We are pleased to share with you the entire set of Resolutions, Manifestos, Messages and Proclamations approved by delegates attending the Baptist World Alliance World Congresses from 1905 through 2015 (the 2020 Congress was postponed to 2021 due to the global pandemic).
Additionally, we are offering the Resolutions and Manifestos approved by the BWA General Council, which meets yearly. The online collection includes the years 1976-2019. The BWA Executive Committee Resolutions are currently being compiled, and a limited number are already accessible. The collection will be expanded over time.
Each Resolution document is in PDF format and seeks to reproduce the original text as closely as possible. This means that language and punctuation may be archaic and not in accordance with contemporary standards of discourse. Spellings of words sometimes are in British English and have been preserved as they were originally published. I am solely responsible for any typographical errors in reproduction, and I would deeply appreciate it if you would share with me any that you may discover.
It is the BWA’s hope that this collection will be useful to scholars, historians, denominational leaders, and clergy. Each document now contains a unique identification number, topical keywords, and four types of citations for academic purposes.
The range of issues covered by the collection is comprehensive, and many of the Resolutions speak to contemporary concerns (such as racism, antisemitism, poverty and war) with multi-cultural wisdom, spiritual integrity, and intellectual depth. Readers seeking to learn how Baptists on a global scale and across time have addressed the human condition in all of its variations (moral, social, economic, political, etc.) will be rewarded as well as challenged.
In Baptist polity, Resolutions and other collective statements are not binding on Baptist individuals or churches. They intend to share wisdom and raise consciousness rather than to demand or coerce conformity or hinder the soul freedom and responsibility of people to follow God according to the dictates of their own Christ-led conscience. In the foreword to the 1955 Golden Jubilee World Congress Official Report (p. 6), BWA General Secretary Arnold T. Ohrn stated this principle well:
If you should need any further assistance in utilizing this online historical archive, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Rev. Dr. Lee B. Spitzer,
BWA Historian (Click here to contact)
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Middle East Situation
THANKFUL TO Almighty God for the cessation of open war in Kuwait and Iraq,
MINDFUL of the tragic aftermath of such hostilities in terms not only of loss of life but also of the appalling social and economic conditions prevailing in the Gulf and the long-term threat to the environment caused by oil pollution in both sea and air,
South Africa (1991)
RECALLING the prophetic stance taken by the Baptist World Alliance in its resolutions on South Africa at the World Congress in 1985 and at the General Council in 1986 and 1988,
REAFFIRMING its opposition to apartheid as a sin against the Gospel of God’s love for all people,
Appreciation to the Hosts and Officers
The Baptist World Alliance holding its annual meeting of the General Council and related groups in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, July 7-14, 1991, has brought together Baptists from around the world for worship, fellowship, mutual encouragement, study, and planning.
BMS Bicentenary
The founding of the society to promote overseas missions marked the point at which the missionary awakening stimulated by the evangelical revival of the eighteenth century first attained effective institutional expression alerting not only Baptist but the whole of evangelical Christendom to a world-wide vision;
Fifth Centennial of the Coming of Columbus and the Europeans to the Americas
THANKS the Union Bautista Latino Americana (UBLA) for the guidance they have provided the Council on what a Christian response should be to the Fifth Centennial of the coming of Columbus and the Europeans to the Americas, and the beginning of a different way of live and thought for the people of the hemisphere;
Stewardship of the Earth
BELIEVES that Baptists need to take seriously the implications of God’s creation of our world and the stewardship given to humankind within that creation;
ASSERTS that human sinfulness has developed an exploitative ethic which puts the sustaining of that creation in jeopardy evident in the ecological crises facing the world today;
El Salvador
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Montego Bay, Jamaica, July 4-12, 19922;
HAVING received a report from the Baptist World Alliance Human Rights Delegation to El Salvador in January, 1992, and also from our Baptist sisters and brothers in that troubled country;
The Former Yugoslav Federal Republic
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Montego Bay, Jamaica, July 4-12, 1992;
MINDFUL of the devastation and loss of life wrought by the recent and continuing conflicts in the countries of the former Yugoslav Federal Republic, and in accordance with its belief that God in Christ wills reconciliation in place of enmity;
Carribean
SURROUNDED by the beauty of this part of God’s creation and conscious of the lively heritage of its diverse peoples;
ECHOING the grave concern of the Caribbean Baptist Fellowship for the present economic and sociopolitical realities of the region;
Prayer and Concern for the Eastern Part of Europe and the Soviet Union
THANKFUL to God for the positive changes that have taken place in Eastern Europe and the whole of the Soviet Union, including the increasing freedom experienced in many aspects of the life of these nations,
THANKFUL particularly for those places where greater freedom of religion has been evidenced and new opportunities for evangelization and theological education have been made possible,
Appreciation
BWA General Council Resolution 1992.8 The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Montego Bay, Jamaica, July 4-12, 1992; EXPRESSES to the Jamaica Baptist Union sincere appreciation and genuine gratitude for the splendid preparation and warm...
