Pioneer Ambassadors

Baptists Together has three Pioneer Ambassadors who are working in partnership with Associations, Specialist Teams and the Baptist Colleges to help ensure the implementation of pioneering as one of our strategic priorities.   A video called ‘the parable of the forest’ has been created to offer a shared vision for Baptist life, and to indicate why pioneering new expressions of Christian community is so important.  We invite you to watch the video and to join the conversation on social media @baptistpioneers and using #parableoftheforest. 

The video is offered alongside the Pioneer Manifesto, which goes before Baptist Union Council this autumn for consideration.
 

 
Our three Pioneer Ambassadors are:
 

	Roy Searle Roy specialises in pioneering, mentoring, coaching, creative imagining and offering spiritual direction.  He encourages and helps to facilitate missional huddles and gatherings for pioneers, within established, emerging churches and experimental, innovative initiatives.  A Companion and one of the founders of the Northumbria Community, a former President of the Baptist Union,  Roy is a Fellow of St John’s College, Durham where he teaches at Cranmer Hall, and is an Associate Tutor at Spurgeon's College, London.
	Ali Boulton Ali specialises in pioneering both as a practitioner and consultant seeking to inspire and equip others to engage incarnationally in local communities with those beyond the established church. She is particularly involved in developing mission to new housing areas and has co-founded the national ecumenical New Housing Hub. She is part of the core teams of European Baptist Federation Mission Group and Fresh Expressions; is researching new housing engagement as part of The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Housing, Church and Community, and is undertaking Doctoral research into new housing mission.
	Simon Goddard Simon specialises as a mission consultant and has a passion for helping local churches to become multi-congregational networks by pioneering fresh expressions. He is the team leader for ‘Resourcing’ within Fresh Expressions and part of the core team of this ecumenical movement. He is responsible for the mission-shaped ministry course, and is host of its online version. He also project managed the launch of the free Godsend app which equips people to start fresh expressions of church. He is a tutor in pioneering at the Light College and with Chris Duffett co-authored the book ‘Big Hearted: the Gospel of Simple Words and a Large Heart’.

 

Pioneer Advocates and the Pioneer Round Table

Currently a Pioneer Round Table is in the process of being gathered together.  This will be made up of one Pioneer Advocate from each Association along with representatives from key networks committed to pioneering within our Baptist family.  It will be a place of discussion and discernment with regards to the issues being faced by pioneers, and also a place to share and celebrate good practice.  It will gather regularly and offer a strategic voice and a positive influence in the conversations held by Associations, Specialist Teams and Baptist Colleges, as together they seek to encourage and support pioneering.
 
The details of the Round Table will be listed here when the membership of it has been confirmed.  This will enable you to contact the appropriate Pioneer Advocate within your Association.  If you’d like to speak to somebody about pioneering in the meantime, please do contact the Pioneer Ambassadors.