Around 100 Baptist ministers, leaders and volunteers participated in a series of Firestarter conversations in 2022.

The year saw the Firestarters Network relaunch its conversations with the aim of growing Baptist churches helping other Baptist churches to grow. These conversations feature Baptist ministers from local Baptist churches sharing stories of how they have experienced growing numbers of baptisms and greater engagement with mission and discipleship by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Several conversations, which have been supported by Mission Forum funding, were due to take place in 2020 before the pandemic struck, and these were the first since then.  

Throughout, the aim is that each event is led by the Holy Spirit in worship and prayer for one another as participants seek to gain inspiration from the stories that are shared.  

One of the participants was Giles Holloway, pastor at King’s Centre, Sheffield. He said: “The conversations [were] enriching and hopefully I was able to give as much as I took. I enjoyed all the input, but for me… the benefit was to plan ahead… to fashion ideas and… [in] planning for the future… imagine how I might take the whole church on a missional journey, toying with the idea of changing location and name…

“This work is now well underway, but the Lord only can decide the steps… I would definitely consider bringing some team members next time.”

Chrissy Remsberg, one of the organisers, said: “We’ve had about 100 ministers, leaders and volunteers attend one of our conversations in 2022. And many of our conversations that are now booked for 2023 have come about because these same leaders have come back to ask to host a conversation at their church.  

“The inspiration and fire for mission is contagious and everyone wants to bring a bit of that back to their local church.”

In addition to the five dates offered in 2023, Firestarters also released a book in January. On This Rock: Simple lessons and achievable habits to help your church grow by Alex Harris and Chrissy Remsberg captures the stories and lessons from the Firestarters Conversations in an easy-to-read book that can be used to facilitate learning and discussion with leadership teams.