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INFORMATION SERVICE
Baptist World Alliance
Eron Henry, Associate Director of Communications
Neville Callam, General Secretary
July 29, 2010
For Immediate Release |
BWA accepts three new
member bodies
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Honolulu (BWA) --
The Baptist Fellowship of Zambia (BFZ), Baptist Churches in
Vietnam (BCV) and the District of Columbia Baptist Convention (DCBC) are the
newest member bodies of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA).
The three groups were formally granted membership to the
international Baptist organization during a meeting of the BWA General Council,
which preceded the start of the 20th Baptist World Congress in
Honolulu, Hawaii, on July 28.
The BFZ, established in 1995, has grown rapidly since its
formation, numbering 1,500 churches in 2008 with the goal to reach 2,000
churches in 2011.
The Baptist Churches in Vietnam received official government
recognition in 2008 following on a human rights visit by the BWA to the
Southeast Asian country in 2006, where meetings were held with Baptist leaders
and government officials. Formed formally in 1988, the BCV includes 509
churches and approximately 30,000 members.
The DCBC comprises churches in the city of Washington, DC -
the capital of the United States - and in nearby Virginia and Maryland. Formed
in 1877, it is the fourth state or regional Baptist convention in the US to be accepted
as a member body of the BWA, following the acceptance of the Baptist General
Association of Virginia, the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and the
Baptist General Convention of Missouri.
There are now 18 Baptist conventions and unions in the
United States that are member bodies of the BWA.
The number of BWA member bodies now numbers 219.
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