Call for Christian unity as urgent as ever, says WCC general secretary
"The call for Christian unity and common witness is as urgent today as it was two-thousand years ago; and as it was one-hundred years ago", stated the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in his greetings to the 20th Congress of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA).
The BWA congress is taking place in Honolulu, Hawaii, 28 July to 1 August 2010. The BWA is a fellowship of 216 Baptist conventions and unions comprising a membership of more than 37 million baptized believers and a community of 105 million. The WCC is represented at the congress by its many Baptist member churches and the Rev. Dr Bernice Powell-Jackson, WCC president from the North American region.
As "the divine invitation to be united in Christ for the sake of God’s mission in the world is a prayer we are called to answer", wrote Tveit in his greetings, "the WCC looks to the Baptist World Alliance with the hope of growing in partnership for this purpose".
For Tveit, the Baptist churches "play a key role in global Christianity, being both ecumenical and evangelical in spirit and witness". "As we discover new relationships in the service of Christian unity, we look to the Baptist churches for guidance and wisdom, prayer and leadership", he added.
Full text of the WCC general secretary greetings to the 20th Congress of the Baptist World Alliance
