London Baptist Association

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London Baptist Association

• BUGB Mission Grants
• Training Presentation

www.londonbaptist.org.uk/bugbmissiongrants www.bap
tist.org.uk/bugbmissiongrants
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BUGB Mission Grants

• BUGB Mission grants are for exactly what it says
  on the tin
• They are grants given by the Baptist Union of
  Great Britain to support mission.
• They are given to support mission which not be
  possible without a grant.

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BUGB Mission Grants

• BUGB Mission Grants are available from the
  Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) to assist
  churches to fulfil their mission
• Applications from churches are channelled through
  the regional association to BUGB
• The London Baptist Association (LBA) is the
  regional association for London churches.

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Eligibility for BUGB Mission Grants (1)

• To be eligible
• A London church must be in membership with BUGB
  and the LBA
• The grant is usually for support of an accredited
  Minister (or a minister-in-training or a
  recognised Minister of another denomination in an
  ecumenical church) unless the application is for
  a special ministry which has different
  arrangements or is for mission through a
  congregation
• The Minister must be appointed on the nationally
  recommended BUGB terms
• The Minister must be paid the BUGB recommended
  Home Mission Stipend.

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Eligibility for BUGB Mission Grants (2)

• To be eligible the church must
• explain its mission vision and plans.
• be paying the Minister all legitimate expenses
  (but not extra for heating and lighting)
• be supporting HM at level recommended by regional
  association
• not be giving other causes more than 50 of its
  Home Mission BMS World Mission giving
• demonstrate it needs the grant to be financially
  viable
• demonstrate commitment to wider Baptist family.

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Applying for a BUGB Mission Grant

• An application form must be completed each year
  by the church
• The church must submit supporting evidence (e.g.
  accounts and budgets)
• The LBA will arrange for 2 Visitors who will
  visit and write a report
• An LBA grants group will consider the churchs
  application with the Visitors report and make a
  recommendation to BUGB
• BUGB grants manager will assess the application,
  negotiate as appropriate and make a
  recommendation to the BUGB national grants group.

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Timetable for 2010 Grant Applications

• Applications in by 27 Feb 2009
• Visitors reports in by 8 May 2009
• LBA grants group to consider on 16 June or 15
  Sept 2009
• BUGB grants group to consider on 9 July or 30
  Sept 2009
• Decisions go back to churches following BUGB
  grants group meeting (July or Sept 2009)
• Note The application form to use depends on your
  situation but for most churches it will be GD1A
  and GD1B (e.g. accredited Ministers in a normal
  church situation)

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Applying for BUGB Mission Grants

• LBA Office posts out application forms at the
  turn of the year with a letter giving names and
  contacts details for your visitors
• A range of forms and advisory documents can be
  downloaded from the BUGB website (may need a
  password which will be provided by the LBA
  Office)
• Ask us by email, phone or letter if you want us
  to post or email you copies of any documents
• Also, ask us if you need any help or advice.
• bugbmissiongrants_at_londonbaptist.org.uk

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Applying for BUGB Mission Grants

• To apply for a BUGB Mission Grant, you usually
  have to fill out a form with the following
  sections
• Part 1 (usually GD1A)
• Section 1 - General Information Resolution
• Section 2 - Ministerial Information
• Section 3 - Statistics
• Section 4 - Church Life and Mission
• Section 5 - Sunday Services and Other Activities
• Section 6 - Contact Details
• Part 2 (usually GD1B)
• Section 7 - General Financial Information
• Section 8 - General Fund Receipts and Payments
• Note Guidance notes (GD4) model documents are
  available by download or from the LBA Office.

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Section 1 General Information Resolution

• We like to see the grant requested reducing by
  (at least) 5 each year
• The request for a grant should be discussed at a
  Church Meeting so the church understands its
  responsibilities
• The Church Meeting needs to pass a prescribed
  Resolution asking for the grant and committing
  itself to play its part.

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Church Meeting Resolution

• Recognising the privilege of having a Minister,
  and that our first responsibility as Church
  Members is to support the ministry, we apply for
  a grant to help us pay our minister the Home
  Mission Stipend.
• We therefore resolve
• To request a grant of .... as a contribution
  towards the stipend for 2010,
• To pay all legitimate expenses (including travel,
  telephone, postage, etc) incurred in the carrying
  out of the ministry
• .....

