Collaboration; contextual approaches - first Everyone Everywhere national conference

Collaboration in sharing the gospel and a recognition that contrasting, contextual approaches are all needed to help people encounter Jesus were key themes at the first Everyone Everywhere national conference

 
More than 100 people gathered at The Well in Sheffield for the event on 8 October, including Baptist church members, ministers, pioneers and regional ministers from different parts of the country. 
 
Everyone Everywhere is a Baptists Together wide collaboration that seeks to equip Baptists to share Jesus fully, and launched earlier this year.
 
The day featured teaching and story-telling via seminar streams and two key-note addresses, and was grounded in worship and prayer.
 
The first address came from Dave Ferguson, a globally recognised leader in church planting movements. Dave stressed the importance of collaboration in his talk, referencing his own experience of church planting and catalysing others to do the same.
 
We are all onboard with the Great Commission and the Great Commandment to love our neighbour, he said.

But in his experience, things really start to happen when there is ‘great collaboration’, which is often overlooked, but which is rooted in Jesus’ prayer in John 17 (21-23).

Access Dave's talk on YouTube (around 30 mins in), and here.
 
Alex Harris, director of the St Hild Centre for Church Planting, which hosts Everyone Everywhere, closed the afternoon session by preaching on the Great Commission.
 
He highlighted our own relationship with Jesus, which he said was vital in the difficult task of planting and leading churches. He also emphasised how different, contextual approaches to helping people meet Jesus were evident in the early church.
 
‘We need to find a way to embrace both temple court church planting, and house to house church planting, and give them equal and full value as Jesus's divine body on Earth,’ Alex said.
 
‘We need to cultivate the capacity to deeply appreciate one another's expressions of church.
 
‘The bottom line is, the only way we're going to reach everybody in the UK is if we do it in every way that Jesus has given us.’

Access Alex's talk on YouTube (30 mins 30 seconds in), and here. 
 
There were two seminar streams which enabled participants to engage with practical and context-specific mission strategies. The first focused on missional approaches, including evangelism, pioneering, missional listening and disciple making movements.
 
The second focused on missional contexts: among refugees and asylum seekers, new housing estates, young people and how engaging with creation can draw people towards faith in Jesus.
 
The day concluded with a time of responses to questions posed throughout the event via Mentimeter. The band at The Well led sung worship in the morning and afternoon, while there was a trio of after-hours opportunities, including an informal question and answer session with Dave; and with a number of the seminar contributors.
 
Feedback from the event showed participants appreciated the range of speakers, and the opportunity to meet others passionate about sharing faith in their communities. There was praise too for how well organised the event was.
 
The Revd Catrin Horrex, minister at Barnwell Baptist Church (Marleigh), told The Baptist Times, 'It was a blessing (for three of us from Barnwell Baptist Church) to attend the Everyone Everywhere day conference - particularly to connect with other leaders who have a similar heart and passion for sharing the good news and growing churches in a variety of creative ways.
 
'As a smaller church (only 45 members) it can be easy to buy into the idea that church planting or multi-congregational church (the model we operate in) is beyond what we should ever attempt.
 
‘But hearing stories at the EE conference of others beginning in small ways, with small teams to share the gospel and facilitate disciple making disciples, really encouraged us again to press in as God continues to sow this vision in our hearts.'
 
Other reflections from a post-event feedback form included:
 
Just to be in a room of Baptists that felt confident and focussed on reaching new people and church planting and collaborating - so good.
 
Every session left a lasting impact and gave me a lot to reflect on in my own ministry
 
The format worked really well - everyone reinforcing the same key messages about discipleship from different angles
 
Sense of this being a God initiative and an opportunity to create a new narrative of hope and growth across Baptists Together
 
I valued there was confidence to talk about evangelism and church planting as a Baptist thing.
 
To be in a room focussed on evangelism and welcoming of all sizes of churches and methods of mission
 
I can't re-call attending another conference where everyone was so serious and committed to the great commission.
 
Enjoyed the focus on principles and adapting to context rather than 'copy this pattern and you will have success' A deeply affirming time. Thank you
 
Exciting to see so many people attending, and passionate about sharing their faith in their communities.
 
 
Andy Glover, Fresh Streams leader, minister at HBC Chester, and a member of the EE working group, said, 'Such a good day, full of stories of hope and encouragement, and to be in a room full of Baptist leaders with a deep passion for Jesus and compassion for people expressed in diverse and different expressions of church.'
 
The Baptists Together Strategic Mission Fund and Baptist Insurance has funded Everyone Everywhere. Anne Bishop, chair of the Baptist Insurance grants committee, said, ‘We are delighted to see this initiative being embraced with such enthusiasm.'
 
‘Our heart’s desire is to see people coming to know Jesus as saviour, whatever their context, and the range of people at the conference reflected that same passion across the Baptist family.’
 

It is hoped there will be Everyone Everywhere roadshows across our 13 Associations over the next couple of years

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YouTube links to the Everyone Everywhere national conference at The Well in Sheffield: access session 1 here, and session 2 here