Baptists in Austria: Eight Former Muslims Baptised at National Conference
Baptists in Austria: Eight Former Muslims Baptised at National Conference
Salzburg – Two festive worship services shaped the Austrian Baptist Union’s national conference in Salzburg. In a baptismal service at the beginning of the conference, eight former Muslims from Iran and Afghanistan expressed with their baptism that they had become Christians and intended to follow Jesus Christ. In the closing service, Alexander and Miriam Strecker were commissioned and sent out as European Baptist Mission (EBM) missionaries to South Africa. There they will be contributing to the work of education for youth leaders and youth workers. At the same time as the national conference, the hosting congregation of Salzburg-Lehen celebrated its 60th anniversary. In preparation for this anniversary and the national conference, the congregation thoroughly renovated their church centre.
The national conference had 150 participants in attendance, and took as its motto “Charity Work Does It!” The journalist Holger Gohla (Karlsruhe), Chairman of the German Baptist Federation’s charity work in Baden-Württemberg, noted that Christians throughout history have taken on the social challenges of their era. Protestant charity work and the Catholic “Caritas” have become well-known symbols for the kinds of efforts which our secular compatriots expect from the church. Yet charity work should not be misunderstood as a new method for evangelism. It is rather an expression of our faith in a loving and liberating God and plays an active role in helping us as we seek to build God’s kingdom on earth.
During elections, Anita Ivanovits (Steyr), the Union’s Chairperson, was re-elected to her position. Two of the Executive Committee’s eight positions remained empty due to the lack of candidates. The gathering also expressed disapproval regarding official Baptist legal status as a “state-registered confessional fellowship”. Baptists feel that they are at a disadvantage compared to those religious communities who enjoy full recognition as churches. They, along with other free churches in the same situation, plan to find out whether it would be feasible to lodge a legal appeal with the government’s constitutional court. Statistical reports noted that the Austrian Union has become smaller. Following the departure of a Salzburg congregation, the number of members dropped from 1.413 to 1.335. A total of 21 congregations belong to Austria’s Baptist Union.
Prof. Dr. Bill Wagner, President of San Francisco’s Olivet University, noted in a closing sermon that it should not surprise Christians if Europe’s increasing secularisation causes them additional problems. Their spiritual effectiveness is connected closely to the question of whether they are truly different from the world. It is not proper for Christians to simply swim along on the wave of tolerance and pluralism – under which their ultimate submersion is guaranteed. Wagner was a Salzburg missionary in the 1960s and 1970s and at that time built up a highly-successful youth work ministry.