L SECRETARY n GENERAL SECRETARY n GENERAL SECRETARY n G

behalf of the worldwide Baptist community at the annual meeting of the BGAV held in Hampton, Virginia, from November 11-12, 2014. Callam, who addressed the final session of the gathering, celebrated

the varied ways in which the BGAV has contributed meaningfully to the life of the BWA. He noted that during the current quinquennium, the BGAV supplied the BWA with the president, the first vice president and the treasurer. Callam added that other gifted and reliable leaders in the BWA also came from the BGAV. He said the worldwide Baptist witness has been made stronger on account of the BWA-BGAV partnership. Callam was especially grateful to Virginia Baptists for allowing

Upton to make the kind of contribution he has as BWA president. He characterized the opportunity to work with Upton as a special privilege, and asserted that Upton will go down in history as one of the most outstanding BWA presidents in recent

years.

BWA President John Upton (left) and Neville Callam, with Baptist General Association of Virginia President Ann Brown

BWA Makes Appointment to

WCC REFERENCE GROUP T TINGS n CONFERENCES & MEETINGS n CONFERENCES & MEETING

The Jesus Christ Bread of Life program is a series of international training seminars by the BWA aimed

understanding of the mission of God and to stimulate the desire to bear witness to that mission in each local context. The Lyon, France meetings, held November 4-6, 2014, included representatives from Belgium and was held as part of the Annual Gathering of Baptist pastors affiliated with the Federation of Evangelical Baptist Churches (FEBC) of France. There were 114 registered participants. Seminar delegates reflected on their own practice and understanding

of evangelism; church planting, particularly within a Western European postmodernist context; and reaching out and witnessing to youth. A Declaration of Lyon was adopted at the conclusion of the

meetings and will guide the implementation of insights arising from the evangelism seminar. Presenters and speakers included BWA Directors Fausto

Vasconcelos and Emmett Dunn; European Baptist Federation Mission Coordinator Daniel Trusiewicz; Glyn Hackett, director of development for FEBC; French Baptist pastor Etienne Lhermenault, president of the National Council of Evangelicals of France; Baptist pastor Anniel Hatton, chaplain at the Paris-Orly Airport; and Charles Jones, area director for Europe, the Middle East and Liberia for American Baptist International Ministries.

The FEBC has 128 churches with approximately 7,000 members. In addition to France, Haiti and Nigeria, other Bread of Life events have been held in Brazil, Paraguay, India and Cambodia.

at renewing Baptists’

he Baptist World Alliance general secretary has appointed David Goatley to serve on the Reference Group on the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace (RGPJP), an advisory group to the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). Goatley is executive secretary-treasurer of Lott

Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention in the United States. He has had a longstanding association with the BWA and currently chairs the BWA Mission, Evangelism and Theological Reflection Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the BWA General Council, the Budget and Finance Committee and the Congress Committee. RGPJP grew out of the 10th

Assembly of the WCC

held in Busan, South Korea, from October 30 to November 8, 2013. The pilgrimage of justice and peace refers to

churches, ecumenical bodies, Christians and like- minded groups and persons taking “transforming actions... so that justice will grow and God’s deep peace [will] rest on the world.” Participating churches and groups serve as communities of justice and peace, “healing a world filled with conflict, injustice and pain.” RGPJP’s mandate includes advising on how

churches can take forward the pilgrimage of justice and peace; monitoring the activities of civil society groups involved in the pilgrimage of justice and peace; and promoting cooperation between churches, ecumenical partners and people of goodwill involved in planning, implementing and reporting on activities related to the pilgrimage of justice and peace. In addition, RGPJP is to contribute to the theological study process on issues related to the pilgrimage of justice and peace and offer advice on further development of the justice and peace initiative.

JANUARY/MARCH 2015 23

BWA APPOINTMENTS

n BWA APPOINTMEN David Goatley