B e r l i n – Pastor Daniel Trusiewicz (Wroclaw), Coordinator of the European Baptist Federation’s church planting programme, has reported positively on recent developments. He stated at sessions of the EBF’s Executive convening in Elstal near Berlin on 19 and 20 March that all local, EBF-supported missionaries are serving successfully. IMP (Indigenous Missionary Project), the EBF-programme for supporting local church planters, was launched in 2002 with four missionaries in Moldova. Today, 65 missionaries are being supported in locations from the Artic Circle to the Black Sea. The most unusual aspect of the project is that following a start-up phase of two-and-a-half years, the support is reduced by 25% annually. This is intended to insure local, solid footing for the new congregation. This year, for the first time, the five-year support will be dropped for 10 church planters. Two of these church planters in Moldova and Jordan have been so successful that they are already working to educate other missionaries. Trusiewicz is convinced that the other congregations affected by the elimination of support will survive. At the sessions in Elstal, 12 new church plants from Armenia, Israel, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine und Tajikistan were accepted into the programme. Funds were insufficient to give a go-ahead to three other projects. The programm has an annual budget of 250.000 Euros; 60% of the funding stems from the USA.

The EBF’s Executive also decided to organise a festive event in Amsterdam for 2009 commemorating the founding of the first Baptist congregation 400 years ago. The former Anglican priest John Smyth (1566-1612) had founded the first congregation of adult-baptised believers there in 1609. Study of the Bible had convinced him that only persons believing and confessing Jesus Christ should belong to a Christian church. For them he had introduced adult – or believers - baptism. Yet the EBF-Executive does not want Baptist history to dominate the conference from 24 to 26 July 2009. The event with an expected attendance of 1.750 will instead be a faith conference on current topics. Working groups were named in Elstal to prepare the conference. EBF-General Secretary Tony Peck (Prague) believes the conference will generate significant mission impulses.

The Executive also gave a green light to a project stemming from its Communications Division. The project intends to develop an Internet page to aid Baptists and other believers travelling through Europe to locate cheap housing with other Baptists, Baptist recreational facilities and Baptist-run hotels. Yet the division’s chairperson, Pastor Bill Slack (Hamilton/Scotland) cautioned that the project "StaywithBaptists.com" will not attempt to find free housing. He hopes the project will be on-line before the end of this year. It is to be financed strictly through advertising.

Chairperson of the EBF’s Division for Theology and Education, the theology lecturer Sergiy Sannikov (Odessa), informed that 25 Baptist seminaries in the region of the former Soviet Union are fighting for their survival. Their Western supporters have pulled back, causing serious financial difficulties. Authoritarian forms of leadership have also proven problematic. His division sees itself called to aid the responsible leaders with counsel and schooling. Yet these measures are not always successful. Sannikov concluded: “A number of theological seminaries will undoubtedly need to be closed.”

Fifty-two Baptist unions with approximately 800.000 members in more than 13.000 congregations form the European Baptist Federation.