Baptist Union Presidency for Geoff Colmer 

Baptists have discerned that Geoff Colmer will serve as our President in 2021-2022

 
Geoff is the regional minister team leader of the Central Baptist Association and was one of two candidates nominated in this election. He stood alongside Alex Harris, pastor of the Beacon Church in Stafford, and voting took place between January and 31 March.
 
Geoff trained at Spurgeon’s College, and after pastorates at Rye Baptist Church and then Melton Mowbray Baptist Church, he moved to his present role in 2004. He has served on a number of groups across Baptists Together, and participated in founding The Order for Baptist Ministry (2009) with a vision to enable ministers to develop and flourish through patterns of prayer and accountability in groups.
 
Formerly a professional musician, Geoff said he would focus upon ‘being attentive to rhythms of grace’ if called to be President. In his candidacy profile he explained that his primary calling is to seek to be attentive to God, and help others to be attentive to God.
 
‘This is a conscious orientation,’ he said. ‘It may be particularly challenging for us as Baptists because we are by nature a movement of activists. In an age of anxiety, distraction, busyness and noise, being attentive to God has never been more important.
 
‘To ensure that activism does not become a driven-ness that does neither us nor the world any good, there is a pressing need for an attentiveness which inspires our activity. This is in no way an alternative to the mission imperative but an essential part of it: we must be attentive to what the Spirit is saying. Another tradition would speak of being ‘contemplatives in action’.
 
‘If called to be President, I would focus upon being attentive to rhythms of grace:  an attentiveness to God, in our own lives, and in the lives of all those we encounter, both within the church and beyond it, ‘seeking to be a movement of Spirit-led communities.’’
 
Reflecting on the result of the election, Geoff said, 'I feel a huge sense of gratitude to have been elected to serve as President of the Baptist Union for 2021-22 and look forward, with Baptists Together, to being ‘attentive to rhythms of grace’, especially in these extraordinary and challenging times.'

Geoff will succeed Yinka Oyekan, who is set to become our President in May. Yinka was due to be inducted at the Baptist Assembly, which has now been cancelled as a result of the national lockdown to halt the spread of Coronavirus. Alternative arrangements are being made.
 
Yinka succeeds current President Ken Benjamin.  
 

The President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain is elected annually. Their main role is as a communicator/facilitator of our Union’s vision and mission. The President travels around our Union, engaging with local churches, regional Associations and Colleges.