Press Releases
The Millennium of Christianity in Russia
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Amman, Jordan, July 5-12, 1987, expresses its joy at the forthcoming celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Christianity in Russia in 1988 and gives God thanks for the contribution of Russian Christians to the world church.
Appreciation
This Council wholeheartedly thanks the officers, members and churches of the Jordan Baptist Convention and the missionary personnel working with them for their warm welcome and generous hospitality and for the excellent preparations made for these meetings in Amman.
Openness in the Soviet Union
Today we commend Christians in the Soviet Union, and especially Baptists, for their positive contributions, faithfully made in season and out, to their country’s morality, culture and history.
For many years the Baptist World Alliance has appealed to the government of the USSR to permit a larger measure of religious freedom for its people.
The AIDS Crisis
As the General Council of the Baptist World Alliance meets in Nassau, the Bahamas, July 1988, the AIDS crisis continues to escalate on a global scale.
The 16,000 cases of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) reported in 1985 are now nearly 75,000 in 129 countries.
Illicit Drugs, Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Addictive Chemical Substances
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in the Bahamas, July 1988:
Gives thanks to God for the comfort and well being brought to multitudes through the medical use of drugs;
Views with alarm the tragic growth of illicit drug trafficking, the subsequent victimizing of vast numbers of people, especially youth, through these addictive substances and the resulting explosion of drug-related crises;
South Africa
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Nassau, the Bahamas, July 1988:
Reaffirms its resolution dealing with apartheid adopted at its meeting in Los Angeles in 1985, and
Urges the Baptist Union and the Baptist Convention of Southern Africa to challenge the evil of apartheid by their own example of reconciliation and full equality within their own churches and the extended Christian family as well as their society.
Peacemaking
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance has often addressed peace issues, most recently in 1985 and 1986. Again in 1988, as the Council meets in the Bahamas, we:
Reaffirm previous resolutions that have spoken to peace with disarmament and peace with justice, and
Welcome the completion of the treaty calling for the elimination of intermediate range nuclear equipped missiles for the United States of America and the USSR and encourage work toward understandings which will lead to the reduction of all levels of military forces.
Toxic Waste
God created earth— air, land and sea. Because we are stewards of Planet Earth, we Christians, along with all people of good will, are disturbed by the pollution of land, air and sea. It is profoundly distressing that nations are reported to be dumping nuclear waste onto the soil of developing nations.
Women
We celebrate the multiple gifts and sensitivities women bring to the service of Jesus Christ and the work of the Baptist family around the world.
Women make up approximately two-thirds of the membership of the church. In society at large, opportunities for the involvement of women are increasing in government, social, economic and educational areas.
Appreciation
We express appreciation to the Bahamas National Baptist Missionary and Education Convention for:
Hospitality extended to the Baptist World Alliance during the meeting of the General Council, its committees and commissions, July 1988, and for