The Baptist Centenary Congress due to be held in Birmingham, England, July 27 – 31, is aiming to be as ethnically inclusive and accessible as possible with Senior Pastor Kenneth Fong of Sacramento, USA, and Raquel Contreras, of Chile, set to lead the Bible studies at this year’s Congress.

The two topics of focus will be Baptism and the Empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Fong is one of the finest Bible study teachers in the world, a graduate of UC Berkeley and Fuller Seminary with a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry.

Adding to his academic history is his wealth of experience in preaching the Word to ethnic groups. Not only has he contributed to the establishment of the Evergreen Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California, one of the first English-only ministries to Chinese and Japanese Asian-Americans, since 1981. His first published book was "Pursuing the Pearl: A Comprehensive Resource for Multi-Asian Ministry".

At this year’s Congress he will teach in not just English, but also German, Korean, Spanish and Russian, allowing many more people a deeper connection to the Word.

The Bible studies that Fong and others will base their lessons on are written by Dr. Craig Keener, professor of New Testament, Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Pennsylvania, USA, whose published works include "The InterVarsity Press Bible Background Commentary: New Testament" and "A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew and John".

Former US President Jimmy Carter will round off the Bible studies with "Sunday School class on Sunday morning" giving this Congress truly world-class flare.

Contreras likewise is a welcome addition to the line-up of speakers and teachers attending the event. Not only the current President of the Union of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Chile, she has also served as President of the Woman’s Missionary Union of Chile. Also she has a personal life deeply embedded in the church - her mother was a Southern Baptist missionary who emigrated to Chile from North Carolina in 1945, and her late husband, was President of the Baptist seminary and pastor of the First Baptist Church Santiago.

Bible study will also be given by other renowned leaders. Those teaching on Baptism include:
Alberto Gonzalez, President of the Western Baptist Convention of Cuba, Parush Parushev Director of Applied Theology and Academic Dean at the International Baptist Theological Seminary, Prague, Czech Republic; Regina Claas, General Secretary of the Union of Evangelical Free Churches in Germany; Myung Jin Ko, Korea, Senior Pastor, Suwon Central Baptist Church in Korea; Paul Msiza, General Secretary of the Baptist Convention of South Africa; J.M. Ngul Khan Pau, India, General Secretary of the Council of Baptist Churches in North East India; Vincent Wood from Barbardos, President of the Barbados Baptist Convention and President of the Caribbean Baptist Fellowship; Anna Maffei of Italy, President of the Baptist Evangelical Christian Union; Wanda Lee, Executive Director/Treasurer of the Woman’s Missionary Union, Southern Baptist Convention, USA, Ronald Bobo, Senior Pastor, Westside Missionary Baptist Church, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

Leaders to teach on the Holy Spirit are:
Yuri Sipko of Russia, President of the Union of Evangelical Christians Baptists of the Russian Federation; Karl Heinz Walter of Germany, past General Secretary of the European Baptist Federation; Hee Woo Lee of Korea, Minister of Education of Suwon Central Baptist Church, South Korea; Henry Mugabe of Zimbabwe, President of the Baptist Seminary of Gweru, Zimbabwe; Ross Clifford from Australia, principal of Morling College, Baptist Theological and Bible College of New South Wales, Australia; Brenda Harewood of Guyana, Director, Pastoral Excellence Program, Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention, USA; Steve Chalk of United Kingdom, Founder and Director of Oasis Trust and Senior Minister of Christ Church & Upton, Waterloo, London, England; Otniel Bunaciu from Romania, Bucharest Baptist Theological Faculty, University of Bucharest, Romania; and Tony Campolo from USA, world renowned sociologist and speaker, founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education and former Professor of Sociology, Eastern University, Pennsylvania, USA.

The BWA Centenary Congress, which is held in a different country every five years, is being held specially in Britain this year to mark one hundred years since its founding in London in 1905. The line-up of guest speakers also includes the renowned Rick Warren, pastor of the famous Saddleback Baptist Church in Lake Forest, California, and author of the best-selling "The Purpose-Driven Life" and the "Purpose-Driven Church" which has sold 14 million copies since its release in October 2002.

(Source: Baptist World Alliance)