Going up Baptist Street

I often wake up and think what a privilege it is to work for the European Baptist Federation. Only very occasionally do I consider the other possibility...!

But the heart of the privilege for me is centred on travelling around Europe and the Middle East and seeing for myself at firsthand some of the surprising, not to say amazing, things that God is up to, often in very challenging situations. 

I am often visiting Unions and Conventions for their Assemblies and Congresses, when they bring their churches together to celebrate in worship and reflect on the future together.  So last weekend was unusual in that I was the guest of a local church.  I was, in Katowice, Poland with my friend Jerzy Rogaczewski the pastor of the First Baptist Church in the city.  I met his father Stefan, one of the 'saints' of the Polish Baptists, having lived nearly all his own ministry through the Communist time.  In spite of that, under Stefan's leadership an impressive church building was opened in the 1980s and during the same period the Baptists were instrumental in birnging Billy Graham to Kaowice for a memorable evangelistic initiave in which many people found faith.  Billy Graham even preached in the Catholic Cathedral at the invitation of the Archbishop.

So what of the church today, as Poland faces up to the chill winds of secularism, despite the hold which Roman Catholicism still has on the population?  And there are other challenges too.  In the past decade so many young people have headed for the UK and other parts of western Europe to find work. And in Katowice, the centre of the former thriving coal and steel industries of Silesia, the city is coming to terms with industrial decline and all around are signs of urban regeneration.  

I came away from Katowice impressed by what one local church is doing to witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its contemprorary environment and culture. 

First of all, the church has a respected voice in the city.  A visit to the city Mayor confirmed that the Baptist church and its pastor, and indeed the other city churches have a part to play in the regeneration of the city, and to be welcomed to speak in to the issues which face it.  The Mayor is a regular visitor to the church, and recently the City Government agreed that one of the streets bordering the church building could be re-named 'Baptist Street'.  This engagement of our churches in the 'public square' is for me one of the marks of effective mission in our contemporary situation.

Secondly, long before the word 'ecumenism' became so problematic for some Baptists, there were cordial relationships between leaders of different Churches in the city of Katowice, including the Roman Catholics.  Today this continues and develops, with leaders meeting regularly for prayer for the city and preaching in one another's churches in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  I  was warmly welcomed by Catholic and Lutheran leaders and left in no doubt as to the importance of the Baptist contribution to the Christian presence in the city. I often find that official suspicion of ecumenical structures among European Baptists in combined with some committed working together locally. Perhaps that is how it should be as our ecclesiology is so centred on the local church, but I long for more of our Baptists to have this sense of belonging to the one great church of Jesus Christ. 

And most important of all, this is a church which is still sharing the good news of Jesus Chirst with the city.  The climax of my weekend in Katowice was a baptismal service on Sunday morning where 26 men and women from four churches in the region confessed their faith.  It made me realise that in western and central Europe baptism services for so many are now quite rare.  It was an inspiring service with great music, enthusiastic worship and I found it a real privilege to be the preacher.

I am sure that the church in Katowice is not an exception  All over the EBF region are some encouraging stories of what local churches are doing to speak into the issues of their cities, to make positive and productive realtionships with Christian brothers and sisters of other traditions, and to not lose sight of the purpose of the church - to proclaim Christ in in all that it does in such a way that people will respond in faith and the commitment of their lives to Christ.  So we can be confident that the Gospel continues to speak to contemporary Europe, despite all the many challenges that confront it.

Good Friday

I have been struck how quickly many Baptists go from the Hosannas of Palm Sunday to the Alleluias of Easter Day with very little pause in between to tread the journey of Holy Week.  If they worship on Good Friday it is often to expound Paul's theology of the triumph of the cross rather than to enter into the suffering and death of Jesus.

