Mission Resolution 

 

 

The Journey So Far

 
The proposed Shared Understanding of Mission has developed through a continuing process of conversation, listening, reflection and discernment across Baptists Together.
 
A fuller account of this journey, including the thinking behind the revised wording and some of the themes that emerged through the listening process, can be found in United in Mission – Towards a Shared Understanding of Mission.

 

The original 2025 draft

 
The original draft of the Mission Resolution was presented at Baptist Assembly in May 2025. It was offered not as a finished statement, but as a proposal around which our Baptist family could reflect, converse and discern together.
 
During the year that followed, and at Assembly 2026, churches, groups and individuals were invited to engage with the proposal and to share their responses and stories of participating in the mission of God. This process of listening helped to shape the substantially shorter revised draft published in September 2026.
 
For transparency, and so that the development of the Shared Understanding can be followed, the original wording presented at Baptist Assembly 2025 is reproduced in full below.
 
The following is the original May 2025 draft. It has now been superseded by the September 2026 draft and is retained here for reference.

 

---

A Proposed Resolution for Baptist Assembly – 17 May 2025

We Affirm

 
That the whole Bible reveals the mission of our Triune God to reconcile all things in heaven and earth into unity under Christ, and Christian discipleship is the invitation and privilege of participating in this. As Baptists we understand the mission of God to be integral, where the words and actions of the Gospel are intertwined.
 
Our mission, our witness, therefore, humbly embraces every aspect of life and includes:

• Proclamation to a broken world of the restorative purposes of our loving and gracious God, accomplished in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• Demonstration of the love and compassion of God,
  • by serving all in need with compassion and generosity,
  • by prophetically speaking to power and acting for justice,
  • and by acting in ways that protect, nurture and sustain God’s creation. 

Our proclamation has consequences within society as we call people to love and repentance in all areas of life. Our demonstration bears witness to the transforming grace of Jesus Christ and the present and coming Kingdom of God.
 
 

We Give Thanks

• For all those, throughout our Baptist history, who have gone before us witnessing with words and actions to the good news of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.
• For our sisters and brothers across the world who remind us that mission is from everyone to everywhere and, so doing, help us to understand the breadth of God's missional task. 

 

We Resolve

 
As a collective of churches and individuals within Baptists Together, to intentionally discern our place in the missional work of God in the world. Therefore, we will:

• Passionately share the reason for the hope that we have in Jesus Christ with gentleness and respect.
• Commit ourselves to compassionate service, pursuing justice and caring for creation.
• Encourage and pray for one another as we move in covenant together in the mission of the Triune God. 

 

---

Commendations of the original draft

 
During the development and presentation of the original proposal, a number of people from across Baptist life and beyond offered reflections and commendations.

These comments were made in relation to the original 2025 draft reproduced above. They should not therefore be understood as commendations of, or responses to, the revised September 2026 wording. We retain them as part of the story of the Mission Resolution and the conversations that helped to shape its development.
 
 

Continuing the journey

 
The September 2026 draft is now the proposed Shared Understanding of Mission on which we are inviting further reflection and discernment as we journey towards Baptist Assembly 2027.
 
We continue to welcome responses to the revised wording, as well as stories of how churches, groups and individuals are participating in God’s mission in their own contexts. If you'd like to share your stories or responses with us, you can do so by using the contact form on this page.