Baptist World Alliance

History

The roots of the Baptist World Alliance can be traced back to the seventeenth century when Thomas Grantham, the Baptist Messenger and leading divine (theologian) of Lincolnshire, proposed the concept of a congregation of all Christians in the world that are "baptised according to the appointment of Christ." Similar proposals were put forward later such as the call of John Rippon in 1790 for a world meeting of Baptists "to consult the ecclesiastical good to the whole."

It was, however, only in 1904 when such a congregation became a reality. John Newton Prestridge, editor of The Baptist Argus, at Louisville, Kentucky called for a world gathering of Baptists. John Howard Shakespeare, editor of The Baptist Times and Freeman, London, endorsed the proposal. In October 1904, the Baptist Union of Great Britain passed a resolution to invite a Congress to meet with them in 1905. At the Congress, a committee was formed, which proposed a Constitution for a World Alliance. The Baptist World Alliance was founded in London, during this first Baptist World Congress in July 1905. Every five years since, the BWA holds a Baptist World Congress in different locations around the world, and multiple international meetings and programs are held in the times between Congresses.

The gathering was referred to as an "alliance" and not a council in order to establish the nature of the dialogue as a meeting. This means that the body wields no authority over participating churches or national Baptist unions, serving only as a forum for collaboration.

In 2003, the International Baptist Convention, an international association of English-speaking churches, became a member.

In 2004, the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention voted to withdraw from the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) because a member association, the American Baptist Churches USA had accepted an organization that included 2 churches favorable to the blessings of same-sex marriage as well as perceived anti-American sentiment, which were partly attributed to Alliance Secretary General Denton Lotz's visits to Fidel Castro in Cuba. A year later, two state denominational members of the Southern Baptist Convention—the Baptist General Association of Virginia and the Baptist General Convention of Texas—affirmed their continued support and applied for membership in the Alliance, and were subsequently admitted.

In July 2025, Karl Johnson of the Jamaica Baptist Union became Chair of the Alliance and Lynn Green of the Baptist Union of Great Britain became Vice Chair.

Statistics

According to an Alliance census released in 2025, the BWA has 283 participating Baptist fellowships in 138 countries, with 178,000 churches and 53,000,000 baptized members. However, some churches and members may be counted more than once if they belong to more than one Baptist association, each being members of the BWA.

Beliefs

The communion has a Baptist confession of faith.

Structure

The BWA is divided into six regional or geographical fellowships: North American Baptist Fellowship, Caribbean Baptist Fellowship, Latin American Baptist Union, European Baptist Federation, Asia Pacific Baptist Federation, and All-Africa Baptist Fellowship. Each regional fellowship is served by an Executive Secretary.

List of general secretaries

In the initial stages of the Baptist World Alliance, the role of General Secretary was split into two geographical regions. In 1928, these positions were merged into a single general secretary role.

List of presidents (renamed Chair in 2025)

Baptist World Congress

Baptist World Congresses have been held every few years since 1905.

Affiliated organizations

Global Baptist Mission Network

The Global Baptist Mission Network has 23 member mission organizations.

BWAid

BWAid supports humanitarian aid projects.

BFAD

BWA Forum for Aid and Development (BFAD) brings together 30 Baptist humanitarian agencies.

Ecumenical relations

The Baptist World Alliance is involved in ecumenical dialogues with the Roman Catholic Church and the World Methodist Council, among others. One series of International Conversations between the BWA and the Catholic Church took place from between 1984 and 1988 moderated by the Reverend Dr David T. Shannon, sometime President of Andover Newton Theological School, and the Most Reverend Bede Heather, Bishop of Parramatta. While this dialogue produced the report called Summons to Witness to Christ in Today's World, the second phase did not push through because of opposition from within the Baptist World Alliance itself. Negotiations continued, however, so that a series of consultations transpired from 2000 to 2003. During this period the Baptists and Catholics discussed important doctrines that divided these denominations. These second series of conversations resulted in formal meetings between 2006 and 2010. The current Co-Moderators are Paul Fiddes, Professor of Systematic Theology in the University of Oxford and formerly Principal of Regent's Park College, Oxford, and Arthur J. Serratelli, Bishop of Paterson.

References

References

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