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The Baptist World Alliance is a community of 110 million Baptists in more than 211 conventions worldwide. The BWA leads in world evangelism, responds to people in need and defends human rights.
This historical account only covers the first 63 years of the BWA. A new history has been published and was launched at the Centenary Congress in Birmingham UK in July 2005. To update the statistics and other information, go to the BWA Web site.
BAPTISTS live, work, and witness in 124 countries of the world. Their fellowship encompassed 29,817,707 baptized believers in 1968.
Far back in the Lushai Hills of Assam, India, there are 160 Baptist churches with 20,367 members. This Baptist membership is more than half the total population of the Lushai tribe.
In the highlands of New Guinea, people once savage have been won to the Christian way of life and are accepting baptism as a result of an airborne mission by Baptists from Australia. More than 10,000 have been converted in the first ten years of the mission activity.
In Russia, an estimated 5,400 Baptist churches are filled to over­flowing several times a week as people hungry for the gospel meet to worship.
In America, Baptists affiliated in 29 different conventions and associations constitute the fastest grow­ing major denomination in world Christendom.
But in Egypt, Spain, Ceylon, and dozens of other countries, minority groups of Baptists bear courageous witness to their faith under difficult circumstances in lands dominated by atheism, other religions, and state churches. Statistics show that 45 national Baptist groups have a membership of less than 1,000 and 45 other countries have fewer than 10,000 Baptists.
The Baptist World Alliance serves these widely scattered Bap­tists as a worldwide voluntary and fraternal association for fellowship, service, and cooperation. Baptists of many conventions and nations are able, through the fellowship, to strive together for fulfilment of the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.
The constitution of the Alliance, adopted in London in 1905, sets forth the following objectives:
1. more fully to show the essential oneness of the Baptist people in the Lord Jesus Christ,
2. to impart inspiration to the brotherhood, and
3. to promote the spirit of fellowship, service, and cooperation among its members.
As early as 1678, a Baptist in England, Thomas Grantham, wished ‘that all congregations of Christians of the world that are baptized according to the appointment of Christ would make one consistory at least sometimes to consider matters of difference among them.’ One hundred twelve years later, 1790, John Rippon, a British Baptist preacher, hymn writer, and editor, urged that all the baptized ministers and people of the world arrange ‘a deputation from all these climes (to) meet, probably in London, to consult the ecclesiastical good of the whole.. .’
Rippon’s suggestion for a world organization came two years before England’s William Carey, the pioneer of modern missions, sailed for India, and 23 years before America’s Adoniram Judson and Luther Rice launched their Baptist mission in Burma.
Still another 114 years later, John Newton Prestridge, an American editor, called for a world gathering of Baptists in his publication, The Baptist Argus, at Louisville, Ky. in 1904.
John Howard Shakespeare, editor of The Baptist Times and Freeman, London, quickly endorsed the Prestridge proposal. He and other British leaders invited the Baptists of the world to meet in London. Baptists in 23 nations responded, and the first world gathering of Baptists became an accomplished fact in Exeter Hall, London, July 11-18, 1905. Alexander Maclaren, a distinguished expository preacher, was drafted to serve as provisional president.
At the week’s end the delegates voted to organize a world alliance and adopted a preamble and constitution which has experienced no radical changes through the years. While admonishing the Alliance to promote fellowship, service, and cooperation among all world Baptists, it provides that the Alliance may in no way interfere with the independence of the churches or assume administrative functions of existing organizations.
Authority for handling Alliance business between the every five-year congress sessions rests with the Executive Committee, which is named by each congress. The current committee has 140 members from 67 different countries. There also is an Administrative Subcommittee, composed of members of the Executive who live within a ‘reasonable’ distance of the Alliance headquarters in Washington. Chief leadership of the Alliance rests, naturally, with its president and general secretary.
William R. Tolbert, Jr. of Monrovia, Liberia, has been president since 1965 and is expected to serve until the Baptist World Congress in Tokyo in 1970. He is vice president of the Republic of Liberia as well as pastor of a church near Monrovia and president of the Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention.
