Purpose-Driven Church to be highlighted at the Baptist World Congress

In just more than one month, the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Centenary Congress is to be held at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Birmingham, England. A press release from the Congress committee has unveiled the major topics that will be featured in the focus groups each afternoon at the Congress.

The three topics are: poverty, prostitution and the Purpose-Driven Church. The Purpose-Driven Church would be a very inspiring topic for the worldwide Baptist Churches which intends to gain success in mission and evangelism by pursuing a more effective and healthy model of running a church.

Rick Warren, bestselling author of The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life will lead two workshops with a team from Saddleback Church in California where he pastors: Building a Purpose-Driven Church and 40 Days of Purpose: Transforming Your Church through God's Purpose.

Both workshops will be held on Thursday 28th July and be repeated on Friday 29th July. Rick will also speak at the start of the special focus group options for pastors on Thursday and is speaking at the Saturday evening celebration.

Purpose Driven is a Church health model that provides pastoral teams with a unique, biblically-based approach to establishing, transforming, and maintaining a balanced, growing congregation that seeks to fulfil the God-given purposes of worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and missions.

Poverty has become a highlighted topic for almost all churches of different denominations in the wake of the outcry from campaigners across the world. It has also been set on the agenda in the Methodist Conference next week.

In Britain, supporters of the global anti-poverty campaign Make Poverty History are getting ready to rally the leaders of the eight richest countries to drop the debt, reinforce trade justice and increase international aid, as the G8 summit is going to be held in Edinburgh in early July.

Nigel Varnell from Christian Aid and Graham Sparkes, head of the Faith and Unity Department at the Baptist Union of Great Britain, will lead Seeking Justice - Challenging Poverty, a discussion on how Christians should respond to the issues of poverty currently being raised through the Make Poverty History campaign.

On the other hand, a panel of Baptists from the USA, Hungary and Thailand, working in both prevention and restoration of victims of the worldwide problems of trafficking and prostitution in Human Trafficking and Prostitution: The 21st Century Form of Slavery.

BUGB has also honourably invited a famous evangelical from America as one of the keynote speakers - Tony Campolo. Dr. Tony Campolo is Professor emeritus of Sociology at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. He is also a Baptist minister and the founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE).

There will be An Afternoon with Dr Campolo in the Symphony Hall on Thursday 29th July where he will explore how Christians can address problems of poverty, war and injustice. In the Symphony Hall on Friday 30th July, delegates can attend An Afternoon with Steve Chalke: The Church - The Real Health Service, where the writer, broadcaster and Baptist minister will look at the role of the church in building the kingdom of God.

Both Tony Campolo and Steve Chalke will also be leading Bible Study options on the Friday morning.

Other focus groups also on offer include HIV/AIDS: Current responses and future challenges, Persecution and Religious Freedom and Where will Baptists be after the next 100 years?

Over 12,000 delegates are expected at the Baptist World Congress taking place on 27th-31st July. Focus groups are being held on the Thursday and Friday of the Congress (29th and 30th July) from 1400 to 1600.

Paul Montacute, Director of Baptist World Aid and organiser of the focus group programme said, "We have gathered committed practitioners to share their stories in these exciting Focus groups, which will stimulate each of us to reach out in new and dynamic ministries and mission."