Our movement needs more women and men who are ready to respond to God’s call to be ministers and leaders - and this needs all of us to see and develop the gifts in others, writes General Secretary Lynn Green   

 
I am praising the Lord that we continue to see people coming to faith right across the UK. God is building His church, and Baptists are part of that. People are finding faith in Jesus and being baptised; 3407 believers baptised in 2025! God is on the move and I want the whole of Baptists Together to be joining in with what He is doing because God’s heart is, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…” (Philippians 2:10&11) 

In this season of greater spiritual openness there are huge opportunities for seeing renewed discipleship in our churches, for planting new Christian communities, for holding out the word of life through chaplaincy and community ministry and for sharing the Gospel with children, young people and 18-35s. But the truth is that we are limited in our ability to join in with what God is doing. For a whole host of reasons our movement needs more women and men who are ready to respond to God’s call to become ministers and leaders.  Saying yes to God and stepping out in faith is the adventure of a lifetime. It is costly in so many ways and yet it is also such an awesome privilege to be able to be part of God’s Kingdom purposes. There is eternal worth in Christian ministry and leadership! 

In the face of such opportunity, we need to respond. But a response is required from not just a few of us; we all have a part to play. 

 
“IN THOSE DAYS… THE NUMBER OF DISCIPLES WAS INCREASING…” 

When I think about how we can respond, I am inspired by the passage from Acts 6. 

As for us today, the passage opens with the opportunity that prompted a response. 

‘In those days… the number of disciples was increasing…’ (Acts 6:1) 

The church was growing and the capacity of the current leadership in the early church was being challenged. The discipleship and care of the needy was distracting the Twelve from being able to give attention to prayer and the ministry of the word [vs.2]. It was not that certain tasks were more important than the others, but that the right gifts of leadership were needed in all areas so the church could grow. 

You will notice that the Twelve gathered all the disciples together to respond to this situation [vs.2] and it was the task of the whole church to choose new leaders. As a result of their shared discernment the disciples identified those with exemplary Christian character. These leaders were full of faith, the Holy Spirit and wisdom. Leadership responsibility was then given to them and recognised among the church community. 

 The fruit of appointing more leaders was that the word of God spread and the number of disciples increased rapidly!   

 

“ASK THE LORD OF THE HARVEST…” 

So how can we all be involved in identifying and raising up new leaders? 

First and foremost, we can all be praying about this. As Scripture encourages us, 

‘When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”  
(Matthew 9:36-38) 

 Let’s ask God to stir hearts so more people step forward, to reveal the gifts hidden within our communities, and to give us the wisdom to nurture them. 

 
SEEING THE CHARACTER AND CALLING IN OTHERS 

Secondly, it is the role of us all to see and encourage Christian character and spiritual gifts in others. This is not just about leadership. For the full potential of God’s church to be realised, everyone needs to play their part. Our role is to encourage what we see now and trust God to grow and develop their gifting in the way he wishes.  

This starts by naming what we see in others. What might it mean if we each took responsibility to spot and name the giftings or potential we see in our fellow church members? Imagine a church in which it is common for people to say, ‘We see in you... a minister; or an evangelist; a pioneer; a worship leader; a chaplain; a pastoral carer; a children’s and youth worker…’ 

We have to back this up by creating opportunities to serve, so that those with nascent gifting have a chance to practise, grow in their skill, and receive constructive feedback and coaching. Perhaps even running an internship scheme may be possible?

These can be  very formative times for a person’s broader sense of calling. 

If I reflect back on my own story I can see how others encouraged me and gave me opportunities to discover more about my spiritual gifts. It all started by being involved in a peer group that led the Sunday evening youth fellowship. Later my husband and I were asked to be part of a small team leading the teenage Bible group on a Sunday morning.  We learnt so much in those early days from our wonderful Scottish team leader and our faith was nurtured along the way.  

It was that Scottish Christian lady and her husband who encouraged us to attend the Baptist World Youth Congress in Glasgow in 1988. 

That Congress was completely eye opening and had a profound effect on us both. Along the way I started to do a little bit of preaching; my first sermon, aged 17, was nerve wracking to say the least! Then I was appointed as Outreach Deacon and subsequently, after quite a period of trying to make sense of God’s call to me, I was commended for ministry by the church.   

 Equally, my husband has always seen his calling as being worked out through his employment and by serving the local church, as well as supporting me to be faithful to God’s call. He has had so many opportunities for personal witness over the years with those he works with, together with being able to shape corporate social responsibility of the company where he can. Additionally,  he has served as a small group leader, Alpha host and  church secretary. 

 However it works out by God’s grace, the important thing is we all have a role in seeing and encouraging Christian character and spiritual gifts in others.   

 
ENCOURAGING MINISTRY AND LEADERSHIP 

Thirdly, I believe we need to be intentional about seeing and encouraging ministry and leadership. That is true for us personally, but also for leadership teams. Just imagine what the impact would be if every church leadership team had developing gifts and leadership regularly on their agenda and developed a plan to focus on this for at least the next three years.  

In particular, our Associations and Colleges have a range of opportunities for developing ministry and leadership. Most of us are aware our Colleges provide programmes that prepare men and women for accredited ministry. But the Colleges and Associations together also offer a range of local leader training to help those seeking to be better preachers, pastors, community chaplains, children and youth workers, or even better leadership teams.  

So, the question is this: Who might benefit from training? You? Someone in your church? Your whole leadership team? How can you ‘fan into flame the gift of God’ that is within you and those around you? (2 Timothy 1:6) 

How, for that matter, might you support those who choose to train – in prayer, in finance, in encouragement?  

If you want to explore the options for training and spiritual formation offered by Baptists Together, please speak to your Regional Minister.  

 
‘THE FIELDS ARE RIPE’ 

 In conclusion, we need to make room for God to speak and move among us, calling new leaders to commit their lives to following Him in ministry.  We all need to nurture and make room for Christlike leadership to grow and develop. 

As we do this right across Baptists Together I am praying, like the Early Church, that we will see the number of disciples increase rapidly, to the glory of God. 
 

 

---

Lynn Green is the General Secretary of Baptists Together

---