This was true of many of the Baptists in Scotland where I grew up.  But in my home town there had been a tradition of the churches combining for Holy Week Services - long before anyone described such coming together as 'ecumenical'.  I attended these from being a young teenager, and I remember some profound meditations from gifted preachers as we tried to somehow enter into to the events of the final week of the life of churches.  It culminated in a shared communion service on the Thursday and then the final act of worship together on Good Friday.  By the time we reached Easter Day, back in our different churches, the Alleluias were all the more heartfelt because we had gone on a journey together as churches during Holy Week.

On this Good Friday I find myself wanting to linger at the cross just trying to take in what it meant for Jesus who suffered there for us.  One of the prayers for Good Friday in a Baptist service book begins:  'God our Father, in remembrance and awe  tread the hold ground of Calvary:  this place of abandonment which has become the scene of our adoration....'  and that's how I want to approach it.  I want to hear again the cry of desolation, 'My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?'  and know that it was real for Jesus.  I want to be there in the darkness and the sense of an ending.

And why?  Because there can be no resurrection without the experience of death.  As disicples we called to identify with Jesus in his suffering as well as in his glory.  And when we enter in to experiences of pain and suffering and loss it is important to know that Christ has been there before us - and it was for real.

Last night in my local church I led a 'Tenebrae' service which ended with us reading from the Gospels the story of the betrayal, arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus.  As we did so the lights and of the church were gradually turned out and then we left the church in silence.  For a moment, in a small way we entered into the experience of the Passion of Jesus.

So on this Good Friday I want to just 'be' there at the Cross knowing that's where God was, too..  And the other thing I will do will be to read again this poem by R S Thomas where in a marvellous and original way he links the experience of hearing the great violinist Fritz Kreisler play with the scene of Good Friday.

And then on Sunday I will be there ready to shout 'Alleluia' for the 'music that lives still'.

THE MUSICIAN

A memory of Kreisler once:
At some recital in this same city,
The seats all taken, I found myself pushed
On to the stage with a few others,
So near that I could see the toil
Of his face muscles, a pulse like a moth
Fluttering under the fine skin,
And the indelible veins of his smooth brow.

I could see, too, the twitching of the fingers,
Caught temporarily in art’s neurosis,
As we sat there or warmly applauded
This player who so beautifully suffered
For each of us upon his instrument.

So it must have been on Calvary
In the fiercer light of the thorns’ halo:
The men standing by and that one figure,
The hands bleeding, the mind bruised but calm,
Making such music as lives still.
And no one daring to interrupt
Because it was himself that he played
And closer than all of them the God listened.            (R S Thomas)

Church and State in the Czech Republic

This morning I visited the offices of the Czech Baptist Union here in Prague.  Their leaders of these past few years - Milan, Ludek, Iveta and Jan - have become my respected friends.  They are always supportive of the EBF, and were gracious about the decision of the EBF and IBTS to relocate from Prague to Amsterdam, something which I know was quite difficult for them at the time.  And their hospitality by way of a table awaiting us piled high with 'goodies' is becoming legendary!

But this morning we ended up discussing an issue which they as a Union have had to work through and and make a difficult decision.  The government of the Czech Republic has been addressing the question of compenstion for church property confiscated during the communist era.  The government has offered all the churches a considerable annual sum of money for each of the next thirty years by way of restitution.  After a long period of debate, nearly all the Churches in the Czech Ecumenical Council decided to accept this government compensation...

...except the Baptists, who were divided in their opinion about it.  A few years ago when, for the same reason,  the government offered some state help to pay the salaries of pastors, about half the Baptist churches accepted it and half refused.  This latest compensation issue, though, had to be decided by the whole Union. 

I think they engaged in their decision-making in a very Baptist way.  Each church discussed it and come to its own recommendation.  And then the whole Union came together and after a lively debate voted by a narrow majority not to acept the money offered by the state for the work of the Union.

Were they right or wrong?  The debate goes on within the churches and within the Union.  Some felt that by deciding the matter as a Union the 'congregational principle' had been breached. Others were equally sure that to accept such money, which would actually amount to a lot more than the value of the Baptist buildings confiscated in the communist time,  was to deny an important aspect of Baptist identity - the essential separation of church and state. I think it took some courage of conviction for the majority in a small Baptist Union to turn down a considerable annual grant from the State, which might have enabled new initiatives of the Union and its churches.

