GENERAL SECRETARY

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The following are excerpts from an address delivered by BWA General Secretary Neville Callam at the 2015 Lott Carey Spring Mission Conference and Executive Board Meeting at the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia, United States, on March 12.

Prophetic proclamation may take multiple forms. It may be verbal or visual, oral or written. It may take the form of gestures or drama, symbols or movement, enacted speech or concrete action. It is meant to expose evil, judging whatever is fueled by vain self- interest, wanton prejudice, cruel hostility or divisive intent so as to commend what Christian discipleship requires. Prophetic communication is not intended to simply convey information. It is instead a strategy to facilitate the spiritual transformation of human beings and communities. It is the presentation of the Gospel and the sharing of its implications for life in the world in every age, and it includes an invitation and challenge to affirmative human response. Prophetic communication often takes oral form. It involves

sharing the Good News of salvation through Christ Jesus and also advocacy and care for the poor, the disadvantaged, the disenfranchised and all who face unjust discrimination. It

is

necessary to insist, however, that proclamation should not be reduced to mere written or oral declaration. Prophetic proclamation includes enacted speech exemplified in the celebration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. In these

BOOK NOTES

Curtis Freeman, Contesting Catholicity: Theology for Other Baptists, Baylor University Press, 2014

In Contesting Catholicity: Theology for Other Baptists, Curtis Freeman, Research Professor of Theology and Baptist Studies; Director, Baptist House of Studies at Duke University in the United States, offers an account of Baptists as “a community of contested convictions within the church catholic.” Baptists will want to read and reflect on Freeman’s interpretation of what it means to be a Baptist today.

24 BAPTIST WORLD MAGAZINE

Burchell Taylor, Living Wisely: Reflections on the Wisdom Books, Caribbean Christian Publications, 2014

Taylor claims that the wisdom books in the Bible used by most Protestants – Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job – were largely ignored by biblical scholars and thus the rich insights from these books have been lacking in Christian theology, teaching and practice. He asserts that these books speak to the “lived experience” of ordinary folk and that they have much to teach us about gender justice, justice for those who are poor and marginalized, and a proper appreciation and care for the environment.

rophetic roclamation

sacraments, the church and creation join the triune God in communicating the liberating message of the Gospel. Prophetic proclamation involves concrete action evidencing

radical discipleship and constituting a vital witness to the Gospel. The diaconal work of the church, and of individual Christians within it, signifies the proclamation of the Good News through concrete action.

For proclamation to be prophetic it needs to be the work of people who are under divine authority, who are moved by the Holy Spirit to make known the will of the triune God as revealed in the Bible and throughout history so that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. In other words, prophetic proclamation points to the new reality God seeks to bring about, and infuses courage and hope in the hearts of Christ-followers. It represents a confrontation with evil powers and an announcement and demonstration of the reconciliation made available by God in Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Prophetic proclamation

that excludes judgment lacks

authenticity. Truly prophetic proclamation reminds people of the God of justice who loves so much that God has to judge all that is fuelled by vain self-seeking, wanton prejudice, cruel hostility and divisive intent. Prophetic proclamation lauds ways of obedient discipleship and so encourages the faithful in their walk with God. Prophetic proclamation also exposes that which, in us and around us, harms and destroys the person, the community and the natural environment. Prophetic proclamation finds expression in solidarity with the oppressed. It involves wholehearted engagement in and for community. It is unmistakably committed to the communion of all who have come to know God through Christ Jesus. It is marked by humility. It is witnessed to in cross-shaped people. It involves a ministry of vulnerable presence and it crosses boundaries and frontiers constructed by fear or hate.

Top of page: BWA General Secretary Neville Callam addressing the Lott Carey Spring Mission Conference and Executive Board Meeting at the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia

(Photo courtesy of Lott Carey)