RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Two state Baptist conventions have moved a step closer to full membership in the Baptist World Alliance.
The Baptist General Association of Virginia and the Baptist General Convention of Texas were both admitted Jan. 11 into membership in the North American Baptist Fellowship, one of the BWA's six regional fellowships.
“This is a necessary step for the BGCT and the BGAV to apply for full membership in the BWA, but does not guarantee membership in the BWA,” Alan Stanford, NABF general secretary, told Associated Baptist Press. “That is the decision of the BWA membership committee and the BWA executive committee and general council.”
Acceptance into BWA could come later this year.
The Baptist World Alliance is an international fellowship of 211 Baptist conventions and groups. The moderate-run state conventions in Virginia and Texas are seeking membership in BWA after the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Baptist body in the world, moved to withdraw from BWA. The Virginia and Texas groups would be the first state conventions elected members of one of the BWA's regional fellowships, which in the past have included only national Baptist conventions and unions.
The NABF is composed of 18 Baptist bodies in Canada and the United States. Other fellowships include conventions in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.
“As members of the NABF, Virginia Baptists connect to a wide network of resources and possibilities,” said John Upton, executive director of the Virginia association.
“It is not a denomination nor a convention but a fellowship of dialogue,” he said. Among the benefits of NABF membership is participation in “coordinated relief work, as in the current tsunami relief efforts of Southeast Asia,” he said. “The NABF also shares ideas and known resources for assisting local churches in reaching the lost in North America and discipling their own church members.”