BWA Trip to Prague
Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 02:09PM 
In late July 2008, I attended the annual meeting of the Baptist World Alliance. Since 1905, this gathering of Baptist denominations, conventions, and mission agencies have gathered together many of the Baptist groups from around the world for the purpose of global mission and witness. The BWA holds an annual meeting each year, and every fifth year, the BWA holds a highly celebratory World Congress. (The next Congress is in Hawaii in the summer of 2010).
It is a grace to see so many Baptists working together. Baptists tend to be one of the more fractured groups within Protestantism, proliferating widely but oftentimes on the heels of conflict and discord. The BWA helps Baptists find unity, even while retaining diversity, and gathers them around common mission. Indeed, the BWA creates an opportunity for Baptists to have a "global identity" through its ministry and programming.
Each morning, we gather for worship before going off into committees, workgroups, and other meetings. (Well, there's breakfast, but only for those who are able to get up in time. Sometimes the shifting of time zones and the weary feeling after long travels precludes some getting around too quickly in the morning!). During the worship service, the BWA strives to reflect the many languages of our assembled delegates. Worship bulletins are prepared in several languages, and the worship service is filled with prayers, scripture readings, reflections and testimony from persons serving in a variety of countries. It is a grace to sing the hymns, oftentimes with verses in a variety of languages, allowing everybody the experience singing in an unfamiliar language. It reminds us that we too often stick within our own language and ways of thinking. The music creates opportunities to give praise to God and joining us together with brothers and sisters around the world.
Here is a video clip of the BWA delegates singing together. The trinitarian blessing of this song is wonderful, moving from Nigerian (the music's original language) to English and then to Spanish and German. The clip features the end of the Nigerian verse and singing of the English version.
Each day of the BWA meeting, there are opportunities for committees and workgroups to gather together and engage in a variety of issues. The BWA centers its work around issues of evangelism, humanitarian need, defending human rights, and engaging in theological reflection. I attended the workgroups and committees related to theological education and Christian doctrine. During these sessions, we reflected on issues related to Baptist identity (a panel discussed understandings of church membership and another reflected on Baptist practices regarding the ordination of clergy). Another education-related aspect to our 2008 meeting included an opening reception hosted on the grounds of the International Baptist Theological Seminary (IBTS).
Major opportunities for this year's BWA gathering involved discussion of our historical Protestant roots. As part of the meetings, some time was given to celebrating and examining the life and thought of Jan Hus, a major figure in Czech history and the decades leading up to the Protestant reformation. Click here for an article about Hus.
Hus and his followers, the Hussites, were key influences in the development of the Protestant reformation. Revered for his contributions as well as his martyrdom, Hus is remembered well by the Czech people. In the main public square of the Old Town part of Prague, a statue of Hus (pictured above) holds watch over the hundreds of tourists that walk through the plaza area. Many persons might be unaware of Hus' contributions, however, if they happen to visit the Czech Republic on July 6th each year, they will discover it is a public holiday, given to remembering Hus' martyrdom by burning at the stake in 1415.
Hus was remembered by the BWA through the showing of a brief historical video presentation and a special panel featuring papers written and presented by Baptist scholars.
While we remembered the great history of the host nation, the BWA also engaged in the beginning stages of conversation regarding a Muslim/Christian dialogue. In the fall of 2007, a letter from several Muslim scholars was sent to several major Christian groups (i.e. the Vatican, the world Lutheran federation, the Anglican Communion, and many others including the Baptist World Alliance). The BWA meets only once per year, so an initial letter of acknowledgement was given by Dr. David Coffey, OBE, currently the BWA president and longtime British Baptist leader. Dr. Coffey's initial response can be read clicking here. A full response will be forthcoming as a gathering of Baptist theologians craft a response on the BWA's behalf. I appreciate the effort of the Baptist World Alliance to build interfaith bridges, especially when the average person in my own country (and many others) would be quite astonished to learn of Baptists and Muslims in dialogue. Indeed, this effort with the BWA is reflected in North America as American Baptists and other North American groups are planning a Baptist/Muslim dialogue to be held in 2009 in various locations around the country.
CALLING FORTH THE YOUTH AMONG US
The average attendee of the BWA tends to be a person who is representing a denomination/convention/mission agency as an official delegate or as one appointed to a workgroup or commission. In 2006, BWA President David Coffey began the process of instituting the Emerging Leaders Network (ELN), a new program to help connect the BWA organization with leaders who are affirmed as persons "emerging" into their own as young Baptist leaders. I was asked by Dr. Roy Medley, the General Secretary of the American Baptist Churches/USA, to participate as one of two ABC/USA young leaders to be part of the first "class" of ELN students. From 2007 to 2010, the ELN program is providing an opportunity to gather together diverse people from around the world to be part of the BWA annual meeting and help orient these younger Baptists to the ongoing work of global Baptist efforts.
