Scottish Baptist College

John Howard Yoder

Presently reading and loving this book by Mennonite scholar the late John Howard Yoder.

There are a number of theologians and writers who often come of age and their significance is recognised after their deaths. I think that Yoder is one such writer. I also think that his contributions (critically appropriated) could help Baptists understand something of their own identity. 

Not all of his work is equally accessible but this is a good book which shows how Christian 'practices' such as Baptism, justified on the basis of their own internal consistency (for that is the correctr starting point), can in turn bear witness to wider society as an example of how life can be lived. Yoder rejects the idea of two 'kingdoms' asserting that Jesus Christ is Lord over all and that the Church should bear witness to not only how things can be but in fact will be for the Kingdom is coming.

Baptists ofen wonder how from a position of the separation of Church and State Christians can engage with wider society - Yoder is writer who charts that course and in this work helps readers see how that can be done.

(Stuart Blythe)

Baptist Union of Scotland Council

A residential Council Meeting of the Baptist Union of Scotland was held between the 18th and 19th of May at Gartmore House. In part the purpose of the exercise was to model a new way of relational discussion and decision making learning not least from the experiences of BUGB and indeed for part of the Council we were joined by Jonathan Edwards the General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain (who kindly recognised the problems with the name!). The (new) General Director of the Baptist Union of Scotland, Alan Donaldson, also gave some important input related to matters of 'building missional relationships' and the 'mind' (of the meeting or of Christ?) was to go forward in informal and formal conversations exploring this idea through the prism of our own Baptist Identity in order to see where that took us.

Andrew Rollinson gave a really helpful bible study paper on the matter of 'communal discernment'. I have included it with permission on this post.Download Hearing God Communally Council May 2010 .

My own contribution (Stuart Blythe) at the invitation of the Council organisers was to deliver an address on 'Who do we think we are?' I engaged in some collaboration with others in the preparation of this although the final form and weaknesses in what was presented were all my own. I have also attached the address with some minor modifications. Download Who Do We Think that we Are May Council 2010 .

Alan's address is also now also avilable. Download Towards a vision for the future Council report .