The current general secretary, who in reality is the executive officer of the Alliance, is Josef Nordenhaug, a Norwegian who was elected to this post in 1960. He distinguished himself as a pastor, editor, and seminary president before coming to the Alliance secretariat.
There are three associate secretaries: Robert S. Denny, serving in Washington, became associate secretary with special responsibility for youth work in 1956. C. Ronald Goulding, formerly a London pastor and past president of the European Baptist Federation, became associate secretary serving in the London office in 1965. Frank H. Woyke was named in 1968 as associate secretary in Washington with responsibilities in the areas of study commissions, world relief, and the North American Baptist Fellowship.
Until 1940, headquarters of the Alliance were in the Baptist Church House in London. Due to the constant threat of bombing and fire during the war and difficulties in international monetary transactions, the offices were moved to Washington, D.C., in 1941 at the request of the London committee. The 1947 Baptist World Congress voted for permanent transfer to Washington. A second office is operated in London, serving as headquarters for the European associate secretary.
War and other political unrest have made it impossible to adhere to a strict every five-year schedule for congress sessions, but there have been eleven congresses in the Alliance’s first 60 years. The ten since that initial London meeting were held in Philadelphia, 1911; Stockholm, 1923; Toronto, 1928; Berlin, 1934; Atlanta, 1939; Copenhagen, 1947; Cleveland, 1950; London, 1955; Rio de Janeiro, 1960; and Miami Beach, 1965. The twelfth is being planned for Tokyo, July 12-18, 1970.
These meetings have furnished a rostrum from which gifted leaders among the nations have delivered sermons, addresses, and pronouncements that have brought inspiration which the messengers in turn have radiated to their home countries. In an atmosphere frequently charged with emotion, Baptists are alerted to needs which call for mutual aid and are given opportunity to express their united voice against any infringement of religious liberty and human rights in various parts of the world.
One never-to-be-forgotten highlight of every congress program has been the roll call of the nations, when nationals of every country represented at the meeting are presented to tell the story of Baptist work in their lands.
The 1934 congress in Berlin was especially memorable. German Baptists had first sought to have the Alliance meet in Berlin in 1916, but war interfered. They renewed their invitation at the 1928 congress at Toronto and Germany was chosen for a 1933 congress. Conditions in Germany caused it to be delayed a year, until August 4-10, 1934. German President Hindenburg died the day before the congress opened, and three days later, Adolf Hitler declared himself Fuehrer. Amid this crisis, Baptists from every part of the world gave their witness to a free church in a free state.
The 1950 congress in Cleveland brought an important new emphasis to the work of study groups within the Alliance framework. Secretary Arnold T. Ohm s deep interest in the free discussion of theological and other issues resulted in a pre-congress conference, where 96 theological and missionary leaders from 19 countries gathered for ‘in depth’ discussion of seven aspects of doctrine and witness. Ohm described the sessions as a ‘profitable cross-fertilization of Baptist thinking,’ and outlined plans for strengthening the Study Commissions.
The tenth congress, meeting in Rio de Janeiro in 1960, was significant in many ways. It was the first time the congress had assembled in a country of young churches- churches only a generation away from their role as the missions of a ‘foreign board.’ Thirteen thousand delegates were officially registered, and delegates and visitors, estimated by police to number 180,000, crowded Maracana Stadium on the closing Sunday afternoon for an evangelistic service with Billy Graham as preacher.
The 1965 congress in Miami Beach was the largest of all congress sessions up to that date. A total of 19,598 persons were registered, representing 79 countries. In addition, many visitors joined them for night sessions in the Orange Bowl sports stadium, with attendance running as high as 55,000. The congress revised the Alliance by-laws to greatly expand the membership of the Executive Committee, with representatives being nominated by member groups rather than being picked solely by the congress. This revision was felt to give the Alliance a much more democratic and representative leadership.
Divisions have been set up within the Alliance organization for specialized fellowship activities for young people, men, and women in the world-wide Baptist fellowship.