Outside reaction to the decision has been interesting.  There has been some dismay from  ecumenical partners of the Baptists who wanted the Churches in the Czech Republic to agree together about this question. The Baptists stand alone in their opposition.  But then, Baptists have always been non-conformists.

In the secular media (and the Czech Republic is one of the most 'secular' countries in Europe) there has been a lot of interest in the decision of the Union, and some support and praise for the Baptists from those who do not see why taxpayers' money should be given to the churches in a country which has such a small number of professing Christians.  

It is not the first time that I have encountered approval from secularists for our Baptist understanding of the separation of church and state, and that no religious group or groups  should have a 'privileged' position in society.  Some years ago a prominent member of the British Humanist Society told me of his liking for Baptists because of their opposition to State Churches,  privileged status, and state-funded religion.

Should I feel concerned about these approval ratings for Baptists by secular society?. Well, yes,  if their spokesmen go on to conclude, as they often do, that we are content to have our faith put into a privatised space in society with no expectation that Christians will have any right to contribute to debates in the public square. 

But, no, if it means that we are true to our Baptist origns and identity of putting forward a vision of a society which guarantees space and freedom for all religions - and that for us means that no religious group should be privileged regarding state recognition or financial support.  For us Baptists our full and committed involvement in society is by influence as salt and light; not by privilege or entitlement. 

This was not an easy question for the Czech Baptists to resolve and the result was a close-run thing.  But I for one am glad that they enagaged so wholeheartedly with this important question which has wider implications in contemporary Europe;  and that they sought to discern together the mind of Christ. 

And, personally, I believe that they came to the right decision.

Citizenship

The EBF is an Associate Member of the Conference of European Churches (CEC).  CEC does an excellent work in relating to the European Institutions on behalf of the churches, articulating their concerns on a range of issues.  I have been quite involved with CEC on issues of human rights and religious freedom; and recently they asked me to offer some brief reflections 'Towards a Christian Understanding of Citizenship'.  Education for good citizenship is a live issue in the EU, and CEC wants to ensure that the churches play their part in this.  So here are my reflections, no doubt incomplete, so I would be glad to get some feedback:

Citizenship is about identity, belonging and (in the EU at least) how the individual plays his or her part in the building of democratic society. One helpful definition I read recently was that citizenship is the way we live together and organise our lives together despite the differences among us and between us.  In the European Union there needs to be a more intentional strategy to imbue the values of citizenship because citizenship in the EU is ‘over and beyond’ the individual ‘s primary citizenship in their own EU member country. 

So what is the contribution of Christian understanding to the current debate about EU citizenship?  I list a few pointers:

1.  The Christian belief is in a God who is personal and relational; and whose nature is to reach out beyond himself to embrace creation and all that dwells in it.  This fundamental connectedness at the heart of the universe informs a Christian understanding of citizenship.  It is seen in the mutuality of relationships in God as Trinity, Father Son and Holy Spirit.  It is there in the Bible from the first anguished question of Cain after the murder of his brother Abel in the book of Genesis, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’; to the great commandment of Christian to love God and love neighbour.  Building human community is not an option but part of the ‘DNA’ of the Christian.

2. This valuing of the inviolable human dignity of people ‘beyond’ ourselves is grounded in the way in which the Bible describes human beings as reflecting the image of God (imago dei).  In a Christian understanding, this is where human rights and responsibilities find their foundation and the nurturing and protection of such rights and responsibilities is a primary concern of what it means to be a good citizen.

3. But what of the ‘other’ who is different from us, and whose presence in Europe can sometimes leads to xenophobia and a narrow exclusive nationalism.  The Old Testament command to ‘love the stranger’ is developed in the New Testament concept of the truly global community of the church where diverse nations and cultures can love together in peace and find their unity in Christ who transcends them all.  European citizenship also needs to embrace a vision of the world and its needs, and Europe’s place within it.

