I have spent most of today at Baptist House in Didcot at a meeting. More about that one day but what was lovely was meeting up with old friends and former colleagues from the time when I worked there.

At the moment the BUGB staff team is undergoing significant change and I feel for all of them, especially those who are uncertain about the future.

There have been times when I have heard people speak disparagingly about the team at Baptist House as if echoing the words of Nathaniel about Jesus’ home town Nazareth: ‘Can anything good come from there?’ That saddens me immensely because I know that those people serve God and his people so faithfully and diligently. The same is true of the vast majority of people in church leadership.

A while ago I tried to launch ‘Bless a bureaucrat day’. It has not really caught on. Today I am not launching a new day, but I invite you to thank someone who serves you as a leader. Do it in person, by phone or text, by email… you don’t have to give any gift other than the gift of encouragement. And that’s a spiritual gift you’ll be exercising!

So thank you to all who work at Baptist House.

Be blessed, be a blessing