Canopy Autumn 2023 took place on 27 and 28 October, and you can find links to all the content here!

On Friday e had a really significant time gathere together locally in our churches, and online nationally with prayers and stories from around the country, some live ‘outside broadcasts’, plus opportunities for open prayer and worship led in each local church. 

 We have no doubt that praying together must be our top priority if our vision and hope for Increase is to bear fruit in our family of churches. As a family of churches, the Baptist Union is increasingly becoming a network of prayer, and we have been deeply encouraged with how many of you participated.

On Saturday we gathered online to learn with Dr Carmen Imes joining us from overseas!

This was followed by a range of seminars where discussion and questions flowed- you can watch any of these again using the links below or directly through our BUS Youtube channel.

SEMINAR OPTIONS

THIS SEMINAR HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO ILLNESS, WE WILL KEEP YOU POSTED ABOUT A RESCHEDULE DATE!

SEMINAR OPTION 1: with Kirsty Moffat

‘Time to panic?: Investigating The RSHP Curriculum in Scotland’

Join in for a critical overview of the actual content of the Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood curriculum.

Learn about parental rights, and what parents and churches can do to engage in this important area.

There will also be a Q&A session to give you the opportunity to have your say!

SEMINAR OPTION 2: with Ken Benjamin and Jo Trickey

‘Faith Confidence at Work’

Our everyday workplaces and frontlines provide great opportunities for fruitful living. But there’s a problem.

It’s so often easier to sing a little louder on Sunday than live a little bolder on Monday. It’s a confidence thing.

The faith confidence we have when we’re gathered with other Christians can be challenging to sustain throughout the week when we’re apart. Confidence is harder where our faith feels lonelier. Thankfully, we have a winning list of God-given resources and strategies to grow confidence. It’s these confidence building blocks we’ll reflect on together in this seminar.

SEMINAR OPTION 3: with Ian Birch & guests

‘Key Moments in Baptist History’

The story of Baptists is fascinating, and since the early seventeenth century Baptists have been politically and socially agitating, pioneering, Gospel preaching, planting and growing churches, and today are the largest protestant denomination in the world.

We want to enthuse you about the story of who Baptists are, and what they have contributed to the history of the church by telling the stories of some of the most significant people in our family. This will be a fast moving seminar in which Alasdair Black from Stirling Baptist, Lina Toth from the college, and myself tell you about some of the men and women who left their mark on the work of the Gospel over the last four centuries.

SEMINAR OPTION 4: with Paul Haringman

‘ACORN: the simplest way of following God in mission’

Acorn is a simple, straightforward, and down to earth way to reach out to others.

It seeks to connect Christians with the work God is doing in others through caring conversation. It is a simple, effective spiritual practice that helps to mobilise individual believers to step out, following God, listening and connecting with non-believers as and where they are, and sharing what God is doing with others inside the church, all based around a simple, 10 second prayer.

The seminar will explore why this works and how you can make it work in your situation, with plenty of space for questions throughout and an option to sign up and try it afterwards.

CONTRIBUTORS

Guest Speaker, Dr. Carmen Joy Imes

Associate Professor of Old Testament, Biola University, California

Dr. Carmen Imes is passionate about helping people engage the Old Testament and discover its relevance for Christian identity and mission. She is best known for her books and has appeared on over 100 podcasts and radio shows and releases weekly “Torah Tuesday” videos on her own YouTube channel. 

Carmen writes for Christianity Today, Politics of Theology, and The Well (InterVarsity). 

Her academic journey began when Carmen and her husband served as missionaries in the Philippines with SIM International, reaching out to ethnic minorities. Imes loves introducing students to the rich insights of the global church.’

https://carmenjoyimes.blogspot.com/

Ken Benjamin

Formerly President of Baptists Together, Ken has been a Baptist Minister for over 25 years and joined LICC in September 2020. He is a leading voice in the whole-life discipleship movement.

As Director of Church Relationships at LICC, Ken is responsible for leading our church-facing work, helping fuel a sustainable whole-life disciplemaking culture in the UK church. He is married to Sue, and they have two adult children. In his free time, he enjoys playing golf and tennis as well as time away in his VW camper.

Ian Birch

Ian Birch has been a Baptist minister for 32 years, half that time in churches in Portsmouth, St Helens and latterly Kirkintilloch. Since 2008 he has been at the Scottish Baptist College, first as a lecturer and in 2014 he was appointed principal.

His main area of interest is historical theology and in 2017 his book on early Baptist ecclesiology was published: To Follow the Lambe (no spelling mistake). Today he heads up the Baptist College in Paisley and teaches courses mainly in church history and Baptist theology. 

 

Kirsty Moffat

Kirsty is a former teacher, specialising in Religious and Moral Education, and Higher Philosophy. She now leads the RSHP Project at CVE Scotland, a Christian charity that provides support for school staff, chaplains and families.

The RSHP Project provides classroom materials that offer Christian perspectives on relationships, sexual health and parenthood, and promote deeper moral and spiritual exploration of key issues.

 

Paul Haringman

Paul worships at Culloden-Balloch Baptist Church in Inverness. For many years he has focused on missional engagement, and providing strategy and advice in churches around Scotland. He has a background in discipling through the Navigators.

He says: ‘God has changed me through Acorn. The focus is not on technique or strategy. Instead, I am seeing myself and other ordinary people learning to trust God more, and the results are astounding and life changing.’

Jo Trickey

Jo was born in Aberdeen but grew up in New Zealand – she’s normally the most Northern and most Southern person in any room! She’s ordained and has got heaps of ministry experience with students and young adults. As one of LICC’s Church Advocates, Jo channels this expertise into inspiring churches to get on board with whole-life discipleship, and has a particular passion for supporting women. Now based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne with her family. Outside work, she dons an apron and wellies to get creative and messy with her two young children.