Baptists in Malta

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Church of the Bible Baptist Congregation in Gżira
Church of the Evangelical Baptist Church in Mosta

Baptists in Malta have been around since the 1970s. Today three Baptist congregations are represented in the island state . Two congregations form the Evangelical Baptist Church of Malta (Maltese: Knisja Evangelika Battista ). The Bible Baptist Church Malta has a congregation in Gżira .

history

In the late 1970s the Maltese couple Edwin and Sylvia Caruana founded a Christian house group . The two had been secretly baptized by a Norwegian Christian in 1971 as a teenager . After they got married, they initially considered emigrating from Malta. The main reason for this was the difficulties with which they, as Protestant Christians, were constantly confronted in the strongly Roman Catholic state. In the end, they decided to stay in the island nation. Initially, the small house church consisted of six members. Initial growth began when Edwin Caruana began preaching in the Maltese language. From 1983 they were allowed to use the premises in a church building that is used by Protestant foreigners as a place of worship. In 1986 Edwin Caruana received his ordination as a Baptist clergyman. The Evangelical Baptist Church (Maltese: Knisja Evangelika Battista / KEB ) has been officially recognized since 1989 . The Baptist World Federation acted as intermediary . In 1991, KEB founded a branch in Zejtun .

Another Baptist church work on Malta started in March 1985. Its founders were the Maltese-American missionary couple Josef and Jenny Mifsud, who had come to the Mediterranean island as so-called church planters . After church services and congregational events were initially held in rented rooms, the opportunity arose in 1993 to purchase a plot of land in Gżira with the help of American Baptist congregations. In just nine months of construction, a church building was built on top of it - partly in-house. The inauguration took place on April 14, 1994.

Since there is sometimes considerable resistance to Protestantism in the predominantly Roman Catholic population , the work of the two Baptist congregations also takes place under difficult conditions.

Theological orientation

The Bible Baptist Church Malta is a strongly evangelical congregation. She is committed to the verbal inspiration of the Holy Scriptures as far as their original texts are concerned. Otherwise, their teaching and preaching are Christ-centered. The Evangelical Baptist Church is also Christocentric, but more liberal in its understanding of Scripture than its sister church.

Both Baptist congregations see their actual focus in the evangelism of their country.

Organization and statistics

The leadership of the two congregations, which include a total of about 130 baptized members (excluding children, family members and friends), is in the hands of the pastor and the elected elders and deacons . The community assembly decides on all essential questions.

Both communities maintain a number of international contacts - u. a. to Baptists in the USA, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Germany. While the Bible Baptist Church has a relaxed but friendly relationship with the European Baptist Federation (EBF), the Evangelical Baptist Church of Malta is one of its member churches.

literature

  • William H. Brackney: Historical Dictionary of the Baptists . Volume 25 in the Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements series . The Scarecrow Press, Inc .: Lanham, Maryland, and London 1999. ISBN 0-8108-3652-1 . P. 270 (Article: Malta )
  • Albert W. Wardin (Ed.): Baptists around the World. A comprehensive handbook . Brodman & Holman Publishers: Nashville, Tennessee 1995. ISBN 0-8054-1076-7 . Pp. 278-279

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ For the history of the Evangelical Baptist Church see Kebmalta.org: Our History , When does a church become legally a church? ; accessed on October 11, 2017
  2. ^ Albert W. Wardin (Ed.): Baptists around the World. A comprehensive handbook . Brodman & Holman Publishers: Nashville, Tennessee 1995. p. 279
  3. ↑ Malta-Canada.com: Churches - Chapels: Bible Baptist Church ; accessed on October 11, 2017