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Section 2 Ministerial Information

• In this section you give
• the name of your Minister
• the basis of appointment (full-time, part-time
  etc)
• The manse arrangements.

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Section 3 Statistics

• In this section you give basic statistical
  information over several years
• The number of members
• The number of baptisms
• The number of young people
• The number of regular attenders
• The grant received, agreed and requested.

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Section 4 Church Life and Mission

• This is a vital section about your church life
  and your plans/priorities yet sometimes people
  leave it virtually blank
• Describe what you have been doing in 2008
• Outline your plans and hopes for 2009 and 2010.

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Section 5 Sunday Services Other Activities

• Let us know what you are up to!
• Sunday services
• Mid-week activities
• Monthly clubs
• Other regular activities and events
• etc etc

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Section 6 Contact details

• We may have to follow-up your application with
  queries
• It helps us to have a day-time contact
• We know not everyone has email but we find that
  exchanging information by email helps aid
  clarity
• Equally, a quick chat on the phone can sometimes
  clear-up misunderstandings very quickly.

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Part 2 Financial Information

• Treasurers have a key role in filling out Part 2
  of the standard application form (GD1B)
• We need audited or independently examined
  accounts for 2008
• We need budgets for 2009 and forecasts for 2010
• Please give explanations for any oddities in the
  accounts or budgets it saves us having to come
  back and ask!

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The Role of the Visitors

• The Visitors have three specific objectives
• To give encouragement to the leadership and
  membership of the church
• To sense and report on the spiritual life and
  mission-heart of the fellowship
• To assess and report on the financial situation
  of the church.
• Note There is a guidance note for Visitors (GD7)
  and a model report form (GD6)

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The Qualifications of the Visitors

• The Visitors will usually
• Have one ordained and one lay member
• Have at least one member able to understand and
  comment on accounts and related financial
  information
• Have experience of different church situations
  and the ability to apply their knowledge and
  experience to provide advice both to the church
  and to the LBA/BU.

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The Visiting Process

• Ideally the Visitors should
• Meet with the leadership (inc. Minister)
• Meet with representatives of the wider fellowship
  perhaps attending a service
• Have a separate conversation with the Minister
• Take account of the area in which the church is
  working perhaps walking around the area if they
  are not already familiar with it.

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The Visitors Report

• The Visitors Report should have the following
  headings
• The Community
• The Church (a) The People (b) The Building
• Mission
• Ministry
• Denominational Participation
• Finance
• Other Comments
• Conclusion and Recommendation

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The Visitors Report Circulation

• The Visitors Report will be used by the LBA and
  BUGB staff and HM grant groups to reach a
  decision on the grant request.
• It will not be sent to the church by the LBA or
  the BU.
• Note Some Visitors choose to show their report
  to the church before finalising it to ensure that
  it is accurate and fair but that is entirely up
  to the Visitors. The church has no right to see
  it.

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Group Work on Example Applications

• Break into groups of 4-5 people each.
• Each group will then be provided with two example
  applications on forms GD1A and GD1B.
• The example applications are not real ones made
  anonymous. They have been made up.

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Group Work on Example Applications

• Read the example applications carefully
• Discuss the example applications in your group
• What do they tell you about the church?
• What information is missing?
• What questions do they raise in your mind?
• What advice might you want to give each church?
• How do you react to the application overall?
• As you do this, consider how others might react
  to what you put on your application form!)
• Be prepared to report back and discuss your
  reactions to each example application.

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Form GD1A Section 1
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Form GD1A Section 2
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Form GD1A Section 3
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Form GD1A Section 4
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Form GD1A Section 5
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Form GD1A Section 6
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Form GD1B Section 7
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Form GD1B Section 8 (a)
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Form GD1B Section 8 (b)
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Form GD1B Section 8 (c)
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LBA Regional Ministry Team

• Please pray for
• Pat Took caring pastorally for Baptist church
  leaders across London
• Paul Martin leading LBA administration
• Kumar Rajagopalan and David Shosanya focusing on
  Racial Justice and Mission