P l y m o u t h - The Baptist Assembly is the annual gathering of the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) and BMS World Mission and looks both at mission in the UK and overseas each year. However at this year's event in Plymouth in south west England - held last weekend (30 April to 3 May) and attended by over 1,500 people - the Assembly sought to connect the two in a new way under the theme of 'One World, One Mission' and encourage the local church to have a global perspective.

There were many references to seeing the big picture of what God is doing, locally, nationally and internationally, and for the local church not to be skewed in its thinking. David Coffey, coming to the end of his term as President of the Baptist World Alliance, in his address to the Assembly said, "It is easy to lose the big vision. Keep the big vision, major on the majors". Anne Wilkinson-Hayes originally from England and now a regional minister in Melbourne, Australia said in her Bible study, "So much damage is done to the mission of the Church because people lose perspective". 

At the Saturday evening World Mission Celebration there were a number of international guests present including the EBF's Helle Liht and Lina Andronoviene from the Baptist Union of Lithuania who presented the BUGB with a history of Lithuanian Baptists - the publication of which was assisted by a gift made by their Tithe Fund a few years ago. The address on Saturday evening was by Reuben Martin, a BMS World Mission church planter currently leading a church in Rouen, France. He urged ministers to join him on the Europe mission field by citing the low numbers of active Christians in France and claiming that the UK is the evangelical capital of Europe. With similar sized populations, the UK has over 200,000 Baptists compared to only 10,000 Baptists in France. "Europe needs Jesus, the world needs Jesus and needs people like you and me to make him known," he said.

Evangelist Chris Duffert was welcomed as the new BUGB Vice President. He will become President at the 2012 Baptist Assembly. Asked what his focus will be in his presidential year he wanted Baptists to take up 'the opportunity of the Olympics to share the good news of Christ'. EBF General Secretary Tony Peck warned of a darker side to the Olympics coming to London in 2012 when he seconded a public resolution on violence and human trafficking. If it was like other recent sporting events he said then England could see a sharp rise in trafficking at that time. "British churches need to be vigilant," he said. Exploitation in Thailand was also highlighted by BMS World Mission as they launched a new resource called 'This Dark World' showing their work to get women out of the sex industry in Bangkok.

At the end of the Assembly there was a session to discern what God had been saying over the weekend. There were many comments on not being downhearted in our churches - 'we have a mighty God' one said. Others warned about being too positive and avoiding some of the tougher realities facing us like struggling small churches and increased secularization. BMS World Mission General Director David Kerrigan and BUGB General Secretary Jonathan Edwards reacted to these comments and gave their own take on what the Assembly had taught us. "How can we bring the good news to everyone?" David asked. "Let's get engaged with difficult issues, be involved in our communities, get deeper and risk more with God," said Jonathan.