4. Another relevant concept from biblical theology is that of shalom, the Hebrew word often translated simply as ‘peace, but which in its use in the Old Testament embraces a vision of the healing, wholeness and harmony of relationships, personal, communal and societal.  Christian theology also addresses the sin and evil which so often threatens shalom.  In European society it can often take the form of a consumerist selfish greed that does not work for the common good of the whole of society. A Christian understanding insists that in the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (what is sometimes called at-one-ment), the possibility of redemption and a restored harmony in society is now possible. In particular, in the Bible there is a special concern for the poor, the marginalised the refugee and the stranger.  If a society is judged on how it cares for its weakest members then any concept of European citizenship must make this concern its priority.

5. Finally, there is an eschatological dimension to a Christian approach to citizenship.  Christians seek to live as good citizens wholeheartedly committed to being ‘salt and light’ in whatever human society of which they are part. The perspective of the Free Churches from which I come is that there should not be any special privilege or status grated to Christians in a plural society; they work with those of other faiths or none for justice, peace and  the common good of all.

At the same time the Apostle Paul reminds us that our ultimate citizenship is in the heavenly Kingdom of God. For the Christian this gives a certain ‘provisionality’ to all current political structures.  This is not a reason for Christians to opt out of being good citizens of their societies; rather this dimension should often lead them to be dissatisfied with the status quo and drive them seek new creative possibilities of working with others as citizens to make human society come closer to the values of the Kingdom of God.

Embracing Diversity

'Embracing diversity' seemed to be a main theme running through the EBF Youth and Children's Workers' Conference which ended in Prague a couple of days ago. 

I always enjoy attending this Conference each year.  We have some amazingly gifted national leaders of youth and childrens' work and I love to meet them and hear something of their stories, and what God is doing among the children and young people they serve. This year they were very well hosted by the Czech Baptist Youth Department, with the main meetings taking place at the First Baptist Church of Prague in Vinhoradska.

The theme of diversity is a challenging one for the EBF to negotiate.   De facto we are diverse in languages (about 35 different languages in the EBF when I last counted), and cultures, and sometimes we are unwilling to admit how much these factors then influence our different ways of 'being Baptist'.   There is an assumption among some that our way of being Baptist is the only and right way!

And in recent years this diversity has become more apparent because of the migration of peoples as a result of economic, social and/or political factors.  For Baptists this has been especially true of the many Burmese refugees who have come to Europe, a majority of whom are Baptists.  In the Scandinavian countries, in the Czech Republic and elsewhere, Baptist Unions have welcomed and sought to integrate these groups (which may be from different Burmese tribal groups) into the life of the Unions, also offering them practical care and support.

But Europe has also witnessed the growth of African and Asian churches in several countries, as well as an influx of economic migrants from Eastern Europe settling in the countries of Western and Southern Europe.   These groups bring the distinctiveness and the riches of their Christian traditions, and  present many joys and sometimes a few challenges for the 'host' Baptist community.  But it all means that ethnic and cultural diversity is now a fact of life on our continent and in our churches.

The EBF Youth and Children's Workers thought much about this at their Conference, and heard some challenging words spoken to them about other kinds of diversity.  How inclusive can our churches be?  What are the limits to inclusion?  Can our churches embrace the inclusion of cultural, gender and sexual diversity?   What does a Biblical faith have to say about all this? 

These are uncomfortable questions for many Baptists.  It was not surprising that among our youth and children's leaders there was a diversity of response to the courage and openness of some of the speakers to address them.  But for me it was important that they were considering such questions, which the youg people they seek to serve and mentor are facing every day of their lives.  For these issues are not going to go away; if anything they will intensify in the coming years.

