By Hayley Beckett on 28th January 2026
EBA Council Summary 26 January 2026
EBA Trustees with no apologies met on Monday 26 January 2026.
Lou Webber (EBA Moderator) welcomed everyone. In opening the meeting Lou read from John 4 Jesus heals the official’s son), asking us if we had ever considered what emotions this man may have experienced as he walked home, not knowing what he was going to find when he reached his destination and how sometimes the journey is not easy when we do not know the outcome and we need to trust that Jesus knows best.
David Mayne (RMTL) presented the team report reporting on where EBA team members had been involved or spent time with churches and ministers. He shared that November and December had been busy and that some issues had required a lot of regional minister time both locally and in a supportive role nationally.
EBA had seen some churches settle a new minister and one new one coming into the system, this is great news however overall there are still a good number of churches within EBA looking for a new minister.
The team report ends with an update on what the team are doing to progress the strategic priorities for 2026
The national justice hub has asked that locally based association justice hubs give a main focus this year to racial justice and the EBA hub has been putting together some online sessions for churches to engage in – details and dates for these will be included in other EBA communications.
Chris Duffett has agreed to an extension until March 2027 in his contract as Pioneer Networker, Amy Barker has been appointed as Director for Vocations and ministerial development her start date is 1 April.
Finally it was good to hear that Claire is now back working full time following treatment and surgery in 2025, and she has just completed training being a Menopause Advocate and is looking at how this can be used within the association.
Gillian Jones (EBA Safeguarding lead) has written a report for trustees. Gillian is being proactive in contacting churches where there is no DPS listed and working through what safeguarding should look like in their context in addition to contacting churches where there has been no engagement with safeguarding training in the last 6 years. As well as dealing with safeguarding queries and advice from churches.
Richard (EBA Treasurer) presented the financial information up to the end of 2025; Income was more than budgeted mainly due to a slight recalculation from BUGB meaning that we ended the year with a lower deficit than originally thought. There is still work to be done on our financial position.
Home mission giving from churches nationally is slightly up and thanks need to pass onto churches who are giving the recommended 5% of general income and to those who responded to the 1% more letter and increased their giving bringing it closer to the 5% or gave a one-off gift.
Hayley Beckett (EBA Company Secretary) brought the Administration Report which included the annual risk review, within these risks are identified and scored and then mitigations are added leaving a residual score them aim is for risks to be left within a manageable state knowing that circumstances can change as the year goes on. This year, particularly with regards to financial risks, there are risks that are currently remaining high. Trustees committed to constant monitoring of these and active engagement with mitigations and plans as we progress through the year.
Other items talked about included what provision there is for training post Spurgeon’s closure, and options are currently being discussed at a national level. Project Violet, David and Claire attended a national gathering focused on Project Violet in January looking at how progress is being made on the recommendations and how we can keep momentum going in bringing about change. Following the last meeting where trustees agreed to write to BUGB trustees regarding the funding formula the response was discussed and EBA trustees feel that the response was disappointing, following further financial discussions EBA trustees may write again.
As mentioned in previous summaries and within EBA communication in early 2026 there will be some listening and sharing events which we would hope most churches will engage with, so far, we have held 3 feedback has been positive and most attendees have said how helpful it has been to hear about the current situation especially the financial issues. There are a few more dates spread across the association and ministers/churches are encouraged to engage with one of them.
The meeting closed in prayer.
6th November 2025
EBA Council Summary 01 November 2025 EBA Trustees with no apologies met on Saturday 1 November. Lou Webber (EBA Moderator) welcomed everyone. In opening the meeting Lou read from Psalm 95, sharing that worship should be at the heart of everything we do including working through a trustee meeting agenda….
3rd November 2025
DIRECTOR OF VOCATIONS & MINISTERIAL FORMATION ROLE OUTLINE Introduction: The Eastern Baptist Association (EBA) is a group of 172 churches and communities drawn together from the counties of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire. Our vision is ‘Growing healthy churches in relationship for God’s mission in the East of England’. …
25th September 2025
EBA Council Summary 22 September 2025 EBA Trustees – with one apology met for the EBA Council meeting on 22 September 2025. Lou Webber (EBA Moderator) welcomed everyone. In opening the meeting Lou read Luke 8 16-18, sharing that reflecting on this passage has made her aware of the…
