BIRMINGHAM, England (ABP) — Having served as general secretary of the Baptist Union of Great
Britain since 1991, David Coffey is facing a new challenge — the presidency of the Baptist World Alliance.
Listening to Coffey, it's clear he has benefited enormously from his wide experience in Baptist life. He speaks in
clear, well-constructed sentences, showing a deep knowledge of his subject. But the man known affectionately in the
British Union's head office as D.C. falls into more relaxed banter at the mention of his wife and family.
Coffey, the sole nominee for BWA president, was elected July 30 to that wider international ministry during the
Baptist World Centenary Congress in Birmingham, England. But the fact his family was there to watch “means the world”
to him.
He will continue as general secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain until 2006 and will end his BWA
presidency in 2010, he punctuates these dates with personal landmarks of his own — he will celebrate both his 65th
birthday and 40th wedding anniversary to his wife, Janet, in 2006.
“And if I feel that I can keep going, there might be a veteran's egg-and-spoon race at the Olympics in 2012,”
which will be held in London.
But the next few years will be a marathon of sorts. Coffey has clear ideas as to where the BWA should go. His vision
is based on an adherence to the gospel essentials and “living in tolerance with one another.”
His first assignment involves traveling to Australia in August, then Prague in September and Russia in October with
“one or two other things” in between. It's not as if Coffey is new to acting as an international delegate. He first
went abroad in an official capacity to Russia as president of Baptist Union of Great Britain in 1986, a month after the
Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
“That was an eye-opening experience, what you call a baptism of fire, in terms of experiencing the fast track,” he
says.
Since then, he has visited more than 40 countries, including his travels when president of the European Baptist
Federation from 1997-99.
“So travel doesn't hold any romance for me. When you've gone via Geneva to Helsinki and your luggage is still in
Stockholm, it's not much fun,” he says. “But I give thanks for the joy and the privilege of bringing encouragement to
the Baptist family in all parts of the globe. That's a huge privilege.”
Privilege is a word Coffey uses often and he sees part of the privilege of the presidency as following in the
footsteps of “a great leader and encourager, a wonderful Christian statesman” like Billy Kim from South Korea, who
completed his five-year term as president at the BWA Congress in Birmingham.
And although Coffey admits that he needs to work on spreading his extensive knowledge of Baptists in Britain and
Europe to the global community of 34 million baptized members, with a community strength of many millions more, it is
obvious that “motivation” is another important word in his vocabulary.
For him, motivating Baptists to be truly evangelical is fundamental. For instance, while he'll happily talk about
whether Christianity in Britain is post-denominational, he prefers to focus on how churches can reach out to those
Christians who are unsure about their faith.
“The key I think is to say that, however ancient the institution, is it flexible enough to be open to the winds of
the Holy Spirit?”
Similarly, when we talk about whether the flow of mission workers from the developing world to traditional centers of
Christianity will continue, he focuses on migration in general and the challenges of an increasingly multifaith society.
Everything is seen from the perspective of opportunities for the local church, the British Union and the global
Baptist family. As Coffey has worked as a pastor of local churches, as well as the general secretary of a national
union, it is the skills gleaned from these roles that he plans to use in his future ministry.
For instance, he wants to find ways of making sure the “legacy of leadership” is passed on to the next generation.
“Hopefully we have done that in our own Baptist family, we have certainly done that in our European family. And I think
it's urgent that we do that within the BWA.
“We've been led for a number of decades by gifted leaders … but we need to nurture a newer leadership, quite
young like that in Eastern Europe. I think to empower them and in many other parts of the world, to empower the new
leadership generation, that would be one of my visions of the BWA for the 21st century.”
In order to make this vision a reality, Coffey is currently working on a global academy for emerging leaders within
the Baptist family.
Along with this, he hopes that the BWA will continue to be a voice for the voiceless and for the powerless.
“There has been a wonderful movement within the Baptist family to support the Make Poverty History campaign,” he
says. “That technically comes to an end on Dec. 31, but the long walk to justice for the world's poor will go on.”
One of the disappointments of 2004, for many Baptists, was the departure of the Southern Baptist Convention from the
Baptist World Alliance. Reflecting on this, Coffey says, “There is a key need for unity in the family. We have
sustained some deep disappointments in a major member body departing from the Alliance, and I think that in a fractured
world you need a united Baptist family.
“Jesus expects us to be united in order to bear a good witness,” he adds. “We're a very diverse family. And
unless we ground our unity in Jesus Christ, we can't ground it anywhere else, because there is no other safe
place.”
Reflectin on the SBC-BWA rift, he recalls an old saying: “'In essentials unity. In non-essentials liberty. In all
things charity.' I think we need to be able to distinguish between essential gospel truths and non-essentials which
belong to being part of the Baptist family. Then we're allowing one another liberty in certain non-essential areas, and
in all of that a willingness to disagree charitably.”
Coffey defines essential gospel truths as those concerning the Trinity and the cardinal doctrines concerning the
incarnation, the life, death, resurrection and coming again of Jesus Christ. Non-essentials are “areas of discipleship
where we have to exercise liberty.”
“In terms of church order, there will be differences of opinion, [such as] how we worship the Lord, who has the
authority to minister – male and female or just male. I particularly affirm the ministry of male and female, but I have
to recognize that not everyone shares that opinion.”
— Alan O'Sullivan is features editor of the Baptists Times of England, where this article first
appeared.