Resolutions | Baptist World Alliance

Resolutions

Compiled by Rev. Dr. Lee B. Spitzer, BWA Historian

Welcome to the Baptist World Alliance Historical Archive!

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:

Further, it should be understood that an Alliance Congress, when adopting pronouncements, can speak for itself alone. The resolutions naturally carry great moral authority, coming as they do from a Congress so representative of Baptists in the entire world. But no union or convention has ever authorized a Baptist World Congress to speak on its behalf. The people who voted for the resolutions, did so on their own behalf, not on behalf of their churches or conventions. But these statements would never have been proposed, much less adopted, if they were not considered indicative of the trends of opinion within the Baptist world.

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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BWA to participate in UN conference in Rio

The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the lead organizer of a "side event" that takes place during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from June 20-22. Also known as Rio+20, UNCSD is being held to mark the 20th...

Former BWA director honored

Tony Cupit, former director of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) divisions of Evangelism and Education and Study and Research (both now merged into the division of Mission, Evangelism and Theological Reflection), was conferred with an honorary doctorate by the John...

Visits by Others

Delegates representing the BWA, EBF, and the Uniting Church of Sweden visit Azerbaijan Between 31 August and 05 September 2013, four delegates visited Azerbaijan in order to asses the current human rights and religious freedom situation, as well as to express love and...

President’s visits – Upton 2010-2015

  Upton in Nagaland, India, February 2014{igallery id=6755|cid=21|pid=1|type=category|children=0|showmenu=0|tags=|limit=0} Upton in Ukraine From left: Kasprov Mykola (vice president), Komendant Grygoriy (President, Bible Society, former President, Baptist...

Technology is risky but helpful, pastors say

One of the challenges facing the church today is the culture of technology, said Baptist World Alliance (BWA) General Secretary Neville Callam. Callam was speaking May 22 at a reception he hosted for pastors in the Washington Metropolitan Area at the international...

BWA assists school reconstruction in refugee camp

The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) has sent US$25,000 in emergency financial assistance to a school in the Mae La Refugee Camp in Thailand to assist in the school's reconstruction after it was destroyed by fire on April 28. The Kawthoolei Karen Baptist Bible School and...

День Пятидесятницы 2012 года

Послушная вера Насколько серьезно мы относимся к нашим словам когда мы говорим о послушании Богу? Сам термин «послушание» предполагает отношения между тем, кто дает задание и другой стороной, которая подчиняется приказам. Само упоминание послушания нарушает...

Callam names BWA team for dialogue with Pentecostals

Baptist World Alliance (BWA) General Secretary Neville Callam has named the team that is to represent the BWA in the international Baptist-Pentecostal dialogue that begins in Quito, Ecuador, in August. In March of this year, the Executive Committee of the BWA gave...

Pentecost 2012 – Obedient Faith

How much currency do we attach to the language of obedience today? Talk about obedience presupposes a relationship between one who issues commands and another who obeys orders. Mention of obedience troubles the calm of our cultured sense by evincing images of...

BWA launches new website

A newly redesigned website for the Baptist World Alliance is now online. The site officially went live on May 11 with a new interface. The website features new elements and easier access for users.  It will create savings for the BWA making it unnecessary to create...

Prominent Baptist layman memorialized

Christians need to avoid the extremes of utopianism and cynicism if they are to live in a world marked by ambiguity, said Timothy George, founding dean and professor of Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama, in the United States. George delivered the homily at...

IRLA Congress

BWA General Secretary Callam has argued that, globally, there is no single paradigm for Baptist response to secularism as an ideology. He suggests that Baptist approaches exist along a four-point trajectory. He was speaking at the seventh congress of the IRLA, which...

Visits – Hope Valley Baptist Church

On March 24, BWA General Secretary Callam preached at the Hope Valley Baptist Church, Durham, NC, a BWA Global Impact Church. He challenged the gathering to wholehearted engagement with the BWA in its effort to fulfill the Great Commission. Tom Jackson, former pastor...

Salvadorenho recebe Prêmio de Direitos Humanos da ABM

O pastor batista salvadorenho Edgar Palacios, cofundador da Universidade Luterana de El Salvador, ex-coordenador e ex-ediretor executivo do Comitê Permanente do Debate Nacional pela Paz em El Salvador (CPDN), é o ganhador em 2012 do Prêmio de Direitos Humanos Denton e...

Celebra & Reflete sobre o Legado de Thomas Helwys

"Não Despreze o Conselho dos Pobres", uma citação de Thomas Helwys em seu discurso para o rei inglês, em seu livro Uma Curta Declaração do Mistério da Iniquidade, foi o título dado a uma conferência conjuntamente organizada pelo Seminário Batista Internacional em...

Embajadores del Reino de los Cielos

Ya se han iniciado los preparativos para la conmemoración del 500 aniversario de la Reforma en 2017. Sin dudas, pasaremos mucho tiempo reflexionando sobre la vida de Martin Lutero y sus enseñanzas, como también en los logros de los católicos y luteranos que firmaron...

El Día de la Alianza Bautista Mundial: Razones para apoyarla

La declaración de misión de la Alianza Bautista Mundial es clara: constituimos   "redes para que la familia Bautista impacte el mundo para Cristo." La BWA busca cambiar a quienes toca, porque la familia Bautista mundial es un organismo dinámico llamando a los...

Financial Accountability at the Baptist World Alliance

We accept the grave responsibility to be faithful stewards and to maintain integrity and openness in our financial practices. Therefore, we are committed to fulfilling sound, Biblical standards regarding the funding of our ministries. Because organizations, churches,...

Callam calls for rethink on ethnicity

Christian unity may require rethinking the use of the language of ethnicity, said Baptist World Alliance General Secretary Neville Callam, at a lecture in Texas in the United States. Callam, who delivered the annual T. B. Maston Lectures in Christian Ethics at...

Caribbean immigrants struggle to find church home in the US

Caribbean Baptist immigrants have difficulty fitting into Baptist churches in the United States. This was revealed at a recent conference of Caribbean immigrants in New York City. The April National Gathering of Caribbean Diaspora Baptist clergy, leaders and churches...

Latin American Baptists challenged to exercise holistic ministries

Baptist World Alliance (BWA) General Secretary Neville Callam called on Baptists in Latin America to exercise holistic ministry within their communities and countries. Addressing the Union of Baptists in Latin America (UBLA) congress that was held in Asuncion,...

2013 MEJ Resources

Advocacy  Human Rights Violation Form Universal Peer Review: Veiled Violence-BWA's Report on Religious Freedom Violations in Pakistan Universal Peer Review: BWA's Report on Religious Freedom Violations in Azerbaijan Freedom & Justice Database (Coming Soon!)  ...

BWA Day 2018 

Baptist World Alliance Day 2018 is February 2/3, 2019, a day Baptists are encouraged to worship together and pray for one another in their churches next year. Click here to listen to a podcast with Kathe Traynham, Associate Director for Promotion & Development...

Youth World Day of Prayer

The Youth World Day of Prayer is an annual event held on the second Sunday in June. Young people around the world are encouraged to plan services reflecting the importance of prayer and to intercede on behalf of others. It is a time to celebrate the unity we share as...

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