March 10, 2022
We are writing on behalf of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), a Christian Worldwide Communion in 128 countries and territories representing 176,000 churches and 51 million Baptists as well as the European Baptist Federation (EBF), one of the six regions of the BWA which brings together 61 member bodies throughout Europe and the Middle East, and the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, one of the largest Baptist faith communities throughout the 52 countries in the EBF Region.
Standing together as a Baptist family that draws upon 400 years of shared history, we lament the violent conflict currently taking place across Ukraine and appeal to you to immediately organize a joint meeting that works for a just and peaceful solution.
We reaffirm a BWA resolution first passed in Monrovia, Liberia, 1968, “We express publicly our burden and distress [that] we have been able to achieve so little peace and have witnessed so much violence and bloodshed in our days. We proclaim to the world our deep feeling that war as a means of permanent solution is untenable, and we believe that any peace that is not based on justice and righteousness is equally untenable and dangerous.”
We therefore plead with you for the:
For almost 90 years the Baptist family has noted our commitment to the people of Russia including in a first BWA resolution in 1933 in New York City, USA, that expressed our hope that the people of Russia would experience ongoing wellbeing. In 1987 the General Council of the BWA gathered in Amman, Jordan expressed “its joy at the forthcoming celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Christianity in Russia” and “gives God thanks for the contribution of Russian Christians to the world church.” Since 1991, the BWA has a heightened special relationship with both the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists and the All-Ukrainian Union of Associations of Evangelical Christians-Baptists.
This mutual relationship led to a BWA resolution in 2014 in Izmir, Turkey where the BWA General Council “acknowledge[d] with deep sadness and great concern, the … severe tension between Russia and Ukraine” and noted our support for “all initiatives towards the reconciliation of those who have been in conflict.”
Today we affirm again our love for all peoples across this region, renew our commitment to enter into the sufferings of humanity, and stand in the belief that all conflicts and differences can be resolved peacefully. We exhort you to stand together in these affirmations and to use every avenue to pursue just peace.
The whole Christian world prays for you in hope that the vision of the prophet Isaiah will be embodied as swords are transformed into plowshares, and that the prayer of the Apostle Paul will be fulfilled as the conditions are created for a peaceful and prosperous life for all people.
Sincerely,
Rev. Dr. Elijah M. Brown
General Secretary and CEO
Baptist World Alliance
Rev. Alan Donaldson
General Secretary
European Baptist Federation
Rev. P. V. Mitskevich
President of Euro-Asian Federation and
Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists