Coverage of the Baptist World Alliance

Below is a list of links to articles on the 2008 annual gathering of the Baptist World Alliance held in Prague.

Global Baptists Gather Next Week in Prague with Record of Growth, Organizational Change (7/18)

(EthicsDaily.com) When the Southern Baptist Convention voted in June 2004 to withdraw from and defund the Baptist World Alliance, a tiny body stepped up a month later at the BWA's annual meeting in Seoul, South Korea, with a commitment to help rebuild the world's largest organization of Baptist conventions and fellowships....Despite dire predictions about its future, the BWA has had a record over the past four years of numerical growth and successful change—electing new leadership, responding to a horrific natural disaster, restructuring the organization, and making a commitment to new programming. BWA now has an estimated 157,149 churches and 36,943,113 members, compared to 140,538 churches and 31,459,071 members in October 2004.

Baptist World Alliance Aims for Greater Global Representation (7/21)

(EthicsDaily.com) One of the most important topics at the gathering in Prague, Czech Republic, is the matter of restructuring the BWA...."It has become clear to us that neither the General Council nor the current Executive Committee are able to exercise appropriate quality oversight (governance) for an international mission-oriented ecclesial organism in the 21st century," reads the report from the 18-member committee that included BWA President David Coffey and General Secretary Neville Callam.

Baptist Leader Raises 10 Questions About Ordination (7/22)

(EthicsDaily.com) In a document outlining the three sessions of the Church Leadership Commission, Brian Winslade, commission chair, noted that one Baptist distinctive is egalitarianism expressed in principles such as "priesthood of all believers" and "soul competence." These principles set Baptists apart from other historical Christian communions which held to "systems of ecclesial hierarchy." Yet over the centuries, "most Baptist Unions/Conventions have developed (or adopted) systems of credentialing Ministers that appear similar to other historical denominations," wrote Winslade, national ministries director for the Baptist Union of Australia.

Bangladeshi Baptist Leader Receives Human Rights Award (7/23)

(EthicsDaily.com) Dennis Datta stood at the cutting edge of Baptist moral leadership in 2002, criticizing worldwide Baptists and calling them to support a bold plan to halve global poverty by 2015. The Bangladeshi Baptist leader did so two years before the Baptist World Alliance passed a resolution supporting the Micah Challenge, a campaign to pressure governments to keep their pledges to fund the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. His advocacy came four years before the Baptist Center for Ethics' pastoral letter supporting the Micah Challenge and six years before the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship pledged to support that initiative.

BWA Meeting in Prague Begins with Prayer, Praise (7/24)

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (ABP) -- Nearly 400 delegates to the Baptist World Alliance's annual gathering in Prague, Czech Republic, raised their voices in prayer and singing as the July 21-25 meeting began with a rousing worship service. The three-day gathering enables Baptists representing many of the 214 national and regional Baptist groups that make up the BWA to gather for worship, fellowship, study and planning.

Pastors' biggest differ by region, BWA Speakers Say (7/24)

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (ABP) -- Global Baptist pastors' problems are as different as the countries and regions in which they minister, according to speakers at the July 21-24 Baptist World Alliance annual gathering in Prague. Over the past year, the worldwide Baptist umbrella organization's church health and effectiveness workgroup has focused its attention on the health of pastors. Three presenters provided glimpses into the particular difficulties pastors experience in North America, Bulgaria and Chile.

Baptist World Aid Seeks to Become Baptist Hub for Disaster and Develop Initiatives (7/25)

(EthicsDaily.com) BWAid proposed "to coordinate Baptist responses to global poverty by connecting Baptist aid and development agencies around the globe," to act "as a broker to ensure speedy and appropriate responses," to facilitate "coordinated emergency responses to disasters situations" and "to educate and challenge our constituency to live justly and promote change to address global poverty."

BWA Leaders Pledge to Tackle Climate Change, Address Zimbabwe (7/28)

(EthicsDaily.com) Baptist World Alliance leaders repeatedly addressed the issue of climate change last week at their annual gathering in Prague, Czech Republic, even extending deliberations in the final session to strengthen a resolution on the issue....Other adopted resolutions included one on Zimbabwe, in which the BWA general council lamented the events there which "have led to economic crisis, social unrest, political uncertainty, and a deterioration in human rights."

Global Baptists Voice Fear, Call for Positive Dialogue with Muslims (7/28)

(EthicsDaily.com) One U.S. Baptist leader said that it was important for Baptists to respond constructively since some Baptists had made such harmful comments about Islam. Pointing out that Baptists had a rich tradition of living respectfully with others, he offered that Baptists would not compromise their core Christian convictions.

The Lessons of the BWA's Emerging Leaders Network

(texasbaptists.wordpress.com) Blake Killingsworth of Dallas Baptist University shares some his thoughts on the subject. Blake is part of the Baptist World Alliance Emerging Leaders Network, which seeks to encouraged and develop leadership skills among younger Baptists.