I don't pretend to have all the answers!  But I am struck by the concern of the New Testament churches to model an inclusive diversity which was simply not present 'out there' in their societies.  Paul's lasting word to us on this, which we find twice in his writings, is surely, For there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, nor is there male or female.  For you are all one in Christ.  (Galatians3:28; Colossians 5:11)

In this continent of Europe where there is a rise in groups espousing an exclusive nationalism based on their own culture.and an increasing intolerance of ethnic diversity in some places, these timeless words of the Apostle Paul surely form the basis of the 'new' counter-cultural community of the church, along with the Old Testament injunction to 'love the stranger'.

I appreciate that for historical, cultural and, sometimes, theological reasons some of our EBF member Unions struggle to come to terms with this question of embracing diversity.  It is indeed perplexing and we need God's wisdom and discernment.  But I was encouraged and inspired by the EBF youth and children's workers who were willing to grapple with some difficult questions, and who in their Conference were constantly bringing the issues back to that simple but profound challenge, 'What would Jesus do?'

New Year 2013

As I write this in the closing hours of 2012 there is the usual mixture of looking back and forward, of a sense of achievement and regret about the year that has gone, and of of apprehension and confident hope for the year to come.  If we are honest it is not always easy to put our hand into the hand of God in faith and trust to step forward into all that is to come.   Only by grace...

When I have had to lead worship at the moment of New Year I have often used a prayer I discovered many years ago, and I offer it to my friends as I wish them all a Happy New Year 2013!

Eternal and ever lasting God, creator of life and Lord of time,
as we stand at the beginning of this new year, we pray that we may stand with you.

You have always been there:
going before us to prepare the way, standing behind us, urging us on
towards new hopes and a new creation,
being with us in the company of your people and the life of your Spirit.
You have always been there, Lord, calling us again to follow you.

Help us, today, to see this moment of New Year as you see it.
Help us to walk quietly and thankfully away from the old year.

We thank you for its joys and achievements, and all the days of growth and love.
We thank you, too for strength given amid suffering, and hope arising out of fear.

We are sorry for our mistakes, for the wrong we could have avoided, the hurt we have caused
We confess our pride, our greed, our failure to love.
Lord, grant us, we pray, your judgment of mercy, your forgiving grace,
even as we forgive one another.

Help us, today, to see this moment of New Year as you see it.
Help us to walk quietly and firmly towards it opportunities and demands.

We dare to believe that this is a new day, and not a repeat of the year now gone.
Your grace gives us courage, your peace gives us hope.
Your presence is the promise of new life.
In Christ we can make a new beginning, in your Spirit we can be a new creation.

Lord, we are willing to go with you,
to live the good news of forgiveness in freedom and joy;
to share the gospel of justice and peace with courage and love;
to pray with hope and share with faith:

So that all people everywhere
may know your name, sing your praise, and share in the joy of your kingdom
in eternal New Year

Amen

(from Be Our Freedom, Lord  ed. Terry C Falla)

Getting Around the Table

It was a very long table.  And round it we were crammed together, ambassadors, representatives of various foreign ministries, NGOs and a few assorted religious leaders like me.  This was my first "Wilton Park' Conference.  I learned that Wilton Park is an agency associated with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office but semi-detached from it.  It was founded  by Winston Churchill after the Second World War to bring together people with differing, and often conflicting, perspectives on some of the burning questions of the day, especially to do with peace and security.  It continues to enable such conversations to take place across a whole range of issues which threaten to divide peoples and governments.

This time we were discussing how to combat intolerance and promote feredom of religon or belief for all.  We sat as equal partners around the table, no titles were used, and it was a safe space' where all could speak and no speeches or remarks were to be publicly attributed, and so an honest sharing of concerns was more possible.

So we explored this vexed question of religious freedom, and whether religion can be part of the answer as well as the problem in our divided world.  We shared our differing perspectives from different faiths and national cultures around the world.  We were agreed that incitement to religious hatred was wrong but we differed as to how to define it.  And does it need to be prevented by legislation, the good example of religious leaders, better education of followers of a religion - or a combination of all of these?  We agreed that the question of religious fredeom cannot be seen apart from the context of human rights as a whole because it impinges on so many other rights such as fredeom of expression.  And in all our discussions we were encouraged to share good practice as to what it happening positive to break down the barriers to embracing freedom of religion or belief for all, and there were some interesting and impressive examples given.

