ATLANTA (ABP) — A prominent European Baptist leader cautioned U.S. Baptists not to export their disputes or manipulate Baptists worldwide into their way of thinking.
“We should be very careful how we are pulling the ropes in our mission work, in our evangelism and missions work everywhere,” said Theo Angelov, outgoing general secretary of the European Baptist Federation and a respected Bulgarian pastor.
“Do we pull the ropes in another direction toward ourselves, our thinking, our vision, our strategy?” Angelov asked members of the Mainstream Baptist Network in Atlanta Feb. 25. “Do not pull the ropes toward yourself. There is only one direction we should pull the ropes … and that's to pull the sinners before Christ.”
Angelov, also a leader in the Baptist World Alliance, apparently referred in part to the dispute between the Southern Baptist Convention and BWA. The SBC withdrew its membership and funding from the Baptist World Alliance last year, accusing BWA of harboring liberalism and complaining that BWA granted membership to the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, made up mostly of former Southern Baptists.
Some international Baptist leaders have complained privately that Southern Baptists are pressuring them to take sides in the dispute or adopt the SBC's conservative theological statement. The SBC plans to form an alternative to the Baptist World Alliance, a loose confederation of 210 Baptist unions worldwide.
“There is no more [serious] weakness to the world around us than our lack of unity .. our fighting,” said Angelov. “It will be a catastrophe for our world if we pull the ropes in the direction [of disunity].”
“How do you dare to call the Baptists in Europe liberal?” asked Angelov, referring to charges made by SBC officials. “Have you ever been in prison for your faith?”
Angelov, who was imprisoned by Bulgaria's former communist government, said many Baptists died in prison without denying their faith. “There are many heroes you never will know their name.”
“The communist leaders were very surprised to discover that the church did not die,” he added. Although pastors were imprisoned and church buildings destroyed, the Christian church in Eastern Europe survived communism and is now thriving, said Angelov, noting 3,000 Baptist churches have been started since 1990 in the countries of the former Soviet Union.
There are “many more examples” of liberalism in the United States than those alleged in Europe by the SBC, said Angelov, whose message during the convocation banquet of the Mainstream Baptist Network prompted a standing ovation.
Morris Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee, declined to criticize Angelov's comments. “Theo Angelov is an extraordinary Christian,” Chapman said in an e-mail response. “Like the Apostle Paul, Brother Theo has been imprisoned for his faith in Jesus Christ in his own country. I came to know him through my involvement in the BWA and have great admiration for him. I hope someday to have opportunity to talk with him personally about the SBC's withdrawal of its membership from the BWA.”