N e u s i e d l – The Union of Baptist Congregations in Austria (BBGÖ) hopes to improve and intensify its relations with other Protestant churches. This issue was discussed at the Union’s annual conference in early June at Neusiedl am See. The discussion was prompted by a communique entitled “Dialogue between the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches in Europe (GEKE) and the Union of Baptist Congregations in Austria”. According to the text, both sides intend to “respond to the numerous, present-day challenges facing European churches”. Austrian Baptists were involved in initial consultations with the GEKE, being represented there by Pastor Dietrich Fischer-Dörl of Vienna. Fischer-Dörl confirmed that he hoped to nurture contacts by “placing Protestant unity in the middle and not underscoring our differences”.

The responses of the 61 delegates from 21 Baptist congregations led to a controversial discussion. Pastor Werner Holmes-Ulrich (Linz) expressed his satisfaction regarding the dynamic cooperation between Protestant and conservative evangelical churches in his region: “They influence each other mutually and are considering issues they would otherwise never have thought about by themselves.” The new Lutheran bishop Michael Bünker (Vienna), who also serves as the GEKE’s General-Secretary, was criticised in particular. It was claimed that he places free churches in the same fundamentalistic corner as Muslims. Pastor Hubert Frank (Salzburg) reported that Lutheran pastors „do not want to cooperate with us fundamentalists“. The term for “drawing closer” (Annäherung) was also debated: “Are we speaking of personal or church fellowship?” Effort for the sake of improved relations was given approval. Yet greater closeness to certain positions of the Lutheran church, such as the sanctioning of homosexuell marriage, remains impossible for reasons of theological conviction. Fischer-Dörl countered that dialogue is vital in hopes of finding a mutual voice in the world: „We can’t simply announce that these matters don’t interest us.“ A delegate from Graz added: “Jesus prayed for unity. We are therefore called to strive for it.”

A second major point regarded the interpretation of Scripture. After strife the previous year, observers described this year’s discussion as “very peaceful”. At issue were terms such as “errorless”, “infallible”, “reliable” and “trustworthy”. Austrian Baptists retain the goal of finding a common, confessional statement on the interpretation of Scripture. Yet Missions-Secretary Pastor Walter Klimt (Vienna) noted that “there are people who think this discussion is just too much and prefer not to bother themselves with it at all”. Surprisingly, a number of listeners agreed. Klimmt remains convinced that this discussion is necessary: “It’s good to talk about this for it motivates us to deal without the Word of God.” Only the congregation in Salzburg-Lehen dealt intensively with this issue during the past year. In lieu of the four terms this congregation proposed a new expression: “We uphold the Godly inspiration of Holy Scripture and its supreme authority in all of its statements.” This effort met with considerable approval, a resolution on the topic was nevertheless not attempted. The discussion is to be continued during the upcoming years.

In his report, Missions-Secretary Walter Klimt expressed dissatisfaction with membership trends within his Union. In general, the Union has grown by 40 or 50 members per year, yet one had been “hoping for more”. The Union presently has 1.413 members.

During elections, Walter Klimt was „called and employed“ for an additional three years as Missons-Secretary. Stefan Gisiger (Thalwil), General-Secretary of the Swiss Baptist Union, held a mediation at the conference and preached on Sunday in the Vienna-Mollardgasse congregation. He was standing in for the ill Tony Peck (Prague), General-Secretary of the European Baptist Federation.