The Baptist Union was founded by 45
Particular Baptist churches in 1813 in
London.[1] In 1832, it was reorganized to include the New Connection General Baptist Association (
General Baptist churches) as a partner.[2] In 1891, the two associations merged to form a single organization.[3]General Baptists and
Particular Baptists work was united in the Baptist Union in 1891.[4] The Baptist Historical Society was founded in 1908.
In 2013 Lynn Green was elected, with no votes against, as the first female General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain to commence in September 2013. She was received at the vote by a standing ovation and her inaugural message included "I believe that our union is ready for generational change... It is time to cast off the institutional mindset that has served us well in the past, and embrace a new way of being for the 21st century."[6]
Also in 2013, the union publicly re-branded itself as "Baptists Together" and introduced a new logo to reflect the change (although it is still known in an official capacity by its former name, the Baptist Union of Great Britain).[7]
Membership
According to a census published by the denomination in 2023, it claimed 1,897 churches and 99,475 members.[8]
The Particular Baptist Missionary Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen (later the Baptist Missionary Society, and now
BMS World Mission) was organised in 1792, under the leadership of
Andrew Fuller (1754–1815), John Sutcliff (1752–1814), and
William Carey (1761–1834).[10][11]
The Union is a partner of 4 theological seminaries, namely South Wales Baptist College, Northern Baptist College, Bristol Baptist College and
Spurgeon's College, and a university college,
Regent's Park College.[13]
Structure
Since 2001 the Baptist Union of Great Britain has been divided into 13 regional associations:
Central Baptist Association
East Midlands Baptist Association
Eastern Baptist Association
Heart of England Baptist Association
London Baptist Association
North Western Baptist Association
Northern Baptist Association
South Eastern Baptist Association
South Wales Baptist Association
South West Baptist Association
Southern Counties Baptist Association
West of England Baptist Association
Yorkshire Baptist Association
Leadership
The principal of the Union is the General Secretary.
At the Baptist Union Assembly in April 1971, Michael Taylor, then Principal at the Northern Baptist College, asserted, "I believe that God was active in Jesus, but it will not do to say quite categorically: Jesus is God." The statement bred controversy, and some charged him with denying the Deity of Christ.[14][15][16][17]Nigel G. Wright, later Principal of
Spurgeon's College, commenting on the affair, claimed the, "Spectre of theological downgrade had lingered within the denomination throughout the 20th century," alluding to the
Downgrade Controversy of a century earlier.[14]