Baptist World Alliance

The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is a worldwide alliance of Baptist churches and organisations formed in 1905 at Exeter Hall in London, United Kingdom during the first Baptist World Congress. The organisation counts 47 million people and is the largest organisation of Baptist churches in the world. Less than a half of the world's Baptists are affiliated with this organisation. Its leader is the South African Ngwedla Paul Msiza.

Baptist World Alliance
ClassificationMainline, Evangelicalism
OrientationBaptist
PresidentNgwedla Paul Msiza
Region125 countries
HeadquartersFalls Church, Virginia, U.S.
OriginJuly 1905
London, United Kingdom
Members47,500,324
Official websitebwanet.org
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Baptists

History
Show on the life of Jesus at Igreja da Cidade, affiliated to the Brazilian Baptist Convention, in São José dos Campos, Brazil, 2017
Building of Kowloon City Baptist Church, member of the Baptist Convention of Hong Kong (Baptist World Alliance), in Kowloon City, Hong-Kong

The roots of the Baptist World Alliance can be traced back to the seventeenth century when Baptist leader Thomas Grantham proposed the concept of a congregation of all Christians in the world that are "baptised according to the appointment of Christ."[1] Similar proposals were put forward later such as the call of John Rippon in 1790 for a world meeting of Baptists "to consult the ecclesiastical good to the whole."[1]

It was, however, only in 1904 when such congregation became a reality. John Newton Prestridge, editor of The Baptist Argus, at Louisville, Kentucky called for a world gathering of Baptists. John Howard Shakespeare, editor of The Baptist Times and Freeman, London, endorsed the proposal.[2][3][4] In October 1904, the Baptist Union of Great Britain passed a resolution to invite a Congress to meet with them in 1905. At the Congress, a committee was formed, which proposed a Constitution for a World Alliance. The Baptist World Alliance was founded in London, during this first Baptist World Congress in July 1905.[5][6][7][8]

Membership was opened to "any general Union, Convention or Association of Baptist Churches", and it was decided that the Alliance would "meet in general assembly ordinarily once in five years, unless otherwise determined by the Executive Committee". Three leading personalities involved in the organisation included Prestridge, Shakespeare and Alexander Maclaren (who served as provisional President).

The gathering was referred to as an "alliance" and not a council in order to establish the nature of the dialogue as a meeting. This means that the body wields no authority over participating churches or national Baptist unions, serving only as a forum for collaboration.[9]

In 2015, the South African Ngwedla Paul Msiza becomes President of the Alliance.[10]

Statistics

According to a census of the denomination, in 2017, it had 239 Baptist denominations members in 125 countries, 168 491 churches and 47 500 324 members.[11]

Beliefs

The Alliance has a Baptist confession of faith.[12]

Objectives

The alliance's stated goals are to: "(1) To Unite Baptists Worldwide; (2) To Lead in World Evangelization; (3) To Respond to People in Need; and (4) To Defend Human Rights."[13]

Organisational structure

The Alliance is divided into six regional or geographical fellowships: North American Baptist Fellowship, Asia Pacific Baptist Federation (formerly Asian Baptist Federation), All-Africa Baptist Fellowship, Caribbean Baptist Fellowship, Union of Baptists in Latin America, and European Baptist Federation.[14] Each regional fellowship is served by an Executive Secretary.

List of presidents
Name Term Country
John Clifford 1905–1911 UK
Robert Stuart MacArthur 1911–1923 USA
Edgar Young Mullins 1923–1928 USA
John MacNeill 1928–1934 Canada
George Washington Truett 1934–1939 USA
James Henry Rushbrooke 1939–1947 UK
Charles Oscar Johnson 1947–1950 USA
Fred Townley Lord 1950–1955 UK
Theodore Floyd Adams 1955–1960 USA
Joao Filson Soren 1960–1965 Brasil
William R. Tolbert, jr. 1965–1970 Liberia
Carney Hargroves 1970–1975 USA
David Wong 1975–1980 Hong Kong
Duke Kimbrough McCall 1980–1985 USA
Noel Vose 1985–1990 Australia
Knud Wümpelmann 1990–1995 Denmark
Nilson do Amaral Fanini 1995–2000 Brasil
Billy Kim 2000–2005 South Korea
David Coffey 2005–2010 UK
John Upton 2010–2015 USA (Virginia)
Paul Mzisa 2015- South Africa

