Baptist World Alliance

The Baptist World Alliance is a worldwide alliance of Baptist churches and organizations, formed in 1905 at Exeter Hall in London during the first Baptist World Congress. The organization counts 42 million people, being the largest organization of Baptist churches in the world.

History

John Newton Prestridge, editor of The Baptist Argus, at Louisville, Kentucky, in his publication in 1904, called for a world gathering of Baptists. John Howard Shakespeare, editor of The Baptist Times and Freeman, London, endorsed the proposal.^[1][2][3] In October 1904, the Baptist Union of Great Britain passed a resolution to invite a Congress to meet with them in July 1905. At the Congress, a committee was formed, which proposed a Constitution for a World Alliance. A Constitution was adopted, containing the following preamble: "Whereas, in the providence of God, the time has come when it seems fitting more fully to manifest the essential oneness in the Lord Jesus Christ as their God and Saviour of the Churches of the Baptist order and faith throughout the world, and to promote the spirit of fellowship, service and co-operation among them, while recognizing the independence of each particular church and not assuming the functions of any existing organization, it is agreed to form a Baptist World Alliance, extending over every part of the world." Membership was opened to "Any general Union, Convention or Association of Baptist Churches", and it was decided that the Alliance would "meet in general assembly ordinarily once in five years, unless otherwise determined by the Executive Committee". Three leading personalities involved in the organisation included Prestridge, Shakespeare and Alexander Maclaren (who served as provisional President).

Organizational structure

Currently, the Baptist World Alliance brings together 210 Baptist groups representing over 47 million baptized believers in more than 200 countries.^[4] The group's stated goals are to: "(1) To Unite Baptists Worldwide; (2) To Lead in World Evangelization; (3) To Respond to People in Need; and (4) To Defend Human Rights."^[5]

The Alliance is divided into six regional or geographical fellowships: North American Baptist Fellowship, Asia Pacific Baptist Federation (formerly Asian Baptist Federation), All-Africa Baptist Fellowship, Caribbean Baptist Fellowship, Union of Baptists in Latin America, and European Baptist Federation. Each regional fellowship is served by an Executive Secretary.

Ecumenical relations

The Baptist World Alliance maintains ecumenical relations with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. One series of International Conversations between the BWA and the Catholic Church took place from between 1984 and 1988 moderated by the Reverend Dr David T. Shannon, sometime President of Andover Newton Theological School, and the Most Reverend Bede Heather, Bishop of Parramatta. In 2000 and 2001 preliminary consultations for a second series of conversations were held, leading to formal meetings between 2006 and 2010. The current Co-Moderators are Paul Fiddes, Professor of Systematic Theology in the University of Oxford and formerly Principal of Regent's Park College, Oxford, and Arthur J. Serratelli, Bishop of Paterson.^[6]

Statistics

In 2014, the organization has 36 million people, only a percentage of Baptists in the world. ^[7]

Africa

There are 36,100 Baptist Churches in Africa reporting 10,283,925 members. In some countries statistics date from 2011, but in others are as old as 2004. Countries with largest Baptist communities are

• Nigeria (10,261 churches and 3,526,184 members),
• Democratic Republic of Congo (3,799 churches and 1,951,618 members)
• Uganda (2,406 churches and 1,528,593 members),
• Kenya (3,500 churches with 800,000 members)^[8]

Asia Pacific

There are 31,306 BWA affiliated churches in Asia-Pacific reporting 5,356,124 members. Countries with largest Baptist communities are:^[8]

Country	Nr of Baptist Churches	Members
Australia	953	62937
Bangladesh	974	55734
Cambodia	391	15312
Fiji	14	1600
Hong Kong	159	88124
India	15253	2553858
Indonesia	680	140976
Japan	436	24752
Korea	2508	774259
Macau	6	750
Malaysia	177	23352
Myanmar	4858	927169
Nepal	130	16000
New Zealand	243	22968
Papua New Guinea	465	80000
Philippines	2851	430290
Singapore	36	10000
Sri Lanka	26	6100
Taiwan	212	37426
Thailand	458	54517
Vietnam	476	30000

Caribbean

In this region, there are 2,036 Baptist Churches affiliated to BWA reporting 248,702 members. Largest communities are in:

• Bahamas with 272 churches reporting 75,083 members
• Cuba with 861 churches reporting 58,999 members
• Haiti with 466 churches reporting 67,440 members
• Jamaica with 322 churches reporting 40,000 members

Central America

In this region, there are 2,589 Baptist Churches affiliated to BWA reporting 156,700 members. Largest communities are in:

• Mexico with 1,800 churches and 70,000 members
• Guatemala with 311 churches and 44,059 members
• Nicaragua with 206 churches and 25,000 members

Europe

The year is the year of the statistic data regarding the number of Baptist Churches and members.

Country	Year	Churches[8]	Members[8]	Total population	number of baptists / 100,000 citizens
Armenia	2011	150	4,850	3,262,200	149
Austria	2011	26	1,519	8,458,023	18
Azerbaijan	2011	22	3,000	9,356,500	3.2
Belarus	2011	312	13,884	9,462,400	147
Belgium	2011	26	972	11,139,292	9
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2011	5	200	3,839,737	5
Bulgaria	2011	128	5,150	7,364,570	70
Croatia	2011	50	2,000	4,290,612	47
Czech Republic	2011	40	2,332	10,513,209	22
Denmark	2011	55	5,412	5,602,628	97
Estonia	2011	85	6,057	1,294,455	468
Finland	2011	32	2,345	5,399,090	43
France	2011	119	6,519	65,605,000	10
Georgia	2011	75	5,085	4,469,200	114
Germany	2011	884	88,571	81,946,000	108
Hungary	2011	309	11,512	9,957,731	116
Italy	2011	112	4,277	60,870,745	7
Latvia	2011	88	6,539	2,070,371	316
Lithuania	2011	8	363	2,976,100	12
Moldova	2011	481	19,604	3,559,500	551
Netherlands	2011	77	10,606	16,778,806	63
Norway	2011	89	5,619	4,985,011	113
Poland	2011	83	4,871	38,538,447	13
Portugal	2011	71	4,700	10,562,178	44
Romania	2011	1969	107,626	19,043,767	565
Russia	2005-2011	2,047	91,690	143,300,000	64
Serbia	2011	83	2,683	7,241,295	37
Slovakia	2011	24	1,974	5,445,324	36
Slovenia	2011	7	160	2,055,527	8
Spain	2011	150	10,850	47,265,321	23
Sweden	2011	192	16,609	9,555,893	174
Switzerland	2011	12	1,091	8,014,000	14
Ukraine	2011	2,382	125,509	45,560,251	275
United Kingdom	2011	2,590	155,891	63,181,775	247
Uzbekistan	2011	60	2,735	29,559,100	9
TOTAL		12,843	732,805	762,524,058	96

Middle East

This region has 99 churches affiliated to BWA with 6,300 members.^[8]

North America

• Canada has 1,384 churches with 196,588 members
• USA has 79,011 churches affiliated to BWA with 23,621,780 members. The Southern Baptist Convention is not affiliated with the BWA and has 16,000,000 members.

South America

South America has 14,152 BWA affiliated churches with 2,042,949 members.

10,748 churches with 1,816,949 members are in Brazil.^[8]

See also

• List of the largest Protestant bodies

References

1. Lord, Townley F. (2007). Baptist World Fellowship: A Short History Of The Baptist World Alliance. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 0-548-44182-0.
2. Wardin, Albert W. (ed.) (1995). Baptists Around the World: A Comprehensive Handbook. Broadman & Holman. ISBN 0-8054-1076-7.
3. Leornard, Bill J. (1994). Dictionary of Baptists in America. InterVarsity Press. ISBN 0-8308-1447-7.
4. "Organizational Structure of the BWA". Baptist World Alliance. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
5. "About BWA". Baptist World Alliance. Archived from the original on August 4, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
6. "Baptist--Roman Catholic International Conversations". Centro Pro Unione. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
7. http://www.bwanet.org/about-us2/statistics
8. Statistics provided by Baptist World Alliance

External links

• Official website