Youth work was launched with the formation of a Youth Committee during the Toronto congress in 1928. T. G. Dunning of England was chairman, and Frank H. LeavelI of the U.S.A., secretary. Joel Sorenson of Sweden, Robert S. Denny of U.S.A., W. G. Wickramasinghe of Ceylon, and Gunnar Hoglund of the U.S.A. have in turn served as chairmen. It has sponsored seven Baptist Youth World Conferences: Prague, 1931; Zurich, 1937; Stockholm, 1949; Rio de Janeiro, 1953; Toronto, 1958; Beirut, 1963; and Berne, 1968.
Women have held sectional meetings at all world congresses beginning in 1923. The present Women s Committee of the Alliance was formed in 1928. Its leaders have included Mrs. W. J. Cox, Mrs. F. W. Armstrong, and Mrs. George R. Martin of the United States, and Mrs. Edgar Bates of Canada. Regional or continental women s unions have been formed on all continents.
A Men s Department was established at the Rio congress in 1960. John A. Dawson of Chicago, the first chairman, was succeeded by Robert Mills of Georgetown, Ky. in 1965, and George W. Schroeder of Memphis, Tenn. in 1967.
Dr. Nordenhaug describes the work of the Alliance in five terse sentences, each representing, in his words, ‘a finger of the Baptist hand of fellowship.’
The functions, carried out on a world-wide scale as fully as limited budgets will permit, are:
1. An agency of communication between Baptists through publications, dissemination of news, film, radio, personal visits, and correspondence;
2. A forum for study and fraternal discussion of doctrines, practice, and ways of witness to the world;
3. A channel of cooperation in extending help to each other and those in need;
4. A vigilant force for safeguarding religious liberty and other God-given rights;
5. A sponsor of regional and world-wide gatherings for the furtherance of the gospel.
The secretariat has served as a center for gathering and dispensing information on Baptist life around the globe. Information helpful in achieving a full program of relief, in assisting a particular area in special projects, or in understanding the particular problems of Baptists in areas where religious liberty or political safety are endangered is sought and prudently shared.
A monthly news bulletin, The Baptist World, was launched in January 1954 to provide the constituency of the Alliance with needed information. Now grown into a respected monthly journal, The Baptist World goes every month to subscribers and denominational leaders in 104 countries. Cyril E. Bryant is editor. The Baptist World Alliance News Service feeds news and feature articles to the Baptist publications and general news media in 70 countries for translation and publication.
The president and secretaries of the Alliance travel, the extent the budget will allow, to visit Baptists in many lands. Such visits serve to remind small Baptist groups in remote areas that they are part of a vast Baptist fellowship, and these visits also familiarize more affluent groups with the struggles of the brethren in difficult places.
An effort is made, through conversations with officials of the governments concerned, to present the Baptist viewpoint and argue for the freedom and human rights of people everywhere. This is a role in which the Alliance can often serve with more effectiveness than may be possible within a single convention or nation.
The relief program of the Alliance is a unique channel through which Baptists of all conventions and all nations can work together to bear one another s burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2). Conventions of limited resources are able to share in actions of aid which they could not undertake alone.
Food and other assistance from contributing groups are channelled as often as possible to missions or indigenous groups close to the point of need. These agencies already have personnel and facilities available for the immediate and most direct administration of the relief materials. The Alliance establishes its own channels of aid when there are none, or when the member conventions prefer to use a common channel.
Organized international cooperation in relief began at the close of World War I, with J. H. Rushbrooke being named Commissioner for Europe. Adolfs Klaupiks, formerly of Latvia, headed Alliance relief activity, 1948-68, with the title of coordinator. R. Paul Caudill was Relief Committee chairman, 1947-60, and has been succeeded by R. Dean Goodwin. Associate Secretary Woyke began directing the relief work in 1968.
Baptists from all nations must know and be able to make known their fundamental convictions. This requires constant study and the formulation of clear statements concerning the hope that is within us (I Peter 3:15).
