The Blog will be going through some slight revisions over the next few days. Please be sure to check back on Monday to see a slightly altered framework and a brand new series of posts.
In the meantime would you join as a "Member of the ELN Movement"? Just click in the top right hand corner to become a charter member of a global movement of Emerging Baptists.
January 8, 2009
BWA Responds to Crisis in Gaza
Eron Henry, Associate Director of Communications
Neville Callam, General Secretary
Baptist World Alliance
January 8, 2009
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA), through its relief and development arm, Baptist World Aid (BWAid), is assisting persons suffering from the crisis in Gaza.
A BWAid Rescue24 team, operated by Hungarian Baptist Aid (HBAid), has been in Cairo, Egypt, since December 31, 2008, providing medical treatment to persons who have fled from Gaza. BWAid made an initial grant of US $10,000 toward the medical relief effort.
The Rescue24 team will be relocating to the Egyptian city of El Arish, which is closer to Gaza, about 40 kilometers from the border, to continue the medical work.
HBAid is also planning other relief projects, including a psychosocial program for children in the heavily bombed city of Sderot in southern Israel...
Gaza Baptist Church (GBC), the lone Baptist church in Palestine, was severely damaged by the fighting. According to media reports, the windows of the church were blown out when an Israeli air strike hit a police station located across the street.
For the full release: http://www.bwanet.org/default.aspx?pid=988
Neville Callam, General Secretary
Baptist World Alliance
January 8, 2009
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA), through its relief and development arm, Baptist World Aid (BWAid), is assisting persons suffering from the crisis in Gaza.
A BWAid Rescue24 team, operated by Hungarian Baptist Aid (HBAid), has been in Cairo, Egypt, since December 31, 2008, providing medical treatment to persons who have fled from Gaza. BWAid made an initial grant of US $10,000 toward the medical relief effort.
The Rescue24 team will be relocating to the Egyptian city of El Arish, which is closer to Gaza, about 40 kilometers from the border, to continue the medical work.
HBAid is also planning other relief projects, including a psychosocial program for children in the heavily bombed city of Sderot in southern Israel...
Gaza Baptist Church (GBC), the lone Baptist church in Palestine, was severely damaged by the fighting. According to media reports, the windows of the church were blown out when an Israeli air strike hit a police station located across the street.
For the full release: http://www.bwanet.org/default.aspx?pid=988
January 7, 2009
Baptism Center in Jordan to Open in March
Eron Henry, Associate Director of Communications
Neville Callam, General Secretary
Baptist World Alliance
January 6, 2009
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) will lead a service of dedication for the new Baptism Center in Jordan at its official opening on March 20, 2009...
“The opening of the Baptism Center is an answer to our prayers and we express again our deep gratitude to King Abdullah for the gift of the Center as a place of Christian worship and pilgrimage,” said BWA President David Coffey . “I hope that many Baptists and other Evangelical Christians will visit the site as pilgrims and some will choose to confess their faith in Jesus Christ in the waters of baptism.”
Coffey and BWA General Secretary Neville Callam will lead the dedication service along with representatives of the Baptist community in the Middle East and other dignitaries. During the dedication, a plaque will be unveiled at the entrance of the Center bearing the inscription, “The Commission of the Site of the Baptism of Jesus Christ welcomes here in particular foreign visiting pilgrims from the member churches of the Baptist World Alliance.”
For the full release: http://www.bwanet.org/default.aspx?pid=981
Neville Callam, General Secretary
Baptist World Alliance
January 6, 2009
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) will lead a service of dedication for the new Baptism Center in Jordan at its official opening on March 20, 2009...
“The opening of the Baptism Center is an answer to our prayers and we express again our deep gratitude to King Abdullah for the gift of the Center as a place of Christian worship and pilgrimage,” said BWA President David Coffey . “I hope that many Baptists and other Evangelical Christians will visit the site as pilgrims and some will choose to confess their faith in Jesus Christ in the waters of baptism.”
Coffey and BWA General Secretary Neville Callam will lead the dedication service along with representatives of the Baptist community in the Middle East and other dignitaries. During the dedication, a plaque will be unveiled at the entrance of the Center bearing the inscription, “The Commission of the Site of the Baptism of Jesus Christ welcomes here in particular foreign visiting pilgrims from the member churches of the Baptist World Alliance.”
For the full release: http://www.bwanet.org/default.aspx?pid=981
January 6, 2009
What Does Being an Emerging Batist Leader Mean to You?
By Melody Maxwell
Being an emerging Baptist leader means being equipped with first-hand knowledge of the global Baptist community—and entrusted with the responsibility to share what I’m learning with others.
What does it mean to you?
Being an emerging Baptist leader means being equipped with first-hand knowledge of the global Baptist community—and entrusted with the responsibility to share what I’m learning with others.
What does it mean to you?
