Category: Events and Updates

John wrote three letters of the New Testament. Together they form something of a manual for missionary support. Some 17 times in these three brief letters he makes reference to truth. In the first letter the focus is on what the truth is. The second letter warns against supporting those who propagate error. The third letter encourages the support of those who proclaim the truth. It says in so doing we become fellow workers for the truth.

Grace Baptist Partnership is anything but a one-man band. Sure, there are some of us who play a more public role than others. However, there are other employees and volunteers who contribute significantly to the work of the Partnership.

Five years ago, we were seeking to help a small group of believers meeting at Southall. Churches and individual Christians from throughout England – and beyond – came together to purchase a £175,000 building for the fledgling congregation. Just over £150,000 was raised in cash. Our friends from HeartCry Missionary Society paid the remaining £25,000 over a three-year period.

Those who read our updates carefully know the answer to that question without asking. Someone once said we report the good, the bad and the ugly. There’s a bit of truth to that. Scripture after all – as well as church history – is chock-full of all the above.

Almost a decade ago we were given the opportunity to replant a Grace Baptist church on Cecil Street in North Watford. When we took possession of the chapel there were several boxes of records from the church previously meeting in the chapel. Not knowing what to do with them, I asked David Chapman from the Association of Grace Baptist Churches (South East) for advice. He suggested I contact David Woodruff at the Strict Baptist Historical Society.

Grace Baptist Partnership is not an American initiative. However, through the years we have developed a strategic ministry partnership with Anchored in Truth Ministries the missions arm of Grace Life Church of the Shoals in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. This partnership has been a source of mutual blessing to all concerned.

In November 1862 eighteen-year-old Archibald Brown took up the leadership of a small cause in Bromley, Kent. He had a congregation of 18 on the first Sunday. Only 12 returned the second week. Progress continued in the same direction when on the third week only six showed up. It couldn’t get much worse!

One of the great needs of the hour is training. That’s why Grace Baptist Partnership has held series of training days in London, Leicester, Manchester, Gloucester, Westerleigh, Chelmondiston, Carlisle, Manchester, North Curry and Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. That’s why we ran similar training schemes in fellowship with Grace Baptist Mission in Frankfurt, Germany and in partnership with Euro Evangelism in Vienna, Austria. That’s why we will partner with local churches in the Midlands and in Norfolk to host weekend workshops for potential workers and their wives later this year. We believe in training.

In 2010 I had the opportunity to serve as locum pastor of Titmuss Avenue Baptist Church in Thamesmead. During my time there, I baptised – among others – Chola Mukanga and ‘Wale Akinrogunde. Last year the church sent Chola and his family to lead a church revitalisation effort at Bexleyheath and ‘Wale and his family to lead a church replanting work in Walthamstow. What wonderful gospel ripple effects.

When the church at Edlesborough first sponsored an Effective Evangelism Conference in 2014, as far as we were concerned it was a one-off event. We thought churches in our area would benefit from practical instruction about the effective use of door to door work, open-air preaching, evangelistic small groups and weeks of evangelism in local church ministry. That was it.