Praying for our life together - with Jesus at the centre 

A prayer initiative which seeks to place Jesus at the centre of everything we do as Baptists Together and inspire prayer for one another will be launched at this year's Baptist Assembly

 


Two six-foot-high wooden crosses will be unveiled at the forthcoming gathering in Telford (17-19 May).
 
Over the course of the three days delegates will be encouraged to add the names of their churches to them.
 
The crosses - and all represented on them - will be prayed over at the end of the Assembly, before embarking on a prayer journey around our Union.
 
A similar initiative took place in 2014 when two wooden crosses were introduced during a prayer session at the Assembly, held that year at the Bethel Centre in West Bromwich. The crosses subsequently toured local churches, Associations and national leadership meetings before returning to the 2015 Assembly.
 
Then, as now, those encountering the crosses are being encouraged to pray:
 

• That Jesus would be at the centre of our churches, and that His kingdom would be seen as local disciples seek to participate in the mission of God where they are.
• That Jesus would be the centre of our regional Associations, giving life and strength to the church, and sharing resources, wisdom and fellowship in such a way that churches and ministers are better equipped to share in the mission of God.
• That Jesus would be the centre of our Union. That from the way we share life beyond our Associations and through our Specialist Teams and colleges, our whole Union would be marked by a deep desire to play our part in the mission of God. 

The decision to refresh this prayer initiative emerged from the call of General Secretary Lynn Green and the Core Leadership Team last December to a season of prayer and stillness before the Lord.
 
Lynn said, 'As Baptists Together, we want to be rooted in Jesus, and all that the cross represents - salvation, freedom, life.
 
'This was a wonderful initiative ten years ago which helped us to focus on that, as well as being a creative way of inspiring prayer for each other and our shared life together. My former colleague David Kerrigan (pictured), who was then the General Director of BMS World Mission, memorably described it as "a wonderful, visible reminder of our connectedness".
 
'We are living through a challenging season, but I know there is so much the Lord is already doing among us, and I believe there is so much more He wants to do through us. Our Kingdom potential is high.
 
‘This is why I'm delighted to refresh this initiative. It will help us fix our eyes on Jesus.
 
'My hope too is that as you encounter the crosses you will be reminded of our shared life together; that there are people praying for you and with you as we seek to engage pastorally and missionally in sharing Jesus with our communities.'

 
The images within the article are from the 2014 Baptist Assembly