African Flavour Closes Third Day of Baptist Centenary Congress

Colour and passionate song were the hallmarks of Friday’s closing celebrations of the Baptist Centenary Congress, as the praise team from continental Africa brought a piece of their home continent to the five-day event, which has so far been a great success.

Samuel Adjei from Ghana beamed with charismatic energy as he led the worship team in songs such as "We want to see Jesus lifted high" in a distinctly African style of song worship and movement that could not help but raise people to their feet.

Hands were raised for much of the evening with the colourful rostrum of songs sung by the Nagaland Choir, which also included the well-known "Open the eyes of my heart Lord", continuing throughout much of Thursday’s closing celebrations.

General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance Denton Lotz summed up the talent of the praise crew from the African continent when he said "Southern Hemisphere Baptists are going to teach us how to praise again in the north."

Bible verses read out by Congress delegates from India, Croatia and Sierra Leone in their native languages were also testimony to the impressive international array of attendants at the Congress.

There was a serious message underlying the celebrations, however, which returned to central prominence: Christ, the Holy Spirit and Africa.

The source of the Empowerment of the Holy Spirit and its ability to transform was the key theme in an exposition by Solomon Ishola, general secretary of the Nigerian Baptist Convention.

Ishola spoke emphatically of the need to return to reliance only on empowerment of the Holy Spirit to be healthy in all aspects of life, saying "water revitalises, purifies and symbolises abundance."

He urged delegates to think on whether Baptists had progressed since the days of their ancestors or whether they relied too much on academic knowledge, materials or technology and wealth.

He suggested this was indeed the case, saying, "That’s why we have not been able to impart the Gospel on the entire world."

Ishola continued by saying if the Baptist Church wanted to be successful in spreading the Gospel to the entire world they had to "return to the Lord".

He said all strategies of the Church were useless without the Holy Spirit and that the empowerment of the Holy Spirit was necessary to bring about a new humanity.

A speech by Tony Cupit provided a brief interlude to the Africa-themed celebrations, when he expressed his gratitude for everything he had learned and experienced during his 15 years as director of evangelism and education for the BWA before he retires on Saturday.

The evening was giving a lively twist with a steel orchestra from the Caribbean to introduce the Caribbean Baptist Fellowship report by Peter Pinder, regional director.

The night ended with an appeal for all Baptists to engage more with the problems facing Africa in the 21st century. Frank Adams, Regional Secretary, All Africa Baptist Fellowship, highlighted the unique potential of the Church as a catalyst for change.

He said: "The centre for Christianity has moved to Africa. But the Church must work for the improvement of human rights. We must be the voice for the voiceless. Baptists can no longer be silent.

Lotz invited the audience at Friday's closing event to come on Saturday morning at 9:30am when the new president of the BWA will be installed.