Dear friends,
That’s a wrap! Well almost. Classes have finished for this term and, therefore, for this academic year. Students (and thus lecturers too) still have a short assessment period before the marking begins, but the end is in sight! It’s been a great year with a vibrant feel in all of our classes as students grow in their learning, practice, and faith. We love to look back to the beginning of the academic year and see just how much students have developed.
We celebrated the end of term with a Thanksgiving service on April 22nd at Paisley Baptist Church and you can rewatch the livestream here. We thanked God for the year just concluded and prayed into the year to come, which will see new associate lecturers joining us and a new cohort of students. Even now, just as this year has finished, we’re looking forward to all that next year has to bring. We have a couple of online open events coming up soon for prospective students to learn more about studying next academic year – you can find out more on our website. We would appreciate you sharing these events with those who might be interested and liking / sharing them on social media too as you see them posted. The next few months are a critical time for engaging with our new cohort of students so we value your prayer and support during this time.
As we reflect on this “hinge” moment between academic years, it’s good to be reminded about what the College exists for. Earlier this year, we held our AGM where we heard the following words:
The College is based in a University [UWS], and operates as part of the School of Education and Social Science, [though] we remain independent and focused on building people in faith, knowledge and wisdom of God’s word and the Christian tradition. This is the narrow path we walk – providing a strong academic training which is about loving God with all our mind, but having times of prayer and reflection together, and always thinking about how what we are learning serves to equip us for mission and service – loving God with heart and strength! This is our goal.
So, what we offer is a breadth of training and equipping for service. We have people studying with us who are involved in addiction ministry; youth, community and family ministry; chaplaincy; as well as many in church ministry – Baptist and other denominations – at different levels.
The College remains evangelical at the core, but committed to thinking critically and deeply about all aspects of faith and life in order to be prepared for the challenge of sharing the gospel of Christ in these challenging times in which we work.
And of course we are the only Baptist college in Scotland, and we function baptistically in our work – empowering students to grow in Christ, encouraging them to live in the narrative of Scripture, we are not coercive in education, but guide in truth with freedom.
These are some of the reasons why we believe we have something unique to offer among all the other institutions in Scotland, and trust God has not finished with us yet!
You can read the full report here, but this extract reminds us of our core convictions and gives us a vision for the future of the College. While every year brings challenges as we strive to continue to be financially sustainable and numerically viable, we remain convinced and convicted that God has called us and still calls us to serve churches across Scotland and beyond. We hope that you will stand with us as we fulfil our vision of equipping people to serve God’s Kingdom.
Ian Birch and the SBC Team
Prayer Points:
Please continue to remember us in prayer.
+ Pray for prospective students who have and will connect with us over the next few months.
+ Give thanks for the whole academic year and the faith formation of all our students.
+ Pray for our current students as they finish off their assessments and plan ahead for the summer and beyond.
+ Give thanks for a change of rhythm for staff and students alike over the coming summer months.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers as we continue to equip people to serve God’s Kingdom.
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