The ELN program intersperses the "official" program of the BWA with opportunities to gather as the ELN group and discuss issues about religious leadership. This year, the group gathered to hear the BWA President David Coffey, the BWA General Secretary Neville Callum, and long-time BWA staff member Tony Cartledge share their wisdom as Baptist leaders. This year's meetings included discussion of a new structure of goverance for the Baptist World Alliance, a conversation long in the making and now into its final stages. In the scheme of things, being part of the BWA right now seems to be an opportunity to stand in the crossroads of an organization's history. The BWA is moving into a new era while also trying to sort out, as every organization must, the tensions between continuing some traditions and leaving some aside. And, yes, there were some looong meetings that seemed to get longer. A discussion about the restructuring process went on and on about various issues, including the number of BWA Vice Presidents that the new bylaws would allow. In the midst of the back and forth of things, I found myself muttering to another person, "Pretty soon they're going to start debating how many BWA Vice Presidents can dance on the head of a pin...." (I later learned that the comment made the rounds around various groups. My snark was heard 'round the world, I suppose. :-)
The ELN students represent a varied group of Baptist leaders. I serve as a minister helping a smaller ABC congregation in southwestern Vermont experience change and transition after many years of decline. A young woman from Asia works with prostitutes, helping sex workers get out of the oppressive and dangerous situations in which they are trapped. A young Jamaican woman serves on the convention staff in her country while another young leader from Indonesia has arose to the post of General Secretary in his convention. A quiet young fellow from India works with church planting, celebrating an incredible increase in persons wishing to help in this ministry. A young woman from Brazil works for a mission organization and just became the elected president of the BWA Youth division. A young man originally from Ghana now lives in England and provides a dynamic ministry presence in London. And the list goes on.
While there are incredibly talented persons in the ELN program, the group works well together, providing encouragement to one another and spending time together even when the official program has ended for the day. I treasure the opportunities for conversation. I wrote about one conversation with a young leader from the African nation of Sierra Leone for our local newspaper. Click here to read the article. Like the main BWA gatherings, we also found excuses to learn from one another, and the group tends to sing a bit. Here's some video of a young African woman leading us in song:
AFTER THE OFFICIAL MEETING, MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPLORE!
One joy this year was the opportunity to travel with my spouse Kerry Shermer after the meetings. Despite a plane delay that caused a late arrival, my wife arrived, and off we went on a few days' vacation. As part of our travel, we visited some sites around Prague, staying at the beautiful campus (and hotel) of the International Baptist Theological Seminary. IBTS has the good fortune of being well located in Prague, close enough to the airport but far enough away from the city center. IBTS is the headquarters for the European Baptist Federation as well as their own hotel, the Hotel Jenerelka. (A great place to stay for the budget minded traveler!)
Kerry and I took a train trip to Mainz, Germany. Both of us are lovers of books! (Don't ask how many we have....) So the "book geek" sides of us decided to visit the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany. We took an overnight train to Germany and spent the weekend in the really laid back town of Mainz. The museum chronicles the history of Johannes Gutenberg, who invented the printing press and produced the first Bibles to be printed. The Gutenberg museum celebrates his work and the resulting centuries thereafter of book production. Also, they feature the work of Asian printers, who were doing their own press work in China, Korea, and Japan, well before Gutenberg. A small section on Islamic calligraphy is also on display. Altogether, around four thousand years of printing is celebrated.
The big attraction of the Gutenberg Museum is its hourly demonstration of how the Gutenberg press worked. A tour guide gathers the crowd and tells the story of the press. (Alas for us, the presentation was only in German, so we were glad to have read a book about Gutenberg before coming.) He selected a young woman from the audience and asked her to help him print a page (the first page of John's gospel). As you will see in the video, the original press took a great deal of brute strength to make the impression and then release the mechanism so the page could be extracted. The young woman was given a copy of the page she printed with the guide's thanks.
Kerry and I also spent some time on pilgrimage to Terezin, a concentration camp from the second World War. About an hour by bus from Prague, you can visit the various sites around town that remember the horrific legacy of Terezin's years as a concentration camp. Terezin is a town that was built originally as a fortified city, and the Nazis used the town as a place to gather together Jews from the surrounding area. A small town built for 3500 people had upwards of 50,000 persons interred at once. Terezin was used as a site for Nazi propaganda work as the Nazis brought members of the International Red Cross to the town. A great amount of work went into making the town look picture perfect and staged presentations by the tightly controlled Nazi officers created a false sense of normalcy and humane treatment for the IRC officials to behold.
One of the searing memories of seeing the various memorial sites around Terezin was the collection of art, musical scores, and theatrical productions put on by various persons who were interred at Terezin. The brilliance and artistry of the various Jews interred at Terezin was incredible, eclipsed, however, by the grim notations of the final fates of many creative persons who were shipped onwards to Auschwitz and other locations or who died due to the inhumane conditions of camp life. A collection of art and poetry by Terezin's children also brings out the incredible beauty as well as the sad story of many children whose lives were cut short by the Nazis and their "Final Solution"
Back in Prague, one can visit six sites in the "Old Town" section that remember the Jewish residents of Prague, who were historically hassled and discriminated against long before the Nazi regime came to power. Nonetheless, the systematic program of the Holocaust dramatically changed Prague as several thousand area Jews were rounded up and never returned. One historical site is the Pinkas Synagogue. Upon the walls of this house of worship-turned-memorial are inscribed the names of every person who was taken by the Nazis to places like Terezin and Auschwitz. Surrounded by the names of the dead, one realizes the tragedy through the beholding of all the names. Yet as we read the names, the dead are remembered and the injustice that killed them is brought to light. Visiting these places reminds us of the critical need for the moral and ethical role of the world's religions in creating a more peaceable and diversity-minded world.
ENDNOTE
I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in the BWA ELN program, thanks to the financial support of the Office of the General Secretary, American Baptist Churches/USA as well as the support of the First Baptist Church of Bennington, Vermont, for providing staff leave time to participate in the annual BWA meetings. American Baptist support of the Baptist World Alliance is made possible in part by ABC United Mission dollars.
My gratitude to the Rev. A. Roy Medley, General Secretary, ABC/USA, and his office staff, especially Ms. Iris Cobb for their help in making the arrangements and funding to underwrite my participation in the ELN program.