A Korean children’s choir singing in English at a Spanish church reflected the international flavor of last week’s Baptist World Alliance General Council meeting.
The “Evening with Spanish Baptists” was held July 12 at the 140-member Evangelical Baptist Church of Seville, Spain, the only Baptist congregation in a city of 700,000 people.
The annual General Council meeting attracted more than 540 participants from 65 countries, making it the BWA’s largest council event. The international Baptist group also hosts a Baptist World Congress every five years that attracts several thousand participants.
Last week’s meeting initially was scheduled for Beirut, Lebanon, but was switched to Western Europe after concern about travel to the Middle East in the wake of Sept. 11.
“It’s a miracle tonight that we are gathered here in the name of Jesus,” said Manuel Sarrias, general secretary of the Spanish Evangelical Baptist Union.
Describing Spain as a missions field with only 0.25 percent of the population identified as evangelical believers, Sarrias said, “We are here where God has placed us. We want to be faithful to our Baptist principles.”
During the July 9–13 General Council meeting, members adopted resolutions on terrorism and violence in the Middle East.
Denouncing “the use of violence in the name of God and the service of religion,” the resolution on terrorism called on BWA member bodies “to reaffirm the conviction that Christ’s Kingdom will be served only by means consistent with the Prince of Peace.” It also affirmed BWA’s “willingness to engage in debate and conversation with other religions and ideologies to resolve areas of tension.”
The resolution on the Middle East deplored the continuing violence and called on all Baptists to “pray for reconciliation among the peoples of the Middle East.” It also urged all nations to “work diligently for the positive resolution of this regional conflict” and called on the involved parties “to end the violence and to negotiate a lasting peace in the spirit of forgiveness and grace.”
Other resolutions addressed such issues as evangelism, the worth of children, and the need for increased financial support of BWA by its member bodies.
Bob Terry, editor of The Alabama Baptist, serves on the resolutions committee. Other Alabama Baptists serving in leadership positions with the BWA are: Timothy George, dean of Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School, who serves as chair of the academic and theological education workgroup; Wanda Lee, executive director of national Woman’s Missionary Union, who serves as treasurer of the BWA executive committee; and Lewis Drummond of Samford University, who serves as chair of the memorial committee. Terry also serves as chair of the communications committee.
Denton Lotz, BWA general secretary, said a key focus of BWA is to “defend the rights and freedom of our suffering brothers and sisters” around the world.
He said the weeklong meeting, which included reports from Baptist work in nations throughout the world, was a reminder that “Baptists around the world want to be together and there is strength in unity.”
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