A speaker addresses the Baptist World Alliance’s 2022 Annual Gathering held at Birmingham, Alabama, the United States from July 10-15. (Photo Courtesy: BWA @BaptistWorld/Twitter)
Dimapur, July 17 (MExN): The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) General Council has called for restorative racial justice and condemned ‘unprovoked and unjustified invasion’ of Ukraine by Russia and coup in Myanmar.
These were among four resolutions approved by BWA General Council during the their final session of the 2022 Annual Gathering held at Birmingham, Alabama, the United States from July 10-15.
The first two resolutions addressed the state of war, violence, and political unrest in Ukraine and Myanmar and the latter two focused on the gathering’s response racial justice, informed a BWA press release received here.
The BWA, as per its website, is a global network of 51 million Baptists in 128 countries and territories.
The first resolution condemned the "unprovoked and unjustified invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine by Russia" and further called upon the "European union, G7, and other intergovernmental entities to redouble their efforts to support Ukraine."
It also included commendation for the "humanitarian and spiritual resources of the All-Ukrainian Union of Associations of Evangelical Christian-Baptists, and the Baptist unions and other Christian groups in neighboring countries for their generous hospitality, humanitarian aid, and spiritual help for refugees, supported by the European Baptist Federation, the BWA Forum on Aid and Development (BFAD), and the generosity of the global Baptist family," the release said.
During the gathering, the attendees were also informed that the Alliance has raised over $4 million USD so far enabling “1 million displaced Ukrainians to be served by the BWA Baptist family.”
Vernette Myint Myint San, President of Asia Baptist Women's Union, also shared about the struggles of her homeland of Myanmar as violence continued to escalate since the military coup in February 2021.
Accordingly, the second resolution condemned the coup and called for the "establishment of a true democracy that respects the rights of religious and ethnic minorities," and assured “prayer and support for Baptists and other people of goodwill helping in persecuted communities and among displaced persons.”
‘Refrain from participating in racially oppressive systems’
Meanwhile, in response to racial hostilities globally and the Gathering's thematic focus, ‘A Global Family Standing for Racial Justice,' the third resolution on restorative racial justice acknowledged that the global issue "demands a renewed commitment to the enduring principles of racial justice and human freedom.”
It was based on the “fundamental theological conviction that all people are created in God’s image and thus deserve to be treated with respect and justice and enjoy flourishing freedom," the BWA release stated.
The resolution further recognised that there are "countless examples of racial prejudice on every continent, including the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples and their land."
To this end, Baptist entities were encouraged to "exercise their prophetic responsibility" and to "refrain from participating in racially oppressive systems."
It further recommended all Baptists to study ‘The Birmingham Statement of Restorative Racial Justice,’ a resource created by the BWA Racial Justice Action Group and approved by the Executive Committee on July 9.
The final resolution acknowledges important local, national, and global conversations about chattel slavery, its enduring generational impacts, and the possibilities of reparations to repair the damage for wealth stolen from centuries of forced labor.
The resolution also affirmed "the biblical basis for reparations," recognising that the "economic, political, psychological, and spiritual impacts of chattel slavery and the transatlantic slave trade did not end but continue(s) to impact many communities and nations today" – including many BWA member bodies, the release said.
Several Council members shared feedback before voting, dialoguing about the theology of reparations and its congruence with the biblical concepts of the Year of Jubilee, grace, and forgiveness, it added.
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