History
Gathering Global Baptists for More Than 100 YearsThe Inaugural Meeting of the first Baptist World Congress was held at Exeter Hall on Tuesday, July 11, 1905. His Honour Judge Willis, K.C., President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland, occupied the chair, and the hall was crowded with the delegates, numbering nearly 3,000.
The meeting opened with the hymn –
“From distance climes, from every land,
Behold us, Lord, before Thee stand.”
The quinquennial global gatherings of the Alliance have continued for more than a century. World conflicts made it impossible to hold to a strict five-year plan, but BWA has held 21 Congresses since 1905.
1905 • London, England
1911 • Philadelphia, PA (USA)
1923 • Stockholm, Sweden
1928 • Toronto, Canada
1934 • Berlin, Germany
1939 • Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
1947 • Copenhagen, Denmark
1950 • Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
1955 • London, England
1960 • Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1965 • Miami Beach, FL (USA)
1970 • Tokyo, Japan
1975 • Stockholm, Sweden
Billy Graham is pictured preaching at an open-air rally to a crowd of 30,000 – a powerful conclusion to the 1975 Baptist World Congress in Stockholm, Sweden.
1980 • Toronto, Canada
1985 • Los Angeles, California (USA)
1990 • Seoul, South Korea
In 1990, the BWA adopted the Seoul Covenant, which launched a decade of intentional evangelistic efforts with the goal for all people to hear about Christ in their own language
1995 • Buenos Aires, Argentina
2000 • Melbourne, Australia
2005 • Birmingham, England
2010 • Honolulu, Hawaii (USA)
2015 • Durban, South Africa
Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the 22nd Baptist World Congress originally scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2020 has been rescheduled to a virtual event on July 7-10, 2021.