Baptist scholars to be at BWA meetings

from Eron Henry, Baptist World Alliance


The Annual Gathering of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA)--to be held in Ede, Netherlands, from July 27 to August 1--will include several leading Baptist scholars in historical theology and church history. These scholars will lead discussions on the history of Baptist witness in different regions of the world as part of the 400th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Baptist movement.

The first Baptist church was established in 1609 by English exiles in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

BWA General Secretary Neville Callam said that several forums will be held to “provide critical reflections on the history of the Baptist movement” by “some of our leading Baptist scholars.”

The scholars include Timothy George, a specialist in historical theology and Dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University (Alabama, U.S.), who will speak on the history of the Baptist movement in North America; Horace Russell, former President of the United Theological College of the West Indies in Jamaica and retired professor of historical theology at Palmer Theological Seminary (Pennsylvania, U.S.), who will reflect on Baptist history in the Caribbean; and Dinorah Mendez, Mexican church historian, who will assess the progress of Baptist work in Latin America.

Also leading discussions will be Peter Morden of Spurgeon’s College (London, England), who will assess the development of Baptist witness in Europe; Solomon Ishola, General Secretary of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, who will examine the growth and development of Baptist work in Africa; and Ken Manley, former principal at Whitley College of the University of Melbourne in Australia, who will appraise the history of Baptist life in Asia and the Pacific.

An analysis of the Baptist contribution to social transformation will be presented by William Brackney, Director of the Acadia Centre for Baptist and Anabaptist Studies.

A final forum will focus on efforts at peacemaking in which Baptists have played a significant part. This forum will be led by Karen Bullock, Director of the PhD program at B.H. Carroll Theological Institute (Texas, U.S.) and chair of the BWA Commission on Baptist Heritage and Identity.