The Evangelization of the Peoples of Africa
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe August 6-9, 1993,
ACKNOWLEDGES with gratitude to Almighty God the movement of the Holy Spirit seen in the dramatic expansion of the churches in the continent of Africa, and in particular the growth of BWA member churches of approximately 50% over the past five years;
Anniversary of William Carey’s Arrival in India
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe August 6-9, 1993,
GIVES THANKS TO GOD for the missionary vision of William Carey and rejoices in the celebration of the 200th anniversary of his arrival in India;
Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in. Harare, Zimbabwe August 6-9, 1993,
GIVES THANKS TO GOD for the life and witness of Martin Luther King Jr. in this 125th anniversary year of his tragic and untimely death;
Poverty and the Nations
EXPRESSES concern the effects of drought and patterns of international trade and aid have exacerbated conditions of famine, poverty and disease amongst the many poor and disadvantaged peoples of the nations of the South, not least in the continent of Africa.
The Continuing AIDS Crisis
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe August 6-9, 1993,
NOTES with alarm that since its last resolution on AIDS in 1988 the number of those infected has reached epidemic proportions in many countries;
The Sanctity of Human Life
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe August 6-9, 1993,
AFFIRMS that because all life is the gift of God and that every person is created in the image of God, human life is sacred;
Bosnia
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe August 6-9, 1993,
CONDEMNS the deliberate use within the former Republic of Yugoslavia of “ethnic cleansing” and the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war and extends its heart-felt sympathy to the hundreds of thousands of victims;
South Africa (1993)
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe August 6-9, 1993,
SENDS greetings to our sisters and brothers in the Baptist and wider Christian community in South Africa;
APPLAUDS the decision to hold multi-racial elections with universal adult suffrage in 1994;
Appreciation
COMMENDS with appreciation the Baptist Heads of Denominations and its secretary, the Rev. Noah Pashapa, for the invaluable and gracious assistance given to the BWA staff in planning and organizing this first-ever BWA gathering in Southern Africa;
Crisis in the Near and Middle East
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance wishes to state its concern and position regarding multiple but interrelated crises in the Near and Middle East in the following expressions:
1. We express our profound concern regarding the blatant disregard for human rights, civil liberties and national self-determination.
El Salvador
The Baptist World General Council, meeting in the Caribbean:
1. Has observed with profound concern and apprehension the continuing suffering and oppression of many in El Salvador;
2. Expresses its utmost sympathy with all those who are caught up in the present conflict.
The International Year of Disabled Persons
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance:
1. Gives full support to the General Assembly of the United Nations in its proclaiming 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons with the keynote theme, “full participation and equality,” whose aim is to encourage the rehabilitation of an estimated 450 million people who suffer from some form of physical or mental impairment.
United Nations Declaration Concerning Religious “Intolerance and Discrimination”
Affirming the Baptist heritage of religious liberty which has, from its inception, upheld the right of all people to practice and propagate their religious faith without let or hindrance;
Resolution of Appreciation for Committee and Program Personnel
The Thirteenth Baptist World Congress of 1975, held in Stockholm, Sweden, resolves to offer its great appreciation to the Program Committee of the BWA and to the Local Arrangements Committee of the Baptist Union of Sweden for the labor of love in bringing this Baptist Congress into great success.
Appreciation for Committees and Program Personnel
The Twelfth Baptist World Congress of 1970, held in Tokyo, Japan, resolves to offer its great appreciation to the Program Committee of the BWA, the Local Arrangements Committee of Japan Baptist Domai (Union), the Japan Baptist Renmai (Convention) and the Japan Baptist Church Association for the labor of love, in bringing this significant Baptist Congress, held on Asian soil for the first time, into great success.
Man’s Stewardship and Survival on This Earth
The Twelfth Baptist World Congress, meeting in Tokyo, Japan, during July 12-18, 1970, notes with deep concern the continuing and increasing lack of economic self-sufficiency suffered by the majority of the inhabitants of the world, particularly those who are citizens of the developing countries.
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