BWA President
Visits Churchnet
Board of Directors
Baptist World Alliance President Paul
Msiza traveled to Jefferson City, Mo.,
to speak to the Churchnet Board of
Directors in March. A pastor in South
Africa, Mszia started his five-year
term as BWA president in 2015. During
his visit to Missouri, Msiza also
preached at West Side Missionary
Baptist Church in St. Louis and at
First Baptist Church in Jefferson City.
The BWA, founded in 1905, is a global
fellowship of 235 conventions and
unions in 122 countries and
territories comprising 45 million
members in 177,000 churches. The
BWA's goals are: 1. Promoting
worship, fellowship, and unity;
2. Nurturing the passion for mission, and evangelism; 3. Responding to human need through relief and sustainable community development; 4. Defending human rights and justice; and 5. Promoting relevant theological reflection.
Churchnet, a member body of the BWA since 2006, has a rich tradition of welcoming BWA leaders — with every BWA President and BWA General Secretary since 2006 speaking at a Churchnet event. Msiza is the third BWA President to speak at a Churchnet event, following John Upton speaking at the 2013 annual gathering and David Coffey speaking at the 2009 Baptist Border Crossing. Churchnet has also welcomed two BWA General Secretaries as Denton Lotz spoke at the 2005 annual gathering and Churchnet hosted three welcome events at churches for Neville Callam in 2007.
Msiza thanked Churchnet for its strong support of the BWA. He noted the BWA helps promote "a holistic gospel" that values evangelism/missions and justice issues. He also talked about his vision for seeing more Baptists engaged in the BWA and growing from interactions with the global Baptist family.