When we got up from the table after 48 hours of intense discussion we had not answered all the questions or overcome all the challenges.  But we had listened to one another and begun to reach out to one another, and for me that meant appreciating what lay behind perspectives with which I might disagree. And round the table, and over coffee and meal times new contacts are made and new friendships begin to develop which might just help future developments on this issue.

It seems to me that as Christians and as European Baptists we need to do more of this; be willing to get round the table with others who may have a very different starting point - but what we can share is a concern for the common good of civil society in which religion still plays an important role.  It is so easy to stay in our Christian ghetto and there to bemoan the state of the world;  or to allow others to convince us that Christianity is now only relevant in my own private world.  As that great missionary statesman Lesslie Newbigin reminded us many years ago, the Gospel is public truth which has the potential to speak into and make its contribution to every area of society.  But this will not happen from a position of privilege or power, or if we simply want to guard our own boundaries.  Rather it will be as we open ourselves to come around the table with others to speak from our faith, but also to listen to others coming from a different place, and then to look for common ground as we face these fundamental questions of human rights.

As 2012 draws to a close I marvel again that this essentially was the vision of that first English Baptist leader Thomas Helwys who 400 years ago  in 1612 outlined his dream of a society that guaranteed religious feredom for all, with specific mention of Jews, Muslims and heterodox Christians.  Helwys died in prison before he could work out all the implications of his vision but his words have inspired generation after generation for Baptists to see it as part of their DNA and work for it in their own time and place.

And that, surely must necessarily involve us from time to time getting around the table with others as I was privileged to do this week... and to admit that quite often we have more in common then perhaps we thought was possible.

Advent

 For me, the season of Advent is my favourite time in the Christian year.  Not all Baptists pay special attention to the four weeks leading up to Christmas, but a growing number will at least light Advent candles and think of the growing light of the preparation for  God's coming in Christ. 

The overwhelming theme of Advent is of course waiting for the Lord in eager expectation and hope.  In churches that follow the Advent cycle of Bible readings there are those marvellous passages from the Old Testament Prophets, such as the beginning of Isaiah Chpater 40, which look for a new coming of God to save his people and urge them to 'prepare the way of the Lord'.  Motifs of both judgement and hope are to be found here.  And the same themes are there in some of the Advent readings which speak of the coming again of Christ in glory when God's Kingdom will be seen in its fullness.

But for me the Advent message of expectant waiting for God to come is also and especially about our present life, 'between the times'.  Each year in Advent I read again Jorgen Moltmann's Meditation on Hope with which he opens his Theology of Hope (1967).  There he describes that eternally-rooted hope which 'makes the Christian church a constant disturbance in human society, seeking as the latter does to stabilise itself in to a 'continuing city'.  It makes the Church the sources of continual new impulses towards the realisation of righteousness, freedom and humanity here in the light of the promised future that is to come.

So my mind turns to my present life, and that tomorrow I will travel to London to participate in a Conference organised by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 'Combating intolerance and promoting freedom of religion or belief for all'.  We will no doubt focus on a world where religious divides lead to some of the most violent conflicts and where peoples of different beliefs and religions have to learn to live at peace with one another in the same 'space'.  And together, people of faith and no faith, we will try to find a good way forward on this.

This is where the 'rubber hits the road' for the message of Advent.  Can we Christians live up to Moltmann's ideal for the churches to be 'the sources of continual new impulses' towards justice and peace in the light of God's promised future?   Can we Baptists live up to the legacy of the earliest English Baptist leader, Thomas Helwys who exactly 400 years ago, in 1612, made his famous plea for a society which promoted religious freedom for all, and not just ourselves?

The season of Advent calls us to try to see the world though God's eyes - so much that is evil and a cause for despair within it, and yet shot through with hope and the possibility of transformation in the most unlikely places, because God is prepared to come close and enter fully into our situation - as he did in Bethlehem so long ago.

There is something else I always read in Advent.  It is a poem by Maz Josef Metzger, a Catholic priest martyred in a Nazi prison in 1944.  Even in his prison cell with the fate which awaited him he could glimpse the possibility of the God who comes into the darkest situation of all.

The Grey Dawn

He knows not Advent's meaning who has never sat

By twilight in a dreary cell, its window dim;

Even by day comes little light into the narrow space.

Evening falls, slowly steals away the sun.

Night throws her gloomy mantle round the room

Terrifying, impenetrable.

Will it always be night?

Will never a ray of sunshine penetrate the gloom?

And a new day lead on to joy?

A faint light glimmers through the narrow rift, a witness

that the sun sets never and soon will rise again,

Yes, that light on which people turned their backs,

The Lord will bring again, with power and glory,

And found his everlasting kingdom!

I believe in Advent! 

As followers of Christ about to celebrate his coming among us, we stand this Advent time in the interface of hope and reality. And there we dare to sing of the God who still comes:

O Come thou dayspring. come and cheer

Our spirits by thine advent here;

disperse the gloomy clouds of night

and death's dark shadows put to flight

Rejoice, rejoice!  Immanuel

shall come to thee, O Israel

(12th century Latin hymn)

Gaza

It has been hard to watch again an escalation of the ongoing tragedy which is Gaza.  As I write, the full military might of Israel is poised for a ground offensive, having already killed around 70 Gaza residents, including children.  There is also the fear of rocket attacks by those living in nearby Israeli towns and cities and our prayer always is that both sides will draw back from violence.  But in my mind one cannot be simply be equated with the other when one side possesses enough military hardware to wipe the other off the map.  And indeed that is exactly what a Jewish woman living in Israel who comes from the former Soviet Union suggested should happen - 'just like Chechnya' she said, when interviewed on TV.

Our involvement as EBF is that one of the three Christian churches in Gaza is the Baptist Church and a member of the Evangelical Council of Local Baptist Churches in the Holy Land, which is itself a member of the EBF.  Christians in Gaza  find themselves squeezed between the policies of the Israeli Government which mean that Gaza is virtually a huge 'prison' for its Palestinian inhabitants; and the activities of Muslim extremists which resulted in the murder of one of the church elders just a few years ago.  And yet in the midst of all this the Gaza Baptist Church continues to worship and witness. They run a primary school and have a remarkable humanitarian aid ministry to all who need it, of whatever faith.  At times like this, they need our support and our prayers as they seek to remain faithful to Christ and to reach out to others in his name.

I have visited Israel and the West Bank on five occasions - though never Gaza.  After each visit I have reflected long and deeply on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which, with the building of the Wall that fences in the West Bank, seems more intractable than ever.  I have listened to the radically different perspectives from both sides about the causes and what should be done.  I have made many good friends among Palestinian Christians and met some Messianic Jewish believers. One thing I have observed is that whilst one party to this conflict holds all the power, both sides live in fear and will continue to do so until there is a peaceful resolution.  Yous sense this from the moment you land in Tel Aviv airport, and you see it in the eyes of the young Israeli men and women guarding the checkpoints.  You hear of the bleak outlook for Palestinian young people in towns such as Bethlehem, and without a hope and a purpose for the future it is easy to see why some of them turn to violence.

Out of my reflections here are two which keep coming back to me.

