Baptist World Alliance

Believer's baptism of adult by immersion at Northolt Park Baptist Church, in Greater London, Baptist Union of Great Britain.

Show on the life of Jesus at Igreja da Cidade, affiliated to the Brazilian Baptist Convention, in São José dos Campos, Brazil, 2017

North East Baptist Church building in Brisbane, affiliated with Australian Baptist Ministries, 2007

The roots of the Baptist World Alliance can be traced back to the seventeenth century when Baptist leader Thomas Grantham proposed the concept of a congregation of all Christians in the world that are "baptised according to the appointment of Christ."[1] 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."[1]

It was, however, only in 1904 when such 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.[2][3][4] 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.[5][6][7][8]

Membership was opened to "any general Union, Convention or Association of Baptist Churches", and it was decided that the Alliance would "meet in general assembly ordinarily once in five years, unless otherwise determined by the Executive Committee". Three leading personalities involved in the organisation included Prestridge, Shakespeare and Alexander Maclaren (who served as provisional President).

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.[9]

In 2020, the Argentinian Tomás Mackey succeeded South African Paul Msiza and became president of the Alliance.[10]

According to a denomination census released in 2020, it has 241 Baptist denominations members in 126 countries, 169,000 churches and 47,000,000 baptized members.[11]

The Alliance has a Baptist confession of faith.[12]

The alliance's stated goals are to: "(1) To Unite Baptists Worldwide; (2) To Lead in World Evangelization; (3) To Respond to People in Need; and (4) To Defend Human Rights."[13]

The Alliance is divided into six regional or geographical fellowships: North American Baptist Fellowship, Asia Pacific Baptist Federation (formerly Asian Baptist Federation), All-Africa Baptist Fellowship, Caribbean Baptist Fellowship, Union of Baptists in Latin America, and European Baptist Federation.[14] Each regional fellowship is served by an Executive Secretary.

Baptist World Congresses have been held every few years since 1905.[8][15][16][17]

No.	Year	City	Country
1.	1905	London	GBR
2.	1911	Philadelphia	USA
3.	1923	Stockholm	SWE
4.	1928	Toronto	CAN
5.	1934	Berlin	DEU
6.	1939	Atlanta	USA
7.	1947	Copenhagen	DNK
8.	1950	Cleveland	USA
9.	1955	London	GBR
10.	1960	Rio de Janeiro	BRA
11.	1965	Miami Beach	USA
12.	1970	Tokyo	JPN
13.	1975	Stockholm	SWE
14.	1980	Toronto	CAN
15.	1985	Los Angeles	USA
16.	1990	Seoul	KOR
17.	1995	Buenos Aires	ARG
18.	2000	Melbourne	AUS
19.	2005	Birmingham	GBR
19.	2010	Honolulu	USA
19.	2015	Durban	ZAF
19.	2021 (Upcoming)	Rio De Janeiro	BRA

The Baptist World Alliance maintains ecumenical relations with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. 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.[18] 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.[19] 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 divide these denominations.[19] 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.[20]

In 2004, the Southern Baptist Convention of the United States accused him of adopting a liberal theology, because of his support for the exercise of pastoral ministry of women, its anti-Americanism, and because a member denomination, the American Baptist Churches USA had accepted an organization that had 2 churches favorable to marriage between people of the same sex, and left it.[21] Alliance Secretary General Denton Lotz replied that the Alliance was not liberal, but evangelical conservative, that the American Baptist Churches USA in his constitution did not support homosexuality and that accusations of anti-Americanism resulted from his visits to Fidel Castro in Cuba for the import of the bibles and the expansion of freedoms of belief.[22][23] In 2005, 2 state denominations members of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Baptist General Association of Virginia and the Baptist General Convention of Texas applied for membership in the Alliance and were admitted.[24]

• List of Baptist confessions
• List of Baptist World Alliance National Fellowships
• World Evangelical Alliance
• Believers' Church

• Official website