Study Commissions, constituted of Baptist scholars and leaders representative of Baptist thought on all continents, have been appointed ‘to explore pertinent questions’ within the fields of Religious Liberty and Human Rights, Doctrine, Evangelism and Missions, Christian Teaching and Training, and Cooperative Christianity.
Working both by correspondence and in annual international meetings, the commissions are expected to present statements or papers to the Executive Committee for circulation or publication as study papers.
From the beginning the work of the Baptist World Alliance has been financed by a budget provided by the conventions, unions, and associations of the cooperating Baptist groups. At first the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland contributed the largest single amount to the budget of the Alliance. With the coming of World War I, the main source of financial support steadily shifted to the United States, with the Southern Baptist Convention and the American Baptist Convention assuming the major share of the Alliance budget. A total of 54 conventions in 43 countries made contributions during 1967. Many of the smaller conventions gave on a higher per capita basis than the numerically bigger conventions. Special gifts, especially on B.W.A. Sunday each February, are counted on for another source of Alliance income.
Louie D. Newton, writing in the Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists (1958), observed that the Alliance has brought encouragement to ‘small minority groups, giving their testimony in the face of overwhelming odds,’ and that ‘to Baptists more privileged, the Alliance furnishes knowledge of needs and opportunities. This awakens them to greater effort.’
The world fellowship has brought a consciousness that differences between Baptists of various areas are secondary and not a test of fellowship. They see a oneness in their faith and practice and their common recognition of Christ’s Lordship. This has resulted in a sense of unity that crosses racial, cultural, geographical, and political barriers.
Several Scripture verses are aptly used to describe the Alliance fellowship and its cooperative service:
‘That every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father’ (Philippians 2:11). ‘One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all’ (Ephesians 4:5,6),
‘Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ’ (Galatians 6:2), and
‘if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin’ (I John 1:7).
Cyril E. BRYANT
Further information about the Baptist World Alliance may be secured from many sources, including the following:
Baptist World Fellowship, by F. Townley Lord. Broadman Press, 1955.
A History of the Baptists, by Robert Torbet, Judson Press, Revised 1968.
Southern Baptist Encyclopedia. Broadman Press, 1958.
Baptist Advance. Broadman Press, 1964.
BAPTIST WORLD CONGRESS MEETING PLACES
1. London, England 1905
2 Philadelphia USA 1911
3. Stockholm, Sweden 1923
4. Toronto, Canada 1928
5. Berlin, Germany 1934
6. Atlanta, USA 1939
7. Copenhagen, Denmark 1947
8. Cleveland, USA 1950
9. London, England 1955
10. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1960
11. Miami Beach, USA 1965
12. Tokyo, Japan 1970
13. Stockholm, Sweden 1975
14. Toronto, Canada 1980
15. Los Angeles, USA 1985
16. Seoul, South Korea 1990
17. Buenos Aires, Argentina1995
18. Melbourne Australia 2000
PRESIDENTS OF THE ALLIANCE
John Clifford, London, England 1905-1911
Robert Stuart MacArthur, New York, USA 1911-1923
Edgar Young Mullins, Louisville, USA 1923-1928
John MacNeill, Hamilton, Canada 1928-1934
George Washington Truett, Dallas, USA 1934-1939
James Henry Rushbrooke,London, England 1939-1947
Charles Oscar Johnson, St. Louis, USA 1947-1950
Fred Townley Lord, London, England 1950-1955
Theodore Floyd Adams, Richmond, USA 1955-1960
Joao Filson Soren, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1960-1965
William R. Tolbert, Jr., Monrovia, Liberia 1965-
SECRETARIES OF THE ALLIANCE
General Secretaries
James Henry Rushbrooke 1928-1939
Walter Oliver Lewis 1939-1948
Arnold Theodore Ohm 1948-1960
Josef Nordenhaug 1960-
Associate Secretaries
Walter Oliver Lewis 1948-1955
Joel Sorensen 1950-1955
Robert Stanley Denny 1956-
Erik Ruden 1959-1965
C. Ronald Goulding 1965-
Frank H. Woyke 1968-