Every 5years the Baptist World Alliance meets in general assembly. In 2005, thatgathering was in Birmingham England, which marked the 100^thanniversary of the first Baptist World Alliance meeting London, England. Bothmeetings, incidentally, repeated in unison as a commitment to one another andtheir common Lord the entire Apostle’s Creed. So much for being a non-creedaltradition. The present Baptist World Alliance represents over a hundred millionworshipers in well over 150 countries. The General Secretary of CBM, GaryNelson, is a Vice-President of the BWA and liaises with the World BaptistCommunity on behalf of Canadian Baptists. A subset of the larger BWA fellowshipis the North American Baptist Fellowship. One of the vice-presidents of thatgathering is Ken Bellous, the Executive Minister of the BCOQ. One of the recentpresidents (in 2005) was Harry Gardiner, former Executive Minister of CBAP.

The BaptistWorld Alliance Executive committee meets annually in some part of the world.Last year it was Ghana, and this year it was Prague. Next year it’s Amsterdam,marking the 400^th anniversary of the first Baptist congregationalmeeting. I attended Ghana on our behalf and created one of the motions that issimilar to the ones we are reading in these newsletters. These gatheringscreate a dynamic and stimulating environment for reflecting on a variety ofissues; theological, biblical, practical and concerns of justice. What followstoday is the remaining resolutions that were passed in Prague the ones thatconcern themselves with refugees Darfur and the environment are particularlyencouraging ot me. One final note, some would see as a digression, if you wishto explore more about the environment, please borrow from our resource librarythe Arosha DVD which sets a context for the biblical and theologicalfoundations of stewardship.

Thank youfor your engagement of these topics.

Warmly,

In Christ

Jeremy

BWA Resolutions 2008

October 2008 Approved by theGeneral Council on July 25^th, 2008.

Resolution #4 – Evangelism andContextualization of the Gospel

The General Council of the BaptistWorld Alliance, meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, July 20-25, 2008;

Gives thanks to God for the richspiritual legacy of Reformers like Jan Hus and Petr Chelcicky whose witnessstill inspires Czech Baptist life which began one hundred and fifty years ago;

Calls on Baptists throughoutthe world to be intentional in contextualizing the Gospel in today’s world,recognizing linguistic and cultural issues, and remaining faithful to the GreatCommission to share God’s love in Jesus Christ.

Resolution #5 – Ministry ofReconciliation

The General Council of the BaptistWorld Alliance, meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, July 20-25, 2008;

Expresses deep sadness and regretover religious and ethnic conflicts that claim many lives and create deep scarsin different parts of the world;

Rejoices in significant efforts inbringing together divided communities to seek forgiveness, genuinereconciliation and mutual respect;

Encourages dialogue betweendifferent faith and ethnic groups to promote peace and harmony in society;

Calls on all Baptists toexemplify the spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ and, as reconciled people, tofulfill a ministry of reconciliation in the world.

Resolution #6 – Zimbabwe

The General Council of the BaptistWorld Alliance, meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, July 20-25, 2008;

Rejoices in the work God is doingamong his people in Zimbabwe and in particular though the Baptist churches inZimbabwe;

Affirms its continuing commitment todefend and promote the human rights of all people as set forth in the UnitedNations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights and associated instruments;

Acknowledges the God-givenresponsibility of national governments and of the international community touphold human rights through appropriate nonviolent means;

Laments the recent events inZimbabwe which have led to economic crisis, social unrest, politicaluncertainty, and a deterioration in human rights;

Stands in solidarity with allZimbabweans who are experiencing suffering or despairing at this time;

Calls upon all political andmilitary leaders and law enforcement officers in Zimbabwe to respect thedemocratic process, the rule of law, and the wise counsel of fellow Africanleaders and of the wider international community;

Applauds the signing of a Memorandumof Understanding to engage in talks by the leadership of the major politicalparties in Zimbabwe;

Urges all those involved in thesetalks to be accountable to the people of Zimbabwe;

Encourages leaders within theBaptist World Alliance to seek greater understanding of the present situationin Zimbabwe and to work toward peaceful resolution of the political andeconomic crises;

Invites the worldwide Baptistcommunity to pray for the peace of Zimbabwe; for the safety and security of allpeople there; and for effective witness to the transforming power of the gospelof our Lord Jesus Christ.

