National news: most popular stories 2018

**Viral baptisms in JCBs, tributes to Billy Graham and Firestarter events for Baptist church growth were among the most read national news stories in The Baptist Times in 2018**

Baptism JCB

1 Baptisms in a JCB in Canada
How do you respond when someone wants to be baptised, but there's no baptistery in sight? Army chaplain and Baptist minister Gary Birch takes up the story

2 ‘No other preacher could compare with him’
Tributes have been pouring in for Billy Graham, Baptist minister and evangelist, who has died aged 99

3 Baptist Union Council: March 2018
A report of Baptist Union Council March 2018, featuring progress on how we train, equip and encourage our future leaders

4 Events for Baptist church growth
A series of 24 hour 'Firestarter' events hosted by Baptist churches experiencing unusual growth have been organised – to see if this accelerated growth can become normal within our Baptist family

5 New safeguarding film for Baptist churches
A new film which aims to highlight excellence in safeguarding for Baptist churches has been released

6 'Creating a fresh momentum for change'
Our figures hide a background of embedded resistance to women’s ministry: the Baptists Together Gender Justice Hub is exploring ways of loosening some of the barriers. Mary Taylor reports from its most recent meeting

7 Baptist anger over Windrush crisis
‘Appalling and deplorable’. Baptists have spoken of their anger over the Windrush deportation crisis

8 'MLK continues to guide and inspire'
A selection of links to events, reflections and resources marking the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's death

9 Resourcing small Baptist churches
How best to resource, encourage and challenge small churches across Baptists Together?

10 'God was speaking deeply into their lives'
Sandra Crawford was not alone in experiencing a renewal of God's call on her life at the annual Fresh Streams conference

Baptist Times, 28/12/2018

September and early October saw three more Small Church Hubs being planted, writes Hilary Taylor, and at each we worshipped, shared scripture - and our joys and challenges

smchstory

'Stand against far-right extremism'

Two networks that advocate for Black and Brown Christians and Black and Minority Ethnic communities have urged the Government to take a stand against far-right extremism - and for Christian leaders to stand with them

Welcoming our new Pioneer Ambassadors

Barney Barron and Simon Hall have been appointed as new Baptists Together Pioneer Ambassadors Current ambassadors Ali Boulton and Simon Goddard offer the following statement

Growing hubs, ambassadors, transitional ministry and more

Notes from a recent Baptist Union Smaller Church online gathering, which featured updates from the Small Church Connexion Team and representatives from several Associations

smchstory

Misuse of cross at Unite the Kingdom rally condemned by church leaders

Christian leaders from different theological and political backgrounds have expressed their deep concern about the co-opting of Christian symbols, particularly the cross, during the recent ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally