Interestingly, the 400th anniversary of the Baptist faith also coincides with the 125th anniversary of the death
of Oncken, who died in 1884 after helping to found 280 Baptist churches, more than 170 of these in Scandinavia
and the Slavic states.

But the work of Oncken and those who followed him has resulted in a significant, and in some instances,
a growing Baptist presence on the continent. Ukraine has roughly 3,000 churches and church plants and
approximately 150,000 members through two BWA-affiliated conventions and unions; Romania has nearly 2,000
churches and more than 100,000 members through the two BWA member bodies in that country; and Russia has
almost 100,000 members and more than 1,500 churches in its two BWA member bodies.

There are now more than 50 Baptist conventions and unions that are part of the EBF, representing more
than 800,000 members in approximately 13,000 churches. The EBF, which includes churches in Europe and the
Middle East, also has a presence in Eurasian countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan.

The roughly 800 attendees at the Amsterdam 400 events explored key areas of Baptist scholarship, doctrine, and
practice, including Baptist history, religious liberty, mission, theological education, and worship. Significant leaders
from Europe and the worldwide Baptist movement shared in the three-day event, including BWA General Secretary
Neville Callam and President David Coffey, who spoke at the opening and closing sessions, respectively.
Callam told European Baptists that “perhaps, the greatest challenge Christians in Europe face is the
evangelization of their continent,” a task in which Baptists have an important part to play. He urged Europeans to
adopt “the vocation to evangelize those who do not have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.”
Coffey, himself a European, said that if Europeans are to be effective disciples, then “there are privileges we
have to relinquish,” stating that, as “Jesus relinquished his hold on privileges,” so should his followers be prepared
to “relinquish privilege for the sake of service.”
“The hands that filled the oceans with water became the serving hands in the Upper Room. The hands that
flung stars into space became the working hands in the carpenter’s shop,” Coffey declared.
The EBF used the occasion also to mark its 60th anniversary, having been formed in 1949. It also held its
annual council meeting. Among the important decisions coming out of the meeting was the election of Valeriu
Ghiletchi, bishop of the Union of Christian Evangelical Baptists of Moldova, as EBF president. Ghiletchi, who is
an elected member of Moldova’s parliament, succeeds Toma Magda of Croatia who became EBF president in
2007.
Ghiletchi was reelected to Moldova’s parliament on July 29, having previously been elected in 1998. Disputed
elections held in April led to widespread demonstrations throughout the country amidst charges of fraud by the
communist party which previously held power. The country’s parliament was dissolved on June 15 and fresh
elections held.
The new president for Baptists in Europe said that “despite the claims by past communist leaders, we are
not seeing the end of Christianity.” He said that the message coming out of Amsterdam 400 is to “know the limits
of an earthly ruler.” In reference to Baptist beginnings, he asked, “Who would have believed that the message
preached by Smyth and Helwys would have gone so far?”
It is Ghiletchi’s hope that Baptists in Europe will “be a Christo-centric Baptist family” with “a new enthusiasm
that can only come through experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit.”
European Baptists, like Baptists everywhere, are especially committed to the cause of religious liberty, and
have made recent human rights visits to Azerbaijan and to Palestine. Human trafficking is also an issue that the
EBF is especially concerned about, and it has established a workgroup and put out several publications on the
matter. Church planting, through the Indigenous Mission Project, has also extended work into unreached areas
and into places where Baptist witness is weak, particularly in Eastern Europe and in the Middle East.
European Baptists were inspired to renew faith and commitment for the coming leg of the journey, the next
400 years.

OCTOBER/DECEMBER 2009
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