Resolution #7 – Refugees andImmigration

The General Council of the BaptistWorld Alliance, meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, July 20-25, 2008;

Recognizes the global growth ofrefugee migration and international relocation with more than 67 millioncurrent refugees and internally displaced people and more than 191 millioninternational migrants;

Understands that this generatespolitical situations of great sensitivity, fear and misunderstanding in hostand home countries alike;

Realizes that immigrants often facean array of cultural, linguistic and economic burdens and often retainimportant responsibilities for family members in home countries;

Believes that we are all fellowsojourners in this world and that our treatment of immigrants in our midst iscentral to authentic scriptural faith;

Calls on:

            Nationsto:

·       Give shelter to all refugees.

·       Develop transparent andequitable systems of migration that treat applicants with dignity.

·       Administer laws andregulations with justice and fairness to citizens and immigrants alike.

·       Renounce xenophobia and themisuse of immigration for political repression and division.

Member bodies to:

·       Instil an ethic of love thatsupersedes ethnic, gender and political boundaries.

·       Act as advocates for refugeesand migrants in solidarity with them.

·       Develop ministries ofwelcoming reconciliation and integration.

Churches and individuals to:

·       Renew their scriptural study,academic understanding and prophetic proclamation of the scriptural mandate tolive in love and justice with refugees and immigrants.

·       Grow in grace and hospitalitythrough intentional friendships and relationships.

·       Freely share resources withthose in need.

Encourages the development ofadditional study material for the Baptist World Alliance Human rights Sundayand its utilization by churches and member bodies.

Resolution #8 – Involuntaryfingerprinting of Roma People in Italy

The General Council of the BaptistWorld Alliance, meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, July 20-25, 2008;

Laments that the Italian government,without objection of the European Union, is practicing the involuntaryfingerprinting of all Roma people within its borders, including children, whichwe regard as ethnic profiling;

Acknowledges that there can belegitimate reasons for registering people, but recognizes that history hastaught us that selecting, isolating and targeting a minority group or a people onthe basis of culture, ethnicity, or race are discriminatory practices thatjustify acts of violence;

Recalls that the Roma people weretargeted and persecuted many times in history leading to the genocideperpetrated against them by the Nazi regime;

Affirms that Baptists worldwidestand against all forms of discrimination and for the safeguarding of thedignity and human rights of all human beings, and in this context notes thatthe Christian Evangelical Baptist Union of Italy has strongly opposed thecompulsory fingerprinting of Roma people;

Calls on all leaders within theBaptist World Alliance to urge representatives of the United nations, EuropeanUnion and national governments to issue a strong protest to the Italiangovernment against such discriminatory practice and firmly request itsimmediate cessation.

Resolution #9 – Climate Change

The General Council of the BaptistWorld Alliance, meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, July 20-25, 2008;

Affirms the biblical teaching thatGod created all things and that God’s creation is good (Genesis 1:1 – 2:2), andthat God has entrusted the care of creation to humans (Genesis 1:28, 29; 2:15);

Confesses that humans have oftendenied or ignored our interdependence with creation and abrogated ourstewardship of creation, resulting in misuse of the earth’s resources,environmental degredation, and damage to ecosystems;

Recognizes our failure asBaptists to engage with these issues in an adequate and timely manner;

Calls upon the leaders of theBaptist World Alliance to strongly support and encourage government, corporateand community initiatives to address the causes of human-induced climatechange, including but not limited to:

a)   Greateruse of renewable energy techniques;

b)   Capson “greenhouse gas” emissions;

c)    Carbontrading;

d)   Greateruse of “green” architecture, town planning and transport;

e)    Encouragementto conserve, reuse and recycle goods;

Urges members and memberbodies of the Baptist World Alliance to practice environmental stewardship, andpromote education with the purpose of honouring god and enhancing the commongood;

Calls upon appropriateCommissions and Workgroups of the Baptist World Alliance to study these issueswith the view to making further recommendations to advance global Baptistaction on climate change.