Five organizations were accepted as members of the Baptist World Alliance® by the General Council at its meeting in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.
Two groups from Haiti were accepted into membership. The Baptist Mission of South Haiti was formed in 1936 and has 50,000 members in 488 churches. The Connection of Haitian Baptist Churches for Integral Mission comprises 15,000 members in 58 churches and was established in 2004. Both groups join the Haiti Baptist Convention and Baptist Haiti Mission as BWA members in the Caribbean nation.
Another Caribbean applicant, the Turks and Caicos Islands Baptist Union is an association of 500 members in 13 churches and was established in the 1830s.
The Baptist Church of Congo was formed in 1996 and has 2,850 members in 26 churches in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It becomes the eleventh BWA member in the DRC, a vast country with greater land area than Western Europe.
A third Brazilian group has gained BWA membership, the Convention of Independent Baptist Churches. It has 67,908 members in 437 churches, and joins the Brazilian Baptist Convention and the National Baptist Convention in the largest country in South America.
The General Council, a governing body of the BWA, convened during the Annual Gathering that was held July 1-6.
Baptist World Alliance®
© July 5, 2013