McLEAN, Va. — A capacity crowd of 750 gathered March 3 in the ballroom of a Washington-area hotel to honor Baptist World Alliance (BWA) General Secretary Denton Lotz as he begins retiring from his years of service to the world’s Baptists.
Lotz joined the Virginia-based staff of the worldwide Baptist umbrella group as its evangelism director in 1980. He became BWA’s chief officer in 1988. He saw it through some of its most challenging years, as it supported oppressed churches in the former Soviet Union and communist Eastern Europe, endured the unexpected death of Lotz’s predecessor, Gerhard Claas, and survived the withdrawal of its largest member body, the Southern Baptist Convention.
"The Lord raised you up for such a time as we’ve been through," Billy Graham said of Lotz in a letter. "The fact that you are related through marriage, that you are a member of our board of directors, and because of our long-time association with the Baptist World Alliance, all give me a special reason to honor you on the occasion of your retirement. Not only will the Baptist World Alliance miss you, but your ecumenical leadership will be missed throughout the world church."
Graham’s daughter Anne Graham Lotz is Lotz’s sister-in-law. She read the letter from her ailing father, who was unable to attend.
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