Baptist World Federation
| logo | |
|---|---|
One Lord - one faith - one baptism One Lord - one faith - one baptism
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| Official name : |
Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Baptist World Alliance |
| Spiritual direction : |
President : Paul Mzisa / South Africa Secretary General : Neville Callam |
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Regional associations : |
North American Baptist Fellowship |
| Local communities : | approx. 210,000 |
| Parishioners : | 37,000,000 baptized |
| Official Website : | Baptist World Alliance |
The Baptist World Alliance (English: Baptist World Alliance ) is an association of currently 232 national Baptist unions and forms one of the largest Protestant denominations . The seat of the World Federation is Washington DC ( USA ). The current president, who has served since 2015 , is South African Paul Mzisa. Neville Callam is the executive secretary general; he took over in 2007 as the successor to Denton Lotz .
history
In 1904 the American John Newton Prestridge, editor of the magazine "The Baptist Argus" , called for a worldwide union of Baptist churches. His British colleague John Howard Shakespeare (The Baptist Times) supported this project. In the same year the Baptist Union of Great Britain invited to a world congress of the Baptists in London. This congress took place in July 1905 and passed the following resolution, which then became the preamble to the statutes of the World Federation:
“Whereas, in the providence of God, the time has come when it seems fitting more fully to manifest the essential oneness in the Lord Jesus Christ as their God and Savior of the Churches of the Baptist order and faith throughout the world, and to promote the spirit of fellowship, service and co-operation among them, while recognizing the independence of each particular church and not assuming the functions of any existing organization, it is agreed to form a Baptist World Alliance, extending over every part of the world. "
Congresses of the Baptist World Federation
It was planned to hold congresses every five years in different places around the world, but this could not always be sustained due to the wars and the economic crises of the 20th century . The following congresses have taken place so far:
| year | place | annotation |
|---|---|---|
| 1905 | London | Founding Congress |
| 1911 | Philadelphia | |
| The 1916 and 1921 congresses were canceled because of the First World War . | ||
| 1923 | Stockholm | |
| 1928 | Toronto | |
| 1934 | Berlin | The Berlin Congress was scheduled for 1934 in order to celebrate the centenary of the German Baptists that year . |
| 1939 | Atlanta | |
| 1947 | Copenhagen | The Copenhagen Congress did not take place until 1947 because of the Second World War and its aftermath. |
| 1950 | Cleveland | |
| 1955 | London | London was chosen as the location of the congress because it was the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Baptist World Federation . |
| 1960 | Rio de Janeiro | For the first time a congress of the World Federation took place in South America. |
| 1965 | Miami Beach | |
| 1970 | Tokyo | For the first time a congress of the World Federation took place in Asia . |
| 1975 | Stockholm | |
| 1980 | Toronto | The Congress elected Gerhard Claas as Secretary General of the World Federation. |
| 1985 | los Angeles | |
| 1990 | Seoul | The congress elected Knud Wümpelmann as President of the Baptist World Federation. |
| 1995 | Buenos Aires | |
| 2000 | Melbourne | For the first time a congress of the World Federation took place in Australia . |
| 2005 | Birmingham | |
| 2010 | Hawaii | July 28 to August 1, 2010 |
| 2015 | Durban | July 22nd to July 26th, 2015 |
President of the Baptist World Federation
The highest representative of the Baptist Church Alliance is the respective President of the World Baptist Alliance. He is usually elected for five years. Vice-presidents are always the presidents of the six Baptist world regions.
| president | from ... to | origin |
|---|---|---|
| John Clifford | 1905-1911 | Great Britain |
| Robert Stuart MacArthur | 1911-1923 | United States |
| Edgar Young Mullins | 1923-1928 | United States |
| John MacNeill | 1928-1934 | Canada |
| George Washington Truett | 1934-1939 | United States |
| James Henry Rushbrooke | 1939-1947 | Great Britain |
| Charles Oscar Johnson | 1947-1950 | United States |
| Fred Townley Lord | 1950-1955 | Great Britain |
| Theodore Floyd Adams | 1955-1960 | United States |
| Joao Filson Soren | 1960-1965 | Brazil |
| William R. Tolbert, Jr. | 1965-1970 | Liberia |
| Carney Hargroves | 1970-1975 | United States |
| David Wong | 1975-1980 | Hong Kong |
| Duke Kimbrough McCall | 1980-1985 | United States |
| Noel Vose | 1985-1990 | Australia |
| Knud Wümpelmann | 1990-1995 | Denmark |
| Nilson do Amaral Fanini | 1995-2000 | Brazil |
| Billy Kim | 2000-2005 | South Korea |
| David Coffey | 2005-2010 | Great Britain |
| John Upton | 2010-2015 | USA (Virginia) |
| Paul Mzisa | since 2015 | South Africa |
Goals of the Baptist World Federation
- Promoting Baptist Unity Worldwide
- Worldwide evangelism
- Support for needy peoples
- The commitment to the defense of human rights , particularly freedom of religion
Subdivisions
The Baptist World Federation has six geographical breakdowns:
- North American Baptist Community (North American Baptist Fellowship)
- Asia Pacific Baptist Federation (Asia Pacific Baptist Federation)
- Pan-African Baptist Fellowship (All-Africa Baptist Fellowship)
- Caribbean Baptist Fellowship (Caribbean Baptist Fellowship)
- Association of Baptists in Latin America (Union of Baptists in Latin America)
- European Baptist Federation (European Baptist Federation). This also includes the Baptist unions of West and Central Asia and Egypt .
statistics
The Baptist World Federation represents around 37 million baptized church members in more than 200 nations.
| World region | Members 1958 | Members 2008 | Number of local churches in 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 279 241 | 7 533 450 | 30 436 |
| Asia / Australia | 769 875 | 5,377,271 | 28 197 |
| Europe | 1 142 127 | 779 295 | 12 362 |
| Middle East | 5 450 | 82 | |
| Central America and West Indies | 104 829 | 541 670 | 04 817 |
| North America | 19 804 632 | 21 171 319 | 69 167 |
| South America | 146 988 | 1,696,880 | 12 570 |
| Southern Baptist Convention / USA (no longer BWA member since October 2004) | (included in the number below North America ) | - | |
| Total | 22 247 692 | 37 105 335 | 157 632 |
- Source for the statistics 1958 : JD Hughey: Die Baptisten - Doctrine, Practice, History. Kassel 1959, p. 140 ff.
- Source for 2008 statistics : World Baptist Federation.
literature
- JD Hughey: The Baptists - Doctrine, Practice, History. Kassel 1959.
- Neville Callam, Julia Grundmann: Show the unity of the Baptists. The new General Secretary of the Baptist World Federation in conversation. In: The community. The magazine of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches. (without ISSN, ZDB -ID 1157992-4 ), No. 10 of April 29, 2007, p. 14.
- Ken Manley: The Baptist World Alliance and Inter-Church Relationships.
- Baptist World Alliance (Ed.): Covenants and Declarations 1990-2000. Washington DC 2001.
- James Woods: Baptists and Human Rights.
Individual evidence
- ↑ ( page no longer available , search in web archives: Christian Today ), August 2, 2010; accessed on August 11, 2010
- ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: BWA statistics )
