VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 12/13/06)―A new series of Baptist-Catholic Theological Conversations is currently being held at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama this week.
The Baptist team is being led by Baptist World Alliance (BWA) General Secretary Denton Lotz and Paul Fiddes, who chairs the BWA Commission on Doctrine and Inter-Church Cooperation. American Baptist Leo Thorne, associate general secretary for Mission Resource Development, ABCUSA also sits on the commission.
The conversations are a continuation of previous talks with the Vatican Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in 1990 and a follow-up visit by the BWA to the Vatican in March of this year. Topics to be discussed include the authority of Christ in Scripture and Tradition, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and Hearing the Word of God in the contemporary context.
In a statement on the talks, Lotz said, "We are pleased that all Baptist leaders with whom we spoke understand the importance and necessity of discussing with our Catholic friends issues where we have unity, and, on the other hand, issues where we have serious concerns and misunderstandings.
"Bi-lateral conversations are not a hindrance, but an encouragement to faithful Christian witness and mission. The BWA has had conversations in the past with the Anglicans, Lutherans, Mennonites, Reformed and Orthodox churches. We hope in the future to have conversations with the Methodists and Pentecostals.
"We want to assure our Baptist brothers and sisters worldwide that our delegation is composed of committed Baptist men and women who seek Biblical answers to serious questions. Theological conversations are not for the purpose of compromise, but for clarification and mutual edification."
The BWA team is drawn from the six continental federations of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and North America, and includes special observers.
American Baptist ties to the BWA representation in these conversations are: International Ministries partners Tadeusz J. Zielinski, academic dean, Warsaw Baptist Theological Seminary, Poland and Tony Peck, general secretary for the European Baptist Federation, Prague, Czech Republic; Wallace Charles Smith, president, Palmer Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and observer, Johnny Hill, assistant professor of Theology, Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, Kentucky, who is also editor for an upcoming book of challenging essays and ministry profiles for African American families, which will be released by Judson Press next year.
The series of meetings will be held in various locations around the world, beginning in December and concluding in 2010.
Andrew C. Jayne American Baptist Churches, USA Mission Resource Development