BWA General Council Resolution 1994.5

The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance meeting in Uppsala, Sweden from 18-24 July 1994:

REJOICES with the world community at recent political developments where negotiation has opened the way to peaceful resolution of long-term hostility or oppression, in particular:

• the September 1993 accords between the Israelis and Palestinians

• the birth of a non-racial and truly democratic society through the April 1994 elections in South Africa

• the peaceful transition to democracy in Malawi in 1994 where Baptists and other Christian leaders played a crucial and courageous role;

EXPRESSES its hopes for further reconciliation and its acceptance of responsibility for continued support, that these gains may be firmly established and extended;

ACKNOWLEDGES the call of God in Christ to his people to be a reconciled and reconciling community;

CONFESSES with shame that throughout the Baptist family walls of hostility and fear often divide us, impeding the effectiveness of our service and eroding the power of our witness;

CHALLENGES all Baptists to repentance, prayer and costly action as they engage in the ministry of reconciliation “that the world might believe.”

Citations

Original Source Bibliography: Lotz, Denton, editor. Baptist World Alliance 1994 Yearbook: Minutes of the General Council Meeting and Directory. McLean, VA: Baptist World Alliance, 1994.

Original Source Footnote/Endnote: Denton Lotz, ed., Baptist World Alliance 1994 Yearbook: Minutes of the General Council Meeting and Directory (McLean, VA: Baptist World Alliance, 1994), p. 118.

Online Document Full Citation: BWA General Council Resolution 1994.5 The Ministry of Reconciliation; https://baptistworld.org/resolutions.

In-text Online Document Citation: (BWA General Council Resolution 1994.5).