The Baptist World Alliance continues the 400th anniversary celebration of the birth of the Baptist movement during the Annual Gathering being held in Ede, Netherlands from July 27 to August 1.
On Wednesday July 29 morning worshipers read the words of Sam Sharpe, a Jamaican slave who led a rebellion in 1831-1832, William Knibb, a British missionary who was an anti-slavery crusader in the 1820s and 1830s, and Martin Luther King Jr., United States civil rights leader. All three were hailed as Baptist prophets.
On Thursday, July 30, Thomas Helwys and John Smyth were celebrated as Baptist pioneers, as the founders of the first Baptist church in Amsterdam in 1609.
Thursday afternoon, the delegates who attended the Gathering traveled from Ede to Amsterdam, roughly 40 miles or approximately 60 kilometers, to the United Mennonite Church for a special quadricentennial service. Denton Lotz, former general secretary of the BWA was keynote the speaker.
During the days into the nights, various groups continue to meet for important discussions. The executive committee considered several matters that shall be brought to the General Council on Friday and Saturday, including significant changes to the constitutional bylaws of the BWA, important personnel appointment, and restructuring of several BWA divisions.
Forums discuss the roles of Baptists in the different regions of the world over the past 400 years, while commissions and workgroups discuss various theological, doctrinal, and social topics.
The week is drawing to its climax with the meeting of the General Council, the highest decision making body of the BWA outside of the Baptist World Congress, where, among many other important decisions, a president-elect will be nominated to be presented for selection at the World Congress to be held in Hawaii in 2010.
