No church should think of itself as self-sufficient or isolated from fellow Baptists — no matter how gifted it is,” declared Neville Callam, the new general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). “Unity among believers is based on being useful to God, not on giving and getting.”
Although Callam represents a worldwide fellowship of 38 million Baptists in more than 200 conventions and unions, he emphasized that unity is not based on churches joining together with one another. “Spiritual unity is created by God. It is a supernatural gift. We belong to each other because we belong to God,” he said.
Callam was in Birmingham Sept. 24–25 speaking at several venues including Beeson Divinity School at Samford University and national Woman’s Missionary Union. Birmingham was the first stop on an 18-city North American tour designed to introduce the new leader to Baptists in the United States and Canada.
A Baptist pastor in Jamaica and graduate of Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., Callam assumed his new office Sept. 1. He is the first person of African descent to lead the worldwide body.
“The source of our unity as Baptists is the gospel,” Callam explained during an interview with The Alabama Baptist. He said the gospel is a Person — the good news of Jesus as revealed in the Word of God, or the Bible, which is uniquely authoritative.
Individuals are invited to have a personal relationship with God by responding in faith to what Jesus did on the cross, Callam continued.
After that, believers are to live out their professions in faithful discipleship.
‘Bridges of dialogue’
“That is the doctrinal core that forms our relatedness as Baptists,” Callam said. “It builds bridges of dialogue and respect among Baptists everywhere.”
But a common confession of faith does not always result in unity, Callam noted.
In Jamaica, there are five Baptist groups but only one is a member of BWA.
“When I talk about the need for unity among Baptists, I am not just talking about the American context or about the decision of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) to withdraw from the BWA,” he said, referring to the 2004 move by the SBC to stop sending financial support to BWA. “I am talking about a worldwide need of Baptists to find the unity for which Jesus prayed in John 17.”
Callam said he is not versed in the SBC–BWA controversy and is “more concerned about what God wants to do in the future.”
“I believe in the ministry of reconciliation,” he said.
“We have to discover the fountainhead of love that flows from the Spirit of God. That will enable us to forgive each other and will drive us forward together in love.”
But unity for unity’s sake is not his goal.
Callam pointed out that Jesus prayed for unity among His followers “that the world might believe.”
“Unity is for the purpose of mission,” he said. “When Baptists are united, we can win the world for Christ. One of our challenges is to help people understand the connection between unity and mission.”
Callam recounted an experience of visiting a small Baptist church in Tanzania. When he shared pictures and stories of the visit, members of his congregation were moved to help the church.
Members of the Tanzanian church did not have Bibles, so the Jamaican congregation sent enough Bibles for everyone in the village.
Recognizing that we belong to each other because we belong to God opens our eyes to needs and allows God to work through us to build up His Kingdom, Callam said.
The new BWA leader credits Southern Baptists with introducing him to the worldwide Baptist organization.
That exposure helped him recognize the importance of fellowship, networking and encouragement that comes when one recognizes spiritual unity with other Baptists. He said the BWA broadened his understandings and provided new outlets of service through missions and evangelism.
“It showed me that I was not alone in some small corner of the world. I learned I had so much in common with other Baptists in other places. The Spirit of God makes that possible,” Callam said.
“I want Alabama Baptists to know they are as important as any other group of Baptists in the world,” he continued. “We share a common faith and are on mission together because we belong to God.”
BWA ‘a place for unity’
Callam said the BWA offers a place where Baptists can “hold hands with other Baptists of the world” in missions and evangelism.
“That isn’t based on BWA granting membership to any group,” he said. “It is because God grants space for all of His children around His glorious table.”
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