BWA World Congress Resolution 2000.2
The Baptist World Alliance Congress meeting in Melbourne, January 5-9, 2000
AFFIRMS that all human beings are created in the image of God and are called to full participation in the
human community;
ACKNOWLEDGES that the sin of racism and ethnic conflict rooted in the sinfulness of humankind is an
affront to the divine instruction to “love one another”;
DECLARES that Jesus Christ, who calls all people to be one people equal before God, is the true source
of genuine hope for forgiveness and reconciliation;
COMMENDS the work of the Baptist World Alliance Special Commission on Baptists Against Racism
and Ethnic Conflict in examining the causes of racism and ethnic conflict and the biblical and theological
issues racism raises, and in identifying ways in which Baptists can help overcome the evils of racism;
REAFFIRMS the values and ideals expressed in the Harare Declaration and the Atlanta Covenant; and in
the spirit of those statements opposes racism and ethnic conflict in all forms;
PROCLAIMS the first decade of the third Christian millennium AD2000-2010 to be a “Decade of Racial
Justice”;
ENCOURAGES Baptists everywhere to observe the “Decade of Racial Justice” by boldly proclaiming
and living out the gospel and actively pursuing inter-ethnic harmony designed to achieve authentic justice
for all persons without regard to race; and
RESOLVES IN THE NAME of Jesus Christ to promote justice consistent with the claims of scripture by
opposing racism and ethnic conflict through education, fellowship and prophetic action.
Citations
Original Source Bibliography: Ryan, Wendy E., editor. Jesus Christ Forever. Yes!: Official Report of the
Eighteenth Baptist World Congress, Melbourne, Australia, January 5-9, 2000. McLean, VA: Baptist
World Alliance, 2000.
Original Source Footnote/Endnote: Wendy E. Ryan, ed., Jesus Christ Forever. Yes!: Official Report of
the Eighteenth Baptist World Congress, Melbourne, Australia, January 5-9, 2000 (McLean, VA: Baptist
World Alliance, 2000), pp. 160-161.
Online Document Full Citation: BWA World Congress Resolution 2000.2 Decade of Racial Justice;
https://baptistworld.org/resolutions.
In-text Online Document Citation: (BWA World Congress Resolution 2000.2).