Mission. Marriage. End of consultation update from Lynn Green

For further information please visit www.baptist.org.uk/consultation. Transcript of this video is below:
Hi I am Lynn Green General Secretary for Baptists Together and I'd like to update you about our consultation around marriage and ministry. The survey of every member of Assembly has now closed thank you so much for your participation. I really appreciate that for some these are sensitive and challenging conversations to hold and I'm aware that this may well have been costly for you.
I'm encouraged by the response rates and trust that this will give us significant feedback from our Baptist movement. Now I want to share with you what's going to happen next our external researchers will be collating all the feedback from the consultation survey and from the 2023 Assembly in the next few months. They will present their report to council members in February so that there will be time for them to prayerfully reflect ahead of the council meeting itself in March.
This report from the consultation will enable Council to listen to the Lord and to our movement so that they can discern together how we can respond to the question that we have been asked. Remember this is council's role because we have tasked them with the responsibility of approving the ministerial recognition rules on our behalf. If you're not sure who the members of council are that information is provided on our website and you'll also find on the website that the consultation timeline has been updated too if you prefer the visual approach.
I'm very aware that as the consultation has progressed convictions and opinions have sometimes been expressed strongly. I can assure you that the specialist teams the trustees and the core leadership team are committed to listening to all voices and and will uphold the integrity of council's consultation process. But if there are particular things that you're anxious about please do contact your regional team leader to talk and pray things through. Between now and March I and my colleagues from the core leadership team want to invite us all to embrace a season of prayerful waiting and stillness before the Lord and this seems so very appropriate as we enter Advent. As the beautiful dynamic complex movement that we are there are many ways that we can wait and pray together. I'll be sharing some of these opportunities with you soon and these will of course sit alongside your continued commitment to prayer in local churches and clusters.
As we devote ourselves to prayer in this season I feel we can be confident and Trust the Lord's leading for us in March. As we approach Christmas can I end by reminding you that those of us who hold Regional and National roles continue to pray for you and your ministry regularly. In the midst of all the turmoil we are witnessing and experiencing may we not only speak of the love and light of Jesus this Christmas but also follow in the footsteps of the one who is the prince of peace. And all this of course so that the world may believe that Jesus truly is the son of God.