes and embraces the ministry of women.
Tuesday 28th May
Becca and I got in the car and drove to Hay to spend a day at the literary festival. I listened to Stephen Fry read from his version of Homer’s Odyssey and wondered what it must be like to have such a range of talents and interests. Next, we heard John Crace, the Parliamentary sketch writer, talk about his experiences and feelings of his work of keeping us informed in a gently mocking way about the activities of our politicians. The election campaign is underway and I am reminded of the need to pray for our politicians and to have realistic expectations of them.
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