Baptist World Congress

Baptist World Congresses have been held every few years since 1905.[8][15][16]

No. Year City Country
1. 1905 London  GBR
2. 1911 Philadelphia  USA
3. 1923 Stockholm  SWE
4. 1928 Toronto  CAN
5. 1934 Berlin  DEU
6. 1939 Atlanta  USA
7. 1947 Copenhagen  DNK
8. 1950 Cleveland  USA
9. 1955 London  GBR
10. 1960 Rio de Janeiro  BRA
11. 1965 Miami Beach  USA
12. 1970 Tokyo  JPN
13. 1975 Stockholm  SWE
14. 1980 Toronto  CAN
15. 1985 Los Angeles  USA
16. 1990 Seoul  KOR
17. 1995 Buenos Aires  ARG
18. 2000 Melbourne  AUS
19. 2005 Birmingham  GBR

Ecumenical relations

The Baptist World Alliance maintains ecumenical relations with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. One series of International Conversations between the BWA and the Catholic Church took place from between 1984 and 1988 moderated by the Reverend Dr David T. Shannon, sometime President of Andover Newton Theological School, and the Most Reverend Bede Heather, Bishop of Parramatta.[17] While this dialogue produced the report called Summons to Witness to Christ in Today's World, the second phase did not push through because of opposition from within the Baptist World Alliance itself.[18] Negotiations continued, however, so that a series of consultations transpired from 2000 to 2003. During this period the Baptists and Catholics discussed important doctrines that divide these denominations.[18] These second series of conversations resulted in formal meetings between 2006 and 2010. The current Co-Moderators are Paul Fiddes, Professor of Systematic Theology in the University of Oxford and formerly Principal of Regent's Park College, Oxford, and Arthur J. Serratelli, Bishop of Paterson.[19]

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See also

References
  1. Williams, Michael; Shurden, Walter (2008). Turning Points in Baptist History: A Festschrift in Honor of Harry Leon McBeth. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. p. 223. ISBN 0881461350.
  2. Lord, Townley F. (2007). Baptist World Fellowship: A Short History Of The Baptist World Alliance. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 0-548-44182-0.
  3. Wardin, Albert W. (ed.) (1995). Baptists Around the World: A Comprehensive Handbook. Broadman & Holman. ISBN 0-8054-1076-7.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  4. Leornard, Bill J. (1994). Dictionary of Baptists in America. InterVarsity Press. ISBN 0-8308-1447-7.
  5. Robert E. Johnson, A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2010, p. 238
  6. William H. Brackney, Historical Dictionary of the Baptists, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 59
  7. J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 297
  8. Pierard, Richard V. (1 October 2010). "The Baptist World Congress of 1905 and the Emergence of Black American Baptists on the International Scene". Baptist Quarterly. 43 (8): 494–505. doi:10.1179/bqu.2010.43.8.004. ISSN 0005-576X.
  9. Johnson, Robert (2010). A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-52187781-7.
  10. Baptist World Alliance, African installed president of global Baptist body, USA, July 25, 2015
  11. "Statistics". About us. Baptist World Alliance. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  12. Baptist World Alliance, Centennial Statement, bwanet.org, United Kingdom, July 2005
  13. "About BWA". Baptist World Alliance. Archived from the original on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  14. "Regional Fellowships". Baptist World Alliance. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  15. McKinney, Blake (March 2018). ""One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism" in the Land of ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer: The Fifth Baptist World Congress (Berlin, 1934)". Church History. 87 (1): 122–148. doi:10.1017/S0009640718000823. ISSN 0009-6407.
  16. Deweese, Charles W. (1 January 2008). "E. Y. Mullins and Baptist World Congresses". Baptist History and Heritage. 43 (1): 4. ISSN 0005-5719.
  17. Angelo Maffeis, Ecumenical Dialogue, Liturgical Press, USA, 2005, p. 44-45
  18. Cassidy, Edward (2005). Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue: Unitatis Redintegratio, Nostra Aetate. New York: Paulist Press. pp. 68. ISBN 0809143380.
  19. "Baptist—Roman Catholic International Conversations". Centro Pro Unione. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
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