Baptist WORLD


July/September 2013 Volume 60, Number 3


BWA Director Receives Special Award


Rothangliani Chhangte, director of Baptist World Aid (BWAid),


the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance® (BWA),


is the 2013 recipient of the Luke Mowbray Ecumenical Award. The award gives recognition to an American Baptist Church USA


member who has made outstanding contribution in ecumenical work at the local, state, national or international level. It was presented at the Christian Unity Dinner on June 21, during the American Baptist Mission Summit/Biennial in Overland Park, Kansas. Chhangte, prior to joining the BWA staff on August 1, 2012, served


ABCUSA as ecumenical officer where she represented that body on the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Christian Churches Together (CCT), the National Council of Churches of Christ (NCC) and the BWA. BWA General Secretary Neville Callam expressed his delight at learning “of the decision of ABCUSA to honor Rothang with the Luke Mowbray Ecumenical Award. Rothang is a thoughtful theologian who has a good grasp of the ecumenical dimensions of the Christian vocation.” Callam said that Chhangte’s ecumenical experience has been of


great benefit to the BWA. “She has brought to her work as director of Baptist World Aid a positive appreciation of the need to develop and maintain relationships of mutual trust and respect with other Christian communions within the universal church. I am not surprised that recognition is being given to the understanding, commitment and enthusiasm she brings to partnering with fellow Christians, and the churches to which they belong, in the one mission that God in Christ has entrusted to the church in the power of the Holy Spirit. As a representative to the WCC while at ABCUSA, Chhangte


was instrumental in the implementation of the Decade to Overcome Violence in the United States. She was very involved in reviving and supporting youth and young adult participation in WCC events in the US.


She was a member of the Steering Committee that led to the formation of CCT as an expanded ecumenical table and which led ABCUSA to become a founding member. Chhangte served on the Executive Committee of the NCC where


she made significant contributions to the functioning of the Council and its emphasis upon justice and as co-chair of the NCC Interfaith Commission.


She worked on staff with American Baptist Home Mission


Societies, the domestic mission arm of ABCUSA, as liaison to the Myanmar refugee community in the US. She resigned that position after being named director of BWAid in 2012. The Luke Mowbray Ecumenical Award was established in 1975


at the request of Edna Mowbray, in memory of her late husband to recognize the commitment to achieve Christian unity.


2 BAPTIST WORLD MAGAZINE


CONTENTS


5 Church and Politics


5 William Tolbert: Head of Church and Country


6 Baptists and Political Engagement 7 God Opening Political Doors


8 Christian Influence in the Ukrainian Parliament


10 Christian Stewardship in the Political Sphere


12 The Role of Baptists in Bahamian Independence and Nation Building


13 The Work of Baptist World Aid


Baptist World Editor: Eron Henry, Email: communications@bwanet.org Editorial Assistant: Ashley Coates


Published quarterly by the Baptist World Alliance, 405 North Washington Street, Falls Church, Virginia 22046 USA. Telephone: +1-703-790-8980; Fax: +1-703- 893-5160; E-mail: BWA@bwanet.org; Website: www.bwanet.org. Preferred Periodicals postage paid at McLean, VA 22101, and additional entry points.


The Baptist World Alliance is a fellowship of 223 Baptist conventions and unions comprising a membership of more than 42 million baptized believers and a community of 110 million. The BWA unites Baptists worldwide, leads in world evangelism, responds to people in need, defends human rights and promotes theological reflection.


For information on bulk orders, write to the Communications Division, Baptist World Alliance, 405 North Washington Street, Falls Church, Virginia 22046 USA or to communications@bwanet.org. Previous volumes of Baptist World are available in microfilm from University Microfilms International, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106, USA.


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Rothangliani Chhangte

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