BWA NEWS highlights Baptist World Alliance l USA Groups Visit BWA Offices The Baptist World Alliance® hosted three groups at


its international offices in the Washington, DC, suburb of Falls Church in September. Sixty two members of the 100-voice Brazilian Memorial Baptist Choir from the capital city of Brasilia came to the BWA offices on September 12. They sang for the BWA staff and were briefed by staff members about the ministries of the BWA. The choir was on a singing tour to a number of Baptist churches in the Washington Metropolitan Area. BWA staff received members of the Shiloh Baptist Association in the state of Virginia in the United States on September 17. The association includes churches in Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock counties, mainly in central Virginia. The group, which comprised ordained clergy and lay persons, was on a familiarization tour of several Baptist entities located within the Washington Metropolitan Area, including the BWA. Senior staff members of the BWA made brief presentations on BWA ministries and responded to questions.


Sixteen Baptist leaders from Washington, DC, Southern Maryland and Northern Virginia spent the morning of September 27 considering the local church’s role in development and aid. Rothangliani Chhangte, who took up the post of director of Baptist World Aid on August 1, gave examples of how the BWA is helping to resource programs to reduce poverty, disease, and suffering around the world. BWA General Secretary Neville Callam also briefed


the group on his upcoming meetings with Baptists in Australia and Papua New Guinea. The gathering was the latest in a series of “coffee


receptions” for Baptist pastors hosted by Callam. The receptions are aimed at encouraging fellowship and cooperation with key Baptist congregations and groups in close proximity to the BWA offices, and to communicate directly with local congregations and institutions on the work of the BWA. Previous meetings have included discussions on church and media, freedom and justice advocacy for Baptists, and other topics of interest to local churches.


International Theological Education Conference Planned for Jamaica in June 2013


The 8th Baptist International Conference on Theological


Education (BICTE) takes place in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, from June 28-30, 2013. The event will focus on the theme, In Step with the


Spirit: Perspectives on Pneumatology within the Worldwide Baptist Family. It will include a wide ranging set of papers and discussions from Baptist leaders, pastors, theologians, and educators from all six regions of the BWA – Africa, Asia Pacific, Caribbean, Europe, Latin America and North America. Topics to be explored include Baptist Contributions to


“In Step with the


Theological Reflec- tion on the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit and Social Justice, and Emerging Issues in the Theological Formation of Ministerial Students. BICTE, planned by the Baptist World Alliance® is typically held every five years. The 7th


Spirit” (BWA), BICTE was held


in Prague, Czech Republic, in July 2008. BICTE immediately precedes the BWA Annual Gath-


ering, which will be held in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, from July 1-6, 2013.


Information and online registration for BICTE and the Annual Gathering is available on the BWA website, www.bwanet.org.


Jamaica JANUARY/MARCH 2013 5


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