BWA General Council Resolution 2013.3

BWA General Council Resolution 2013.3 Dr. Duke K. McCall in Memoriam

The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, July 1-6, 2013:

NOTES that Dr. Duke McCall served and supported the BWA, from the time when, at the age of sixteen, he attended the Baptist Youth World Conference in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1931;

RECALLS that Dr. McCall was elected to the BWA Executive Committee in 1947 and served faithfully in many other capacities, such as: member of the General Council; co-chair of the Commission on Baptist Doctrine; and member of the Commission on Freedom, Justice and Peace. He also participated in committees charged with nominating BWA commission members and reviewing the BWA constitution;

REJOICES that Dr. McCall was elected BWA president at the 15th Baptist World Congress in Los Angeles, United States of America (USA), in 1980. During his five-year term, he helped to orchestrate significant developments in the organization. These include:

• The formation of regional fellowships in the global organization;
• The introduction of a travel scholarship fund to assist more Baptist leaders around the world to participate in BWA meetings;
• The convening of the first Baptist International Conference on Theological Education in 1982;
• The acquisition of property to serve as BWA’s international offices in McLean, Virginia, USA; REMEMBERS Dr. McCall as a Baptist statesman whose creative mind opened new pathways for denominational institutions in the USA, emphasizing the place of disciplined scholarship in the life of the church and the denomination; APPLAUDS the decisive role Dr. McCall played in theological education, especially during his tenure as president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His notable initiatives include:

• Asking local churches to certify seminary students;

• Making significant innovations in theological education curriculum;

• Launching the Boyce Bible College, to provide theological education for laity;
• Integrating black students into the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in violation of Kentucky state law, during the civil rights movement in the USA;
• Admitting women to study in the School of Theology;
• Training a generation of Christian ministers, encouraging them to dedicate themselves to teaching the Word of God, sharing the gospel, and living out the full meaning of the Christian faith in service to humanity; and GIVES THANKS for the life, ministry and legacy of Dr. McCall and urges Baptists worldwide to discern in his example a model for denominational leadership and service worthy of emulation.

Citations

Original Source Bibliography: Callam, Neville, editor. Baptist World Alliance 2013 Yearbook: Minutes of the General Council Meeting and Directory. Falls Church, VA: Baptist World Alliance, 2013.

Original Source Footnote/Endnote: Neville Callam, ed., Baptist World Alliance 2013 Yearbook: Minutes of the General Council Meeting and Directory (Falls Church, VA: Baptist World Alliance, 2013), pp. 139- 140.

Online Document Full Citation: BWA General Council Resolution 2013.3 Dr. Duke K. McCall in Memoriam; https://baptistworld.org/resolutions.

In-text Online Document Citation: (BWA General Council Resolution 2013.3).