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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Appreciation
This Council expresses its warm appreciation to the officers and members of the Singapore Baptist Convention for their generous welcome and hospitality and for the excellent arrangements made for these meetings. We thank those who have made us feel so much at home.
South Africa
The BWA General Council, meeting in Singapore, July 1986:
1. affirms its solidarity with the Nicaraguan Baptist Convention;
2. notes with pleasure that delegations of Baptists from various parts of the world have established personal and church links with our brothers and sisters in Nicaragua and encourages other Baptist Unions and Conventions to do the same;
Nicaragua
The BWA General Council, meeting in Singapore, July 1986:
1. affirms its solidarity with the Nicaraguan Baptist Convention;
2. notes with pleasure that delegations of Baptists from various parts of the world have established personal and church links with our brothers and sisters in Nicaragua and encourages other Baptist Unions and Conventions to do the same;
Afghanistan
The BWA General Council, meeting in Singapore, July 1986:
1. is aware of the present situation in the country of Afghanistan and notes with concern the plight of some three million refugees;
2. also notes that the refugee situation has created serious problems for neighboring countries, particularly Pakistan;
World Hunger (1986)
WHEREAS, estimates of the number of chronically hungry people range from 500 million to one billion, from one-eighth to one-fourth of the world’s population; and
Resolution on Freedom of Religion in the Lugansk Region in Eastern Ukraine
The Baptist World Alliance General Council, meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, July 2-6, 2018:
EXPRESSES concern that that the situation for religious communities is precarious in the eastern part of Ukraine – the Lugansk region. The region is part of a conflict area now widely understood to be under the control of Russia, which has recognized the area as “The Lugansk Peoples Republic (LPR).”
Appreciation
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Ede, the Netherlands, July 27- August 1, 2009;
Offers sincere thanks to the Union of Baptist Churches in the Netherlands for the invitation to hold this Annual Gathering in Ede on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the first Baptist congregation, formed in Amsterdam in 1609;
Resolution on Human Slavery and Trafficking
The Baptist World Alliance General Council, meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, July 5-7, 2017:
ACKNOWLEDGES that General Council has regularly reminded the global family of Baptists about the evil practice of modern slavery;
Baptist-Muslim Relations
Welcomes the opportunities opened up by the friendly and constructive spirit in which A Common Word, signed by 138 Muslim scholars and leaders, has been written;
Resolution on Preserving the Primacy of Family in Immigration
The Baptist World Alliance General Council, meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, July 2-6, 2018:
RECOGNIZES that the human desire to preserve and protect one’s family from violence, disease, economic depravity, and other threatening conditions is universal and drives millions of people to leave their homelands seeking better lives for themselves and their family members;
Resolution on Current Manifestations of Religious Intolerance and Religiously-Motivated Violence
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) General Council, meeting in Nassau, Bahamas, July 7-12, 2019: EXPRESSES its deep concern over recent instances of religious intolerance and religiously- motivated violence around the world since its last meeting in 2018
Humanitarian Crisis of the Mass Migration of Unaccompanied Minors in the Americas
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance {BWA), meeting in Izmir, Turkey, July 9-11, 2014:
ACKNOWLEDGES the human tragedy of the recent flood of unaccompanied minors to the United States who risk their lives in search of safety, economic resources and justice;
Climate Change
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance meeting in Ede, the Netherlands, July 27-August 1, 2009;
Affirms the biblical teaching of respect for the Earth and everything in it, and the moral imperative to love one’s neighbors as oneself including those of future generations;
Recognizing and Affirming the Calling of Women in the Church
CELEBRATES the Baptist International Conference on Theological Education that met in Nassau, Bahamas, July 5-7, 2019, with the theme of “TOGETHER: Re-Imagining, Re-Reading HERstory in the Church,” with significant discussions of women in the church;
Resolution of Appreciation for Committee and Program Personnel
The Thirteenth Baptist World Congress of 1975, held in Stockholm, Sweden, resolves to offer its great appreciation to the Program Committee of the BWA and to the Local Arrangements Committee of the Baptist Union of Sweden for the labor of love in bringing this Baptist Congress into great success.
Working with Other Religions and Organizations for World Peace
The Baptist World Alliance, in its continued and determined efforts for world peace with justice, and in its further endeavors to overcome the poverty and suffering of peoples of every nation, is willing to work with other religious groups and organizations toward these ends, doing so in a manner consistent with our Baptist principles and Baptist beliefs.
Sponsoring of Youth Work (1970.6)
Because the Baptist World Alliance has shown concern for Baptist young people throughout the world as evidenced by its sponsorship of Baptist Youth World Conferences, and because young people in this age have developed a keen sense of awareness to the need of applying Christian teachings in practical ministries in efforts to heed the call and commands of Christ,
Economic Justice
The Twelfth Baptist World Congress, meeting in Tokyo, Japan, during July 12-18, 1970, notes with deep concern the continuing and increasing lack of economic self-sufficiency suffered by the majority of the inhabitants of the world, particularly those who are citizens of the developing countries.
Man’s Stewardship and Survival on This Earth
The Twelfth Baptist World Congress, meeting in Tokyo, Japan, during July 12-18, 1970, notes with deep concern the continuing and increasing lack of economic self-sufficiency suffered by the majority of the inhabitants of the world, particularly those who are citizens of the developing countries.
Reconciliation and Racial Discrimination
At Berlin in 1934, at Atlanta in 1939, at Copenhagen in 1947, at Cleveland in 1950, at London in 1955, at Rio de Janeiro in 1960, and at Miami Beach in 1965 the Baptist World Alliance registered its opposition to racial discrimination and its parent, racism, which is the evil of looking at men in terms of their differences of color or culture rather than their oneness as children of God.
World Peace and Reconciliation
BWA World Congress Resolution 1970.1 We, the representatives of the Baptist World Alliance, assembled in Tokyo, Japan, in July, 1970: Reaffirm the deep devotion of Baptists to peace and reconciliation for all humanity on this earth under God; Restate our realization...
Resolution of Thanks
We, the delegates of the Eleventh Baptist World Alliance Congress held at Miami Beach, Florida, June 25-30, 1965, offer thanks to our Heavenly Father for the privilege of fellowship with Baptists gathered from the nations of the world. We are grateful, not alone for new light and truth which have broken forth from the Word of God, but for the restatement of those things most surely believed among us.
Resolution on Brotherhood and Equality
That this Eleventh Congress of the Baptist World Alliance affirms its belief in both the brotherhood of all Christians and the equality of all men under God, regardless of race or social position, and that we accept our responsibility as Baptists to take a full share in solving the un-Christlike distinctions of our societies, wherever they are.
Resolution on Peace
In these days of tension and concern for the destiny of all mankind, we Baptists appeal to all Christians to join together to preserve peace on earth.
We must answer the call “to seek peace and pursue it.” The things that belong to “Thy peace” must be found. No nation wins a nuclear war—all are defeated. As much as one hundred and twenty billions of dollars are being spent yearly on armaments and armed forces by the nations of the world.
Resolution on Separation of Church and State
The Tenth Congress of the Baptist World Alliance reaffirms its belief in the separation of the church and its institutions from the state.
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