SPECIAL CONGRESS GUESTS
A number of ecumenical leaders and leaders of other Christian traditions were special guests at the Baptist
World Congress in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, and brought greetings.
Geoff Tunicliffe, chief executive officer and international director of the World Evangelical Alliance, praised
the role that “Baptists play in the World Evangelical Alliance and our National Evangelical Alliances. The Baptist
World Alliance shares many of the same concerns as the World Evangelical Alliance,” Tunicliffe said. Such
concerns include a “commitment to world evangelism, proclaiming God’s grace, serving the poor, speaking out
for religious liberty, and a passion for the transformative work of the Holy Spirit. The inter-connectedness of
Baptists and other evangelicals is a demonstration of your commitment to the unity in the Body of Christ.”
Bernice Powell Jackson, president of the North American Region of the World Council of Churches (WCC),
read a message on the behalf of WCC general secretary, Olav Fykse Tveit. The message indicated that many
of the Baptist conventions and unions “gathered in Hawai‘i are among the churches sharing fellowship in the
WCC.” Tveit observed that Baptists “have a rich history of sharing the Gospel with conviction, building up the
body of Christ and serving the people of God.” Baptist churches, he said, “play a key role in global Christianity,
being both ecumenical and evangelical in spirit and witness.” As such, the “WCC looks to the Baptist World
Alliance with the hope of growing in partnership” in the cause of Christian unity and a common witness. “As we
discover new relationships in the service of Christian unity, we look to the Baptist churches for guidance and
wisdom, prayer and leadership,” Tveit stated.
Leaders of the China Christian Council (CCC) have attended every Baptist congress since the 1980s.
Present in Hawai‘i were Xu Xiaohong, secretary general of the National Committee of the Three Self Patriotic
Movement of the CCC, and Wen Ge, professor at the Nanjing Theological Seminary.
Xu, who brought greetings on Saturday, stated that the BWA and the CCC can “strive together for the
furtherance of the Gospel.” Such collaboration, he said, should take place “on the basis of mutual respect.” He
recalled the visit of a BWA delegation to China in January of this year, led by President David Coffey.
Xu described the rapid growth of the Christian church in China as “one of two modern day miracles” for his
country, the other being the fast paced economic development of the nation. This development in the China
church “resulted from us hearing the Spirit,” Xu said.
Other guests at the congress were Gregory Fairbanks, who serves with the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity, and who represented the Vatican; David Wiebe, pastor of the New Life Church in
Maple, Ontario, Canada, representing the Mennonite World Conference; John Graz, director of Public Affairs
and Religious Liberty in the Seventh Day Adventist Church and secretary of the Committee of Secretaries of
Christian World Communions, representing the General Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church; and
Murray Finck, recently re-elected to a second six-year term as leader for the Pacifica Synod of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, representing the Lutheran World Federation.
PHOTOS: Geoff Tunicliffe, chief executive officer and international director of the World Evangelical
Alliance, brings greetings during the Baptist World Congress; Xu Xiaohong, secretary general of the National
Committee of the Three Self Patriotic Movement of the China Christian Council, makes a presentation to
outgoing BWA President David Coffey during the congress in Hawai‘i
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