The first is that we need to challenge the Christian Zionism as expressed among some Baptists and evangelicals in parts of the USA and the EBF Region.  I have come to the view that a Zionist interpretation of selected parts of the Bible does not do justice to the whole counsel of the Word of God as expressed both Old and New Testaments, and is actually damaging to a consideration of any kind of peaceful solution .  For a further exploratiion of this see the work of distinguished Baptist ethicists Glen Stassen and David Gushee:

 http://www.newevangelicalpartnership.org/?q=node/139

The second, and more positive, reflection is that among both Israelis and Palestians and their supporters around the world there are the people of peace who condemn violence whether it originates from Hamas or the Israeli government.  At the EBF Council last year we were moved to hear of the work of Musalaha which brings together Palestinian evangelicals and Messianic Jewish believers.  They have a shared commitment to the peace found at the Cross of Christ as expressed in Ephesians Chapter 2.  In that context they explore their differences honestly and openly and put a lot of emphasis on their young people coming together to spend time with each other to learn from each other and hopefully build a better future out of their shared commitment to Christ. .

And then in my newspaper today is a open letter from some Jews living in Britain drawing attention to the plight of the Palestinians living in Gaza and urging Hamas and especially the Israeli government to show restraint.  I know that that are many groups in Israel itself that actively work for a lasting peace.

Jesus urged his disciples to seek out such 'people of peace' in any situation.  This is surely what we Baptists need to do; to work with others to show a biblically-rooted passion for peace with justice between Israelis and Palestinians. And then to pray the prayer of a Palestinian Christian:

Pray not for Arab or Jew,
for Palestinian or Israeli,
but pray rather for ourselves, that we might not
divide them in our prayers
but keep them both together
in our hearts.

Coming Home

In my eight years as General Secretary of the EBF I have visited many Union Congresses and Assemblies.  They are always good times to explore the richly diverse ways in which Baptists come together for fellowship, inspiration and to seek the mind of Christ. I could now write a small handbook on the very different ways in which Baptists make decisions!

But attending the Scottish Baptist Assembly in the city of Dundee on Scotland's East coast felt special, because for me it was something of a 'coming home'- and indeed the theme of the Assembly was 'Come Home again!'  For I was raised in a Scottish Baptist church, leaving Scotland at the age of eighteen to take the road 'south of the border' as the Scots say, in order  to study music in London.  In my teenage years when I was involved in Scottish Baptist youth activities, I attended some of the Assemblies and remember some inspiring times.  The last time I went was in 1985 when my father was inducted as President of BU Scotland

So much has changed since those days, and I could not have dreamt then that I would return to the Assembly as EBF General Secretary.  In my greeting to the Assembly I was able to give thanks for the close involvement of Scottish Baptists in the life of the EBF and of IBTS over many years.  I dare to say that as a nation the Scots are more natural Europeans than the English :) And it will be interesting to see what happens with the forthcoming Referendum on whether Scotland should be an independent nation.... 

Meanwhile it was exciting for me to see how Scottish Baptists are undergoing a renewal of their life and direction, under the leadership of their dynamic General Director, Alan Donaldson, and his core team.   There was a very positive spirit in the Assembly and a real desire to counter all the gloom about the decline of the Christian faith in the UK with a renewed emphasis on recovering a  confidence in the Gospel and participating wholeheartedly in the mission of God.  I like their three-fold slogan for this:  Intentionally Relational,  Unashmedly Missional, and Creatively Rooted.  I was impressed with the contributions from the Union's leadership team, which includes two ordained women pastors - a welcome development which would not have been possible when I was growing up in the Scottish Baptist scene.

At the Assembly we also listened to three superb Bible Studies on the Nazareth Sermon of Jesus in Luke 4, given by my friend Glen Marshall.   We were all challenged by these to embrace the mission of God to the 'outsider' and the marginalised,  and yet not to lose the sense that it is first of all God's mission.  And then my former pastor Karl Martin preached in two of the evening celebrations , sharing his conviction that 'God is up to something' in Scotland  and that we need to clear away everything , however sacred to us, which would prevent us from being fully used by him as disciples in his mission.  All very challenging stuff. It was also great to see the way in which BMS World Mission is so integrated in to the life of the Union, as well as relating to Baptists in Wales and Great Britain.

 I came away feeling that Scottish Baptists are in good heart and facing the contemporary challenges of being part of the church of Christ in Scotland with renewed confidence.  It felt good to come home again.

Tony Peck