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)
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Relief and Development Programs
MOTION by Roy Bell was seconded, and carried
34GC76 that the following resolution, and all pending amendments, be referred to the Executive Committee for consideration.
Since certain governments engage in programs of relief and development beyond their boundaries, and in so doing use their own and other governmental agencies, national voluntary agencies, but do not use international voluntary agencies; and
United Nations Declaration Concerning Religious “Intolerance and Discrimination”
Affirming the Baptist heritage of religious liberty which has, from its inception, upheld the right of all people to practice and propagate their religious faith without let or hindrance;
The International Year of Disabled Persons
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance:
1. Gives full support to the General Assembly of the United Nations in its proclaiming 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons with the keynote theme, “full participation and equality,” whose aim is to encourage the rehabilitation of an estimated 450 million people who suffer from some form of physical or mental impairment.
El Salvador
The Baptist World General Council, meeting in the Caribbean:
1. Has observed with profound concern and apprehension the continuing suffering and oppression of many in El Salvador;
2. Expresses its utmost sympathy with all those who are caught up in the present conflict.
Crisis in the Near and Middle East
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance wishes to state its concern and position regarding multiple but interrelated crises in the Near and Middle East in the following expressions:
1. We express our profound concern regarding the blatant disregard for human rights, civil liberties and national self-determination.
Conference on Peace and Harmony
BWA General Council Resolution 1981.6 The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance: Expresses appreciation for the initiative taken by the Church of Sweden (Lutheran) and its Archbishop in calling a Conference on Peace and Disarmament in Sweden in March 1982,...
Appreciation
Recognizing the extreme importance of an effective beginning for the General Council and Study Commissions for the 1981-85 quinquennium, we express our deep appreciation:
1. To the Baptists of Puerto Rico and especially to the Primera Iglesia Bautista de Carolina for their warm greetings and gracious hospitality.
Living Water
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Ede, the Netherlands, July 27- August 1, 2009;
Gives thanks to God for the impact of the ‘Living Water’ conferences on evangelism and leadership development in regional and national Baptist bodies;
Appreciation
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 7-12, 2003:
NOTES with appreciation the willingness of Korean Baptists to host the 2003 meeting of the General Council of the Baptist World Alliance and looks forward to meeting in Seoul in 2004;
The Korean Peninsula
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Seoul, South Korea, July 28-31, 2004:
COMMENDS the Korean Baptist Convention for the faithful witness to the Gospel both within South Korea and in its mission work throughout the world.
NOTES with concern the continued division of families and communities in the north and south of Korea;
Appreciation
NOTES with appreciation the work of Korean Baptists in hosting this 2004 meeting of the General Council of the Baptist World Alliance;
OFFERS sincere thanks to the Baptist Convention of South Korea, its President, C. Y. Choi and General Secretary, S. S. Hong for their invitation to meet in Seoul;
Statement of Appreciation
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Mexico City, July 3-8, 2006:
Offers sincere thanks to the Mexico Baptist Convention for the invitation to hold this Annual Gathering in this wonderful city.
Violence Against Women and Children
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Mexico City, July 3-8, 2006:
Recognizes that women and children are victims of violence that include exploitation in the sex industry, which includes sexual trafficking, labor exploitation, domestic conflict, recruitment into military conflict, rape, many other forms of violence because of precarious and vulnerable situations.
HIV/AIDS Crisis
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Mexico City, July 3-8, 2006:
Notes again the great urgency of the HIV/AIDS crisis and laments that 65 million people have been infected and more than 25 million people have died of HIV/AIDS in the past 25 years.
On Human Rights and Abuses in Myanmar
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Mexico City, July 3-8, 2006:
Recognizes historic Baptists links with Burma [Myanmar] dating back to the work of Adoniram Judson and his colleagues in the nineteenth century.
On Sudan
Expresses concern about the ongoing armed conflicts which have resulted in more than 2,000,000 deaths and over 1,000,000 displaced persons and numerous other human rights violations. These violations are evident in Darfur, but exist throughout Sudan. Encourages further networking among Sudanese Baptist churches who are isolated by the effects of war.
Evangelism and Missions
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Mexico City, July 3-8, 2006:
Reaffirms at the beginning of a new century of Baptist World Alliance life and witness our commitment to proclaim and demonstrate, through word and deed, our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
200th Anniversary of the Passing of the Act to Abolish the Slave Trade in the British Colonies
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance Annual Gathering, meeting in Accra, Ghana, July 2-7, 2007:
Resolves to commemorate in this historic setting the two hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the abolition of the slave trade.
Admits a long history of human enslavement that has broken families, robbed identities, stripped dignity and inflicted deep and inexpressible pain.
On Darfur
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance Annual Gathering, meeting in Accra, Ghana, July 2-7, 2007:
Maintains ongoing concern about the armed conflicts, contrived famines, destruction of communities, lack of transparent truth and accountability and other human rights violations in Sudan.
Action on Corruption
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance Annual Gathering, meeting in Accra, Ghana, July 2-7, 2007:
Laments the presence and power of corruption in many levels of society throughout the world and especially within government and corporate elites;
On Detention and Due Process
On Detention and Due Process
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance Annual Gathering, meeting in Accra, Ghana, July 2-7, 2007:
Urges all governments, enforcement agencies under their jurisdictions, and non-state actors to enforce and abide by the basic tenets of human rights as represented in international laws and conventions in the investigation, arrest, interrogation, detention, due process, trial, sentencing, and incarceration of all persons, regardless of race, religion, gender, national status, or political association.
Baptist World Aid and the Poor in God’s World
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance Annual Gathering, meeting in Accra, Ghana, July 2-7, 2007:
Renews its decision made at the General Council in Seoul, Korea, 2004, to strengthen the capacity of aid and development agencies, such as Baptist World Aid, to make a biblically- shaped response to the needs of the poor and oppressed in line with the Micah Challenge campaign to support the UN initiative of 2000 on the Millennium Development Goals to halve the level of world poverty by 2015;
2010 BWA World Congress Message
The Baptist World Alliance is a global movement of Baptists sharing a common confession of faith in Jesus Christ bonded together by God’s love to support, encourage and strengthen one another while proclaiming and living the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit before a lost and hurting world.
2005 BWA World Congress Message
TO BAPTIST BELIEVERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD with love and joy from those assembled together in Birmingham, UK, at the Centenary Congress of the BWA
Together those Assembled—
Rwanda and Burundi
COMMENDS with appreciation the Baptist Heads of Denominations and its secretary, the Rev. Noah Pashapa, for the invaluable and gracious assistance given to the BWA staff in planning and organizing this first-ever BWA gathering in Southern Africa;
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