“We had Iranian drones being shot down above our church last Sunday. How was your week?” That was how Gareth Franks (New Life Church, Abu Dhabi) started his talk at this year's Pillar International Conference in Edinburgh.
The statement reflected the international mix of individuals at the conference: representatives from an underground church in Morocco, an international church in Turkey, a church plant next to the Vatican, and thriving churches in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, as well as a lot of Americans, and Brits, from Exeter to Orkney—about 260 people in all.
'A conference with a difference'
Led by Liam Garvie and hosted by Charlotte Chapel, Pillar is a leaders’ conference with a difference. Pillar International aims to bring together like-minded Baptist churches "not as the frozen chosen but as the warm reformed", to encourage the building of partnerships between churches on different continents. Some come needing help, others come ready to partner, and there is time in the programme for intensive networking.
