Amsterdam –  In Amsterdam, the Baptist anniversary conference “Amsterdam 400” opened with a call to evangelise Europe anew. From 24 to 26 July, Europe’s Baptists are celebrating the appearance of the world’s first Baptist congregation, founded in the backroom of an Amsterdam bakery in 1609 by religious refugees from Britain. From there, the Baptist movement spread to England and North America. Neville Callam (Falls Church near Washington), General-Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, stated that the evangelisation of Europe is the greatest challenge facing the Christians of this continent today. He expressed thereby the conviction that European Baptists could play a significant role in fulfilling this mandate. Every citizen needs to hear that eternal salvation is only possible through Jesus Christ. He suggested that Christians from other continents could aid Europeans in meeting this challenge. Callam reminded listeners that 2009 is also the 125^th anniversary of the death of the German merchant Johann Gerhard Oncken (1800-1884), the founder of the Baptist movement on the European mainland. He called Oncken an “apostle of the European Baptist movement”. He is known for having formulated the noteworthy phrase: “Every Baptist a missionary.” Callam reminded the assembled of the need to recall leading figures of the past. “Those who do not remember, lose their identity.” Nine-hundred persons from 60 countries are participating in the conference, which was organised by the European Baptist Federation (EBF).

We belong together because we belong to Christ

EBF General Secretary Tony Peck (Prague) noted that the EBF is also celebrating its 60^th birthday this year. Its most important task remains the formation of a community of praying people supporting each other both spiritually and practically: “We belong together because we belong to Christ.” Together with the EBF’s President, the Croat Toma Magda (Cakovec), he described how the EBF is most active in four specific areas: Mission and evangelisation, religious freedom, theological education and humanitarian aid. “Making Jesus Christ known in our region is the goal of all our efforts in evangelisation and mission,” Magda stated.

A Muslim must have the freedom to become a Christian

Teun van der Leer (Barneveld/Gelderland), the Rector of the Dutch Baptist Union’s theological seminary, labelled the possibility of hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ at least once in one’s life - in order to either accept or reject it - a „human right“. This realisation is no less than 400 years old and can be attributed to Thomas Helwys (1550-1616), the spiritual head of the first Baptist congregation. He had been given this thought while reading the Bible. He then called for religious freedom for all, a demand for which he was later repressed and arrested. This means today that a Christian must also have the freedom to become a Muslim. Van der Leer added that study of the Word leads repeatedly to new insights. Openness to changing oneself after that is one characteristic of Baptist tradition. He appealed to listeners to begin dealing with their own tradition - only then can it be developed further. Yet such an activity dare not be mistaken for traditionalism. The assembled responded with applause when he stated: “Tradition is the living faith of the deceased; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.”