Renewing a Modern Denomination: A Study of Baptist Institutional Life in the 1990s
Ebook
Overview
This book is an exploration of the renewal of the Baptist Union of Great Britain in the 1990s, the only historic UK denomination which grew in this period. It was an exciting time, with plenty of denominational activity and engagement, both theological and institutional. The book tells this story focusing on the particular individuals involved and the wide-ranging discussions centered around mission and identity, ministry, associating, and ecumenism. It argues that there were competing visions emerging from two different streams of thought which whilst not divisive caused tension. At the end of the decade structural changes were introduced with hope for the new millennium, but the book contends that opportunities were missed for a more deeply theological renewal.
“Baptists have been less affected by declining numbers than
other British Free Churches. Goodliff’s analysis of the two main
recipes for denominational renewal advocated in the 1990s helps to
explain why. Commitment to mission and charismatic renewal on the
one hand, and deep ecclesiological reflection on a covenantal basis
for Christian unity on the other, offered contrasting solutions,
but both played their part in rejuvenating a historic Free Church
tradition for the twenty-first century.”
—Brian Stanley, University of Edinburgh
“It may be too soon to assess the effectiveness or otherwise of
recent structural changes within the Baptist Union of Great Britain
that Dr. Goodliff so carefully describes and analyzes here: though
thus far they have had little visible impact on a steady decline in
membership and the demise of a distinctive sense of identity. What
is here presented is the regrettable phenomenon of two groupings
talking past rather than engaging critically with each
other.”
—John E. Colwell, Spurgeon’s College, London
“This is a welcome study of Baptist life in a period of significant
change at the end of the twentieth century. Goodliff’s work is
marked by careful analysis and offers important insights. It will
be of great benefit to all involved in Baptist life who want to
understand and learn from this period. In addition, those engaged
in wider pan-denominational reflection will find this account
valuable.”
—Ian Randall, Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide
“Goodliff’s Renewing a Modern Denomination is not merely a
chronicle of significant recent developments in the life of the
Baptist Union of Great Britain, but an absorbing account of the
often fraught and sometimes fruitful tension between missiological
and theological renewal movements within the denomination. A
careful work of historical and theological scholarship by a rising
pastor-theologian who has already done much to advance the forms of
ecclesial renewal explored in this book.”
—Steven R. Harmon, Gardner-Webb University School of
Divinity
- Title: Renewing a Modern Denomination: A Study of Baptist Institutional Life in the 1990s
- Authors: Andy Goodliff, Stephen R. Holmes
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications
- Print Publication Date: 2021
- Logos Release Date: 2021
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781725279834, 9781725279810, 9781725279827, 1725279835, 1725279819, 1725279827
- Resource ID: LLS:9781725279834
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T20:26:10Z
Andy Goodliff is the minister of Belle Vue Baptist Church,
Southend–on–Sea, UK. He has co-edited and contributed to
Gathering Disciples (2017) and Rhythms of
Faithfulness (2018).