HONOLULU (ABP) — For the first time, the Baptist World Congress will be held in Africa in 2015, according to a July 27 announcement from Baptist World Alliance General Secretary Neville Callam.
Speaking on the eve of the 20th Baptist World Congress in Honolulu July 28-Aug. 1, Callam said the South African port city of Durban would host the 21st quinquennial gathering of global Baptists. The meeting is scheduled for July 2015.
"It will be an honor to the Baptists of South Africa and to Africa to host the Baptist World Congress," responded Paul Msiza, president of the All Africa Baptist Fellowship and general secretary of the Baptist Convention of South Africa. Callam’s announcement and Msiza’s remarks came during the BWA Executive Committee meeting, one of several BWA events prior to the Honolulu Congress.
Msiza said South Africa’s recent experience hosting the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament — the globe’s most widely viewed sporting event — provided the nation’s Baptists with good practice at hosting foreigners.
"You will enjoy South African hospitality," Msiza said.
Durban — a city of 3.5 million on South Africa’s east coast — was one of several cities around the nation that served as venues for games in the tournament.
The event marks the first time the 105-year-old umbrella group for the world’s Baptists has held its biggest meeting in Africa. African Baptists — like other Christian groups on the continent — are growing rapidly. However, the high cost of international travel — particularly to far-away Western destinations like North America and Western Europe — has made attending past congresses prohibitive for many African Baptist leaders.
A crowd of approximately 4,000 was expected at the Honolulu meeting, compared to about 13,000 who attended the 2005 congress celebrating BWA’s centennial in Birmingham, England.
The first meeting was held in London, and has mostly stuck to the Western and Northern Hemispheres in years since, with the majority of congresses meeting in English-speaking countries.
Only three other Baptist World Congress gatherings — in Rio de Janiero in 1960, Buenos Aires in 1995 and Melbourne in 2000 — have taken place in the Southern Hemisphere. The gatherings have taken place in Asia twice — Tokyo in 1970 and Seoul in 1990.
Robert Marus is managing editor and Washington bureau chief for Associated Baptist Press.