Single Page
E-mail
Print
RSS
G-bookmarks
Live
TechnoratiCallam: I believe that if we are going to talk about young people and the Church, you have to think globally. And I think that the situation that is said to characterize the American context is not typical of the situation across the world. I speak primarily about the South where the young people, numerous young people are very happy to be Baptist Christians. We are not living in those parts of the world, in any post-denominational age that is talked about in many contexts. We are very much living in an age when people are very proud. Many young people are proud to be Baptists. Part of the reason is that the Baptists have an enviable record of engagement in prophetic social action fighting against slavery, involvement in housing development, in the provision of healthcare, in the running of educational institutions. And people see the church as being a mature and responsible agent promoting social change in keeping with our understanding of the mandate of the Gospel. I believe that that will continue. I cannot see that there is any change that is possible in that orientation.
However, in the North, I believe that there are many questions that are arising partly because of the post-denominational age in which the North operates, partly because of the struggles and trials of post-modernity with Christian tirades about authority, about truth and the like, and the relativization of life. Within this context I think the churches have a particular challenge to reach the youth with the unchanging Gospel of Christ. I think that I will need spend more time in the North to be able to offer any kind of advice as to how this might be achieved. My expertise really would be a perspective from the South. And so I am not anxious to comment on that at this time. I want to wait until I’m in a better position to suggest some strategies that might work.
CP: Now that you’re the head of the BWA, how much of your time does the BWA take up?
Callam: After two weeks, I’m able to say that this job is going to consume a lot of my energy (laughter) and all of my time. But the fact of the matter is that I’m excited about this possibility because I am convinced that it is part of the will of God for my life to be serving in this position. If that wasn’t the case, it wouldn’t have been likely for me to have been elected, to be honest. I think that it’s going to consume all of my time because I’m passionate about the Baptist World Alliance and its commitments. The Baptist World Alliance is about uniting Baptists in fellowship and worship. The Baptist World Alliance is about reaching out to people in need with relief and development and especially the Baptist World Alliance is about evangelism and mission, reaching the Gospel to the world.
After that, the Baptist World Alliance is also about promoting relevant theological reflection that is grounded in the Word of God and reflective of the reality that people face. Then this is something I would find exciting and will fulfill as a part of my own calling.
CP: It seems like the strengths of the BWA are addressing the social concerns, helping unite Baptists worldwide. What are some of the weaknesses of the global body as you’re entering into your term as head?
Callam: I believe that the big challenge that we’re going to face over the next few years is to work towards greater progress in the manifestation of the unity of Baptists and I’m careful how I word it. ‘Greater progress’ – that means there’s some progress now. I believe that the unity that we are talking about is going to be a unity that is grounded in truth. It is not a wishy-washy unity that you secure in order to look good but a genuine unity that flows from our understanding of our common baptism, our oneness in Christ Jesus and of the admissibility of diversity in some of the areas of our lives. That is to say we may not all believe that women should be ministers, we may not all believe this or that, but in the central tenets of faith, if we are one, we are going to be able to reflect a unity that the world needs to see, that the world may find the message of the Gospel credible. I think that is the challenge.Continue »
