The Baptist Union exists to bring gospel renewal to people and places in their local neighbourhoods. We endeavour to do this through faith communities that are marked out by robust leadership, effective mission, growing disciples, healthy resources and authentic worship.
Since June 2021 the Baptist National Support Centre, as part of the Lead Team, has a part-time Communication Director on staff. Prior to this, in the era of a printed Baptist magazine there was an ‘Editor of the Baptist’ which was an elected role through the Baptist National Hui (Assembly). In May 2023 an advisory group was formed primarily to oversee the content on the Baptist NZ platform (content for this website, the Baptist NZ app, printable newsletters and social media), to ensure it is fulfilling the objectives of the Baptist Union (paragraph one above). The Editorial Advisory Group is a group of volunteers with an active interest in this form of communication as a unifying feature of our collective of faith communities.
The development of this group in 2023 was ahead of its time in terms of the progress of the new national Baptist communication space, so this group was disestablished in October 2024. It is expected that a new Editorial Advisory Group will be formed in due course when the practical ability to facilitate its function catches up with the need.
The purposes of the Editorial Advisory Group members
- Have a commitment to the Baptist Union of New Zealand and be a member of a local Baptist faith community.
- Assist with identifying topics that are of importance to the Baptist NZ community, as well as potential contributors, in alignment with the Baptist Union’s purpose.
- Ensure content is being responsive to the Baptist NZ community’s needs and focus, helping us to engage with the world that we live in, particularly from a justice/kingdom perspective.
- Ensure the diversity of the movement of churches is represented in the content on the Baptist NZ platform.
- Be available for content review, assisting the Communication Director with decision making when needed on the suitability or censorship of content, being guided by Baptist Union values, eg: unity.
- Have an active interest in content publication and direction.
- Provide feedback on the Baptist NZ platform performance, achievement, growth and development.
- Create occasional content for the Baptist NZ platform (at least 2 items/year from each Editorial Advisory Group member).
- Use their experience and influence to identify and encourage new creatives within our movement of faith communities.
- Be a promoter of the Baptist NZ platform – seeking and sharing content within their networks, being an advocate for this communication mechanism.
The Editorial Advisory Group is established and led by the Communication Director, with appointments for 1 year with no limit to the number of possible years of service in the role, but subject to the ability to participate in the purposes listed above. The formation of the group will be guided by the diverse representation of the Team of 40,000 Baptists in New Zealand, will be at least 5 people, drawing beyond employees of the Baptist Union or it’s sub-groups (except the Communication Director), with the following make-up:
- A gender balance.
- At least one Māori person on the group.
- At least one non-European ethnicity on the group (in addition to the Māori person).
- A generational balance, at least one of each: Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X.