Jimmy Carter heads up Baptist commitment for inter-religious dialogue

Manuel López, LA CORUÑA, España, August 5, 2005

"Decidedly positive" was how Denton Lotz, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Congress Taxi Heathrow Airport held in Birmingham, UK from July 27-31 one hundred years after its founding in 1905.

"It has been possible to see the Baptist movement in its diversity and its vivacity," he said. "We have prayed, we have discussed, we have evangelized, we have dialogued," he added, to conclude by affirming that "this is our mission in the XXI Century."

A record number attended: nearly 13,000 people from 160 countries. The powerful Southern Baptist Convention's decision to leave the world alliance last summer was compensated by 200 new Churches in the Baptist World Movement, many from the United States.

In emphasizing that the SBC's decision was not followed by the Union of Women from the SBC two of the Southern Conventions, Texas and Virginia opted to stay in the BWA.

The Congress was not deliberative but was testimonial, like a huge worship service with vibrant music from every corner of the planet. Unlike the official version, it is true that there was much less discussion and dialogue than musical religious show.

The organizers realized this as was demonstrated by the fact that each day there were more frequent calls on huge screens to have a few minutes of silence and meditation.

A new and hopeful phase is opened for the BWA with the appointment of David Coffey as president for the 2005 - 2010 period. In the face of the previous mandate led by Korean - North American Billy Kim, marked by the progressive adoption of charismatic positions, the beginning of Coffey's presidency was marked by ecumenism.

One of the 37 points of the "Message of Birmingham" makes a specific reference to the ecumenical commitment of this denomination family in more hopeful terms than can be imagined : it asks forgiveness for having worked little for the unity of Christians. One of the strategic working groups for the next five years is "Inter-Church relations" that extends to inter-religious dialogue that goes beyond the inter-denomination field of Evangelical Churches.

Jimmy Carter, former US president and special speaker at the Congress made an ecumenical declaration in favor of inter-religious dialogue. "All of the great confessions like Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism," he said "have the basic principle of peace, justice, hospitality, truth and help for those who suffer."

With this affirmation he was make a call to concentrate on those values and work together in a common front of religious against terrorism.