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)
For ease of reference, click one of the buttons below to see resolutions in that category.
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Youth urged to commit to Christian living
Bible study presenter Christian Rommert told the 16th Baptist Youth World Conference in Singapore that life in Christ is not about rules or systems, but about relationships. He cautioned the large gathering of youth from more than 60 countries against "going through...
16th Baptist Youth World Conference Gallery
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Rousing start to 16th Baptist Youth World Conference
The 16th Baptist Youth World Conference in Singapore kicked off with 15 seconds of energetic drumming by the Okinawa Power Drummers from Japan followed by a four-minute set by the conference band led by Vesekhoyi "Vee" Tetseo, playing the theme song REACH!, an...
Baptist youth congregate in Singapore
Baptist youth from more than 60 countries are traveling to Singapore for the 16th Baptist Youth World Conference from July 17-21. The event, planned and sponsored by the Baptist World Alliance® (BWA) and held every five years, has opportunities for worship,...
BWA honors Duke McCall
A session in honor of Duke McCall, president of the Baptist World Alliance® (BWA) from 1980-1985, was held during the BWA Annual Gathering in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, from July 1-6. A resolution passed by the General Council, which convened during the Gathering, commends...
BWA tells Baptists to take child abuse seriously
The Baptist World Alliance® (BWA) is urging its member organizations to protect children from sexual abuse. Baptists should take "urgent action to implement measures to protect children from abuse, support their physical and emotional welfare, and respond to...
Baptists urge US to lift Cuban embargo
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance® (BWA) passed a resolution asking the government of the United States to lift its long standing embargo on Cuba. The US embargo against Cuba was first imposed in October 1960, was strengthened in 1962 and codified into...
South Africa getting ready to host the world
Baptists in South Africa are making preparations to host thousands of Baptists from around the globe during the 21st Baptist World Congress in the city of Durban in July 2015. "We want people to have the ubuntu experience," said Paul Msiza, a vice president of the...
George Liele, first Baptist missionary
Presenters at a forum on the work, mission and legacy of George Liele at the Baptist World Alliance® Annual Gathering declared him the first Baptist missionary. Liele, a freed slave from the United States, planted the first Baptist church in Jamaica in 1783. Noel...
BWA accepts five new member organizations
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...
Stassen receives human rights award
Glen Stassen, the Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in California in the United States, was presented with the 2013 Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award during the Annual Gathering of the Baptist World Alliance® (BWA) in...
International delegation tour Baptist sites in Jamaica
A group of 16 participants attending the Baptist World Alliance® (BWA) Annual Gathering in Jamaica took the opportunity to tour a number of historical sites significant to Baptists on the Caribbean island. Visits were made to the site of the first Baptist church in...
Sam Sharpe, prophet and martyr
A research fellow connected with Regent's Park College, Oxford University, in the United Kingdom, claimed that Jamaican National Hero Samuel Sharpe, a Baptist deacon executed for leading a slave uprising in the 1830s, was a prophet and martyr. Jamaican-born Delroy...
Jamaican Baptists welcome international delegation
Baptists in Jamaica put on a cultural and culinary display to welcome participants at the Baptist World Alliance® (BWA) Annual Gathering from July 1-6. The more than 400 Baptists from 40 countries traveled to the Roaring River Great House where they were treated to...
Churches need to address gender inequality
Panelists at a session on gender equality and gender-based violence during the Baptist World Alliance® (BWA) Annual Gathering said that the church should address these issues within its midst and in society. Elsa Leo-Rhynie, former pro vice chancellor for...
Why theological dialogues are challenging
Baptist World Alliance® (BWA) General Secretary Neville Callam said that the BWA faces four major challenges in its participation in international dialogues with other Christian traditions: different attitudes to ecumenism within the BWA family, the difficulty of...
The prosperity gospel problem
According to Deji Ayegboyin, president and chief executive officer of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, the prosperity gospel has influenced a large number of Christians across a broad section of the Christian faith. "It is obvious that prosperity teaching is a...
The Holy Spirit and corporate worship
Worship has always been at the center of Baptist life but "spiritual worship," as described by Douglas Weaver, has always been understood and practiced differently by Baptists. Weaver was speaking during the 8th Baptist International Conference on Theological...
Healing and the atoning work of Christ
Healing has various dimensions, physical, emotional, relational and spiritual. But more directly, healing is also related to the atonement, said Graham Hill, senior lecturer in applied theology at Morling Baptist Theological College in Sydney, Australia, during the...
The Holy Spirit and Social Justice
The Spirit-filled life has profound implications for social justice and outreach, said Burchell Taylor, a vice president of the Baptist World Alliance® (BWA) at the 8th Baptist International Conference on Theological Education (BICTE). Taylor, who spoke on the topic...
Baptist contribution to understanding of the Holy Spirit
Baptists, historically, are pre-occupied with Christology – doctrines concerning the nature and person of Christ – than with pneumatology – doctrines concerning the Holy Spirit. According to William Brackney, professor of Christian thought and ethics at Acadia...
Caribbean writers on showcase at Annual Gathering
The Jamaica Baptist Union (JBU) will highlight a number of Caribbean authors during the Baptist World Alliance® (BWA) Annual Gathering in Jamaica from July 1-6. The JBU book display and store showcase Caribbean authors who have been active within the BWA, including...
BWAid to assist American disaster victims
The Baptist World Alliance® (BWA) has launched an appeal to assist persons in the United States who have suffered from a series of disasters. These include Hurricane Sandy that affected areas of New York and New Jersey in 2012, tornadoes that hit areas of the Midwest,...
BWA director visits Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon
As the world community prepares to mark World Refugee Day on June 20, the Baptist World Alliance® (BWA) is focusing on the plight of Syrians who have been displaced by the civil war that began in the Middle Eastern country in 2011. The death toll from the civil war is...
Baptist Youth Conference theme song released
An original theme song for the 16th Baptist Youth World Conference has been released and is available on YouTube. Reach!, the title of the song, captures the theme of the youth conference that is to be held in Singapore from July 17-21. Baptist youth are encouraged to...
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