Living the Good News: Global Baptist Gathering Down Under
Living the Good News: Global Baptist Gathering Down Under
Last week, more than 3,500 Baptists from 130 countries converged on Brisbane, Australia, for the 23rd Baptist World Congress. Gathering under the theme “Living the Good News” (Luke 4:18–19) this Congress marked the first in the Asia–Pacific region in 25 years and celebrated 120 years since the inaugural event in London in 1905.
The week began with two pre-Congresses: the Women’s Summit and the Emerging Leaders/NxtGen Summit, bringing together voices across generations and nations. Together, these events formed a powerful celebration of unity, faith, and the global Baptist family.
Baptists Ignite ACTS2 Vision in Australia
A central moment of the Congress was General Secretary Rev. Dr Elijah Brown’s call for a renewed global movement—an Acts 2 Vision—to unfold by 2033. He invited Baptists around the world to embrace five pathways of mission: sharing testimonies, expanding Bible access and engagement, service, religious freedom advocacy, and neighbour-centred care.
This bold vision included specific targets: establishing 1,159 prayer groups to support Bible translation, mobilizing 500 million acts of service, collecting 1 million signed religious liberty covenants, and raising up 500,000 neighbourhood chaplains. “Together,” Brown emphasized, “we are the global church for such a time as this.”
Tasmanians Join the Global Movement
Report from Matt Garvin
This week, about 17 Tas Baptists made the journey to Brisbane for the congress and some of the pre-gatherings, including the Next Generations and Baptist Women’s Summits. I think I am right to say that all of us were encouraged and inspired by the time.
Particularly impactful was the invitation from the Global Baptist Alliance for all Baptist churches in the world to consider cooperating on mission in a new way as part of what it is labelling the ACTS2 movement.
I look forward to exploring how we as TasBaptists might align our local efforts with this wider vision—and how we can work with other denominations across Tasmania and the world.
One of the first things the Alliance invited us to consider was signing the Religious Freedom covenant, which I did and invite you to consider doing too.
I am looking forward to sharing more with you about it in the coming months.
Read the report about the Baptist Women’s Summit. By Jenny Baxter
Who is the Baptist World Alliance?
The Baptist World Alliance is a fellowship of 266 conventions, unions, and ministries in 134 countries and territories comprising 51 million members in 176,000 churches.
Founded: The BWA began in London, England, in 1905 at the first Baptist World Congress.
Mission: Networking the Baptist family to impact the world for Christ
Vision: The Baptist World Alliance is a global movement of Baptists sharing a common confession of faith in Jesus Christ, bonded together by God’s love to support, encourage and strengthen one another, while proclaiming and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit before a lost world
Priorities:
– Nurturing a passion for mission and evangelism
– Promoting worship, fellowship, and unity
– Responding to people in need
– Defending human rights and justice
– Advancing theological reflection
Want to See More?
Catch a glimpse of the Congress by watching the final session here. See highlights and behind-the-scenes moments on Facebook: Video Highlights or Facebook Reels
Search: #bwabrisbane2025
Living the Good News: Global Baptist Gathering Down Under
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