European Baptist leader criticizes SBC pullout from BWA

From staff reports

The head of the European Baptist Federation has issued a strong statement opposing the Southern Baptist Convention's (SBC) withdrawal from the Baptist World Alliance (BWA).

Theo Angelov, general secretary of the European Baptist Federation, said European Baptists were saddened to hear of the SBC action.

"We are surprised by an action that by its very nature is an offense to the biblical call for unity and striving together to witness to a divided and lost world," he said. "Will this action strengthen those working for God's Kingdom around the world? Is Heaven rejoicing?"

Angelov said "false accusations" made by SBC leaders against the BWA were "a weak attempt to prove their own righteousness."

"Take note when a person or group of people place themselves on a higher level than others through unchristian methods," he said. "It is usually an indication that they had to resort to such measures because their arguments had no merits on their own."

Messengers to the SBC annual meeting voted June 15 to cut ties to the BWA. A committee recommending the cut cited evidence of "leftward drift" in the international organization. BWA officials denied the charge.

Angelov said he and other Baptists were offended by the aggressive way SBC leaders sought the break.

"Years ago, many of us became aware of problems in the Southern Baptist Convention, but it seemed like an internal American problem within the SBC," he said. "The leaders of the denomination insisted on introducing their own battles into the rest of the world. It seems they needed an even broader arena."

Other Baptist leaders urged Southern Baptists "not to export their problems," Angelov said.

"They wanted to make this international and that is the reason for the accusations thrown against the rest of the Baptist world. We have tried to explain to the leaders of the SBC that we, the Baptists of the other continents, have enough problems with which we must deal. We do not need North American problems. We have enough of our own. Our pleas to them were unsuccessful."

Other Baptists are stunned that the decision to cut ties with BWA could come from "mission-minded people," Angelov said.

"It is inexplicable to us," he said. "We know the hearts of most Southern Baptists are full of love and compassion, full of desire to help the world through mission work. How can the 'new politics' coexist with the expressions of love we have experienced from congregations in the USA in the last century?"

EBF has more than 800,000 members in about 12,000 Baptist churches from Portugal to Russia, according to the EBF Web site.