BWA NEWS IN BRIEF
BWA: Lotz to Receive BWA Human Rights Award
Denton Lotz, former general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), will receive the BWA Human
Rights Award during the Baptist World Congress in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, which will be held July 28 to August 1.
Lotz, who was BWA general secretary from 1988-2007, led the international Baptist organization in some of
its groundbreaking actions and decisions on racism, religious freedom, and other issues of human rights.
Lotz helped to initiate a Special Commission on Baptists against Racism and Ethnic Conflict, which was
formed in 1992 in response to race-related riots in Los Angeles in the United States and racial and ethnic
conflicts in other countries. The commission produced the Harare Declaration, which was adopted by the
BWA General Council in 1993 during its meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe. In the declaration, Baptists pledged to
“expose and challenge the sin of racism.”
Under Lotz’s leadership the BWA held an International Summit of Baptists against Racism in January 1999
in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. Delegates from approximately 30 countries drafted and affirmed a
statement declaring a “decade to promote racial justice,” beginning in 2000, and urged BWA member bodies to
promote efforts to eradicate racism and fight against ethnic conflict worldwide. The “Atlanta Covenant” called
on Baptists to become “agents of reconciliation” and work for integrated worship, holistic evangelism, the
elimination of unfair trade, and the protection of the rights of aboriginal and tribal peoples.
The former BWA leader also initiated or led human rights visits to several countries, and has met a number
of world leaders to discuss issues of human rights in their respective nations, such as with former presidents
Fidel Castro of Cuba, Daniel arap Moi of Kenya, and Lech Kaczynski of Poland.
It was under Lotz’s leadership that the BWA emphasized its observation of Human Rights Day each year,
and launched an annual human rights award, which is given to a Baptist who has made significant contribution
in advancing human rights in his or her life, work and ministry.
The move to create the Division of Freedom and Justice (F&J) started under Lotz’s tenure several years
before it was brought into being. The division was formally inaugurated on September 1, 2008, following on
a decision of the BWA General Council in Prague, Czech Republic, in July of that year. The F&J division
addresses issues of human rights and religious freedom, and coordinates the relationship between the BWA
and the United Nations, where the BWA holds membership in several UN agencies.
Malaysia: BWA Expresses Solidarity with Malaysian Christians
Baptist World Alliance (BWA) General Secretary Neville Callam sent a letter of support to Baptists in
Malaysia.
The letter, sent on January 14, was in response to attacks on at least 10 church buildings in Malaysia, one
of them Baptist. At least one church was burned and others were damaged or vandalized in the wake of a court
ruling that allows Christians to use the name “Allah” for God.
“The Baptist World Alliance has learnt, with sorrow, of the difficulties the churches in Malaysia are facing
as a result of violent opposition to the use of the term ‘Allah’ for God by persons who are not Muslims,”
Callam wrote to John Kok, a vice president-elect of the BWA and a former president of the Malaysia Baptist
Convention (MBC).
“We note with concern your government’s response to the present crisis and we want you to know that we
are joining you in praying for patience and wisdom in the face of the situation in which you find yourselves.”
The Metro Tabernacle Church, an Assemblies of God congregation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital,
was fire-bombed on January 8, gutting the first floor. On January 10, “a plastic bag of black paint was thrown
at the front wall of the Malacca Baptist Church building,” Isaac Yim, president of the MBC, reported. Attacks on
the churches took place between January 8 and 15.
“We continue to monitor the situation and we pray for the restoration of peaceful relations among all who
seek to honor the call to be children of God,” Callam said. “We pray God’s wisdom on you all as you forge
ahead.”
Islam is the largest and official religion of Malaysia with 60 percent of the population being Muslims.
Approximately nine percent of Malaysia’s population is Christian. The MBC, a BWA member body, has more
than 22,000 Baptist members in 163 congregations.

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