TESTIMONY

Baptist

Msiza was president of the All Africa Fellowship, one

of six regional

fellowships of the BWA, from 2006-2011 and general secretary of the Baptist Convention of South Africa (BCSA) from 2001-2010. He chaired the Local Arrangements

Committee for the 2015 congress meeting in Durban. In his response, Msiza, in alluding to the

congress theme, “Jesus Christ, the Door,” declared that the church ought to swing the door wide open for those who would come to Christ, rather than acting as doorkeepers, deciding who are to be admitted and who to keep out. As doorkeepers, some install locks that “only they can open.” Contrary to such notions, Jesus Christ, the door, is inviting us, which affords us an ongoing opportunity for entry. Msiza emphasized that, for the church, “the door is

MSIZA Installed as BWA President

The ceremony took place on July 25 during the Baptist World Congress in Durban, South Africa. Msiza succeeds John Upton of the United States, and is the

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first African to hold the office since William Tolbert of Liberia served as president of the BWA from 1965-1970. Tolbert was later elected president of Liberia in 1971 until he was overthrown and assassinated in a military coup in 1980. A BWA vice president from 2010-2015, Msiza has been

actively involved in the BWA since 2000, serving on its governing bodies and several key committees and commissions.

Left: Rigmor Ruth Petersen (second right) with (from left) Lone Møller-Hansen, general secretary of the Baptist Union of Denmark, granddaughter Caroline and daughter Anita

affinity poses a challenge for persons such as Petersen in congregations where “there is a lack of Baptist history and identity,” Møller-Hansen explained. Sometimes in newer congregations, such as the one where Petersen now worships, there are deliberate attempts to deemphasize Baptist heritage. “The people are from different

denominations so it’s not easy to have a Baptist identity in the church where people are coming from all over the church landscape,” said the Baptist union general secretary. “In Denmark we have many congregations made up of people from multiple nationalities and multiple church-backgrounds.” Of her travels to BWA global gatherings,

Petersen said, “I find it exciting to meet people from all over the world. It’s exciting to see different types of people. It’s inspiring and I expect God to touch everyone.”

gwedla Paul Msiza of South Africa was installed as the second African to be president of the Baptist World Alliance, the global organization for Baptist Christians.

Christ.” It is the one door, the only door, “single entry,” open to “all human beings, made in the image of God,” a demonstration that “we all belong together.” Msiza was trained at the Hebron Teacher Training College and

worked bi-vocationally as a pastor and school teacher from 1988 until he became founding principal of the Baptist Convention College in 1995, from where he left to become BCSA general secretary. He holds diplomas and degrees from the University of

Witwatersrand, the University of South Africa, the Baptist Theological Seminary of Southern Africa and the Baptist Bible Institute. He pastors Peniel-Salem Baptist Church in Pretoria, beginning

in 2011. He has been married to Sanna Mapula since 1986 and they

have three sons. Twelve vice presidents were also installed along with Msiza.

They are Michael Okwakol, Uganda; Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Ghana; Tapan Chowdhury, Bangladesh; Miyon Chung, Australia; Anslem Warrick, Trinidad and Tobago; Jules Casseus, Haiti; Dimitrina Oprenova, Bulgaria; Jan Saethre, Norway; Naomi Tyler-Lloyd and Jerry Carlisle of the United States; Jorge Quinteros, Chile; and Luiz Roberto Silvado, Brazil. Saethre will serve as first vice president. The new slate of leaders serves until the next global gathering of Baptists in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2020.

Above: Outgoing BWA President John Upton and General Secretary Neville Callam congratulate newly installed president Paul Msiza of South Africa

Below: The new slate of BWA vice presidents