January 5, 2009
BWA President David Coffey Honored
BWA President David Coffey was recently named as the 2008 Baptist of the Year by EthicsDaily.com. Coffey was selected for his "tireless initiatives and frequent conversations" in which he has "pushed for constructive engagement between Baptists and Muslims, sought to advance religious liberty in predominantly Muslim countries and spoken up in Israel for Palestinian pastors." Coffey "has kept the eye of global Baptists on the Middle East and the role of people of faith as peacemakers." (copyright is EthicsDaily.com)
Congratulations President Coffey.
For the full release: http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=11512
Congratulations President Coffey.
For the full release: http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=11512
BWA Responds to Letter from Muslim Leaders
Eron Henry, Associate Director of Communications
Neville Callam, General Secretary
Baptist World Alliance
January 5, 2009
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) has issued a formal response to “A Common Word Between Us and You,” a letter written by 138 Muslim leaders and scholars that appealed for Christians and Muslims to cooperate in engendering peace and religious freedom.
In preparation of the formal response, BWA General Secretary Neville Callam sought comments from Baptist scholars and leaders, including those living in countries with a Muslim majority, regarding how the BWA might respond to the letter.
The comments received were made available to Paul Fiddes of England , Chair of the BWA Commission on Doctrine and Interchurch Cooperation, and Regina Claas of Germany, Chair of the BWA Commission on Freedom and Justice, who were invited to lead a forum at the BWA Annual Gathering in Prague , Czech Republic , in July 2008. At the forum, participants considered the issues raised by the Muslim letter and made contributions to the BWA formal response.
Armed with the insights gained from the solicited comments and the forum, Fiddes, Claas and a team of Baptist scholars and leaders crafted what eventually became the formal BWA response.
The formal response can be found at: http://www.bwanet.org/default.aspx?pid=979
Neville Callam, General Secretary
Baptist World Alliance
January 5, 2009
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) has issued a formal response to “A Common Word Between Us and You,” a letter written by 138 Muslim leaders and scholars that appealed for Christians and Muslims to cooperate in engendering peace and religious freedom.
In preparation of the formal response, BWA General Secretary Neville Callam sought comments from Baptist scholars and leaders, including those living in countries with a Muslim majority, regarding how the BWA might respond to the letter.
The comments received were made available to Paul Fiddes of England , Chair of the BWA Commission on Doctrine and Interchurch Cooperation, and Regina Claas of Germany, Chair of the BWA Commission on Freedom and Justice, who were invited to lead a forum at the BWA Annual Gathering in Prague , Czech Republic , in July 2008. At the forum, participants considered the issues raised by the Muslim letter and made contributions to the BWA formal response.
Armed with the insights gained from the solicited comments and the forum, Fiddes, Claas and a team of Baptist scholars and leaders crafted what eventually became the formal BWA response.
The formal response can be found at: http://www.bwanet.org/default.aspx?pid=979
January 3, 2009
Remembering This Day in History: The First Universal Christian Persecution
Ascending to power at a time of great political uncertainty, military crisis and economic turmoil, Decius sought political answers and a renewed unity for the Roman Empire in a pogrom of forced religious conversion and submission. Appeals for a recommitted practice of ‘traditional’ religion, transitioned into outright persecution as political expediency caved into religious zealotry.
On January 3, 250, Decius “published an imperial edict commanding all citizens of the empire to sacrifice to the Roman gods. Those who did so were given certificates as evidence of their compliance while those who refused were imprisoned or executed. Decius’s edict initiated the first universal Roman persecution of the Christian church. Untold numbers of believers suffered the loss of family, freedom, and life itself.”
Today, 1700 years later, we remember those first Christians who courageously stood for the name of Christ against tyranny. We confess that our contemporary context – political, military and economic instability – is all too often similar to the environment that sparked this first universal persecution, and that there are today millions of Christians who continue to live in situations of injustice and religious oppression. We cry out in a humble resolve that refuses to be silent, pray with intention, work in cooperation, and advocate with passion and discernment until we can stand with one another in freedom.
(See E. Michael and Sharon Rusten, The One Year of Book of Christian History. Wheaten: Tyndale House Publishers, 2003, 6.)
On January 3, 250, Decius “published an imperial edict commanding all citizens of the empire to sacrifice to the Roman gods. Those who did so were given certificates as evidence of their compliance while those who refused were imprisoned or executed. Decius’s edict initiated the first universal Roman persecution of the Christian church. Untold numbers of believers suffered the loss of family, freedom, and life itself.”
Today, 1700 years later, we remember those first Christians who courageously stood for the name of Christ against tyranny. We confess that our contemporary context – political, military and economic instability – is all too often similar to the environment that sparked this first universal persecution, and that there are today millions of Christians who continue to live in situations of injustice and religious oppression. We cry out in a humble resolve that refuses to be silent, pray with intention, work in cooperation, and advocate with passion and discernment until we can stand with one another in freedom.
(See E. Michael and Sharon Rusten, The One Year of Book of Christian History. Wheaten: Tyndale House Publishers, 2003, 6.)
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