Penner Peter (ed.) - Ethnie Churches in Europe A Baptist Response

We live in a Europe which is constantly changing. Since 1949 the European Baptist Federation has sought to respond to these changes by drawing together the Baptists of Europe for mutual encouragement and support, the sharing of practical resources, and above all to catch a common vision of what God is doing in our region and how we as Baptists can respond to this most effectively.

There have always been movements of people across Europe, and from other parts of the world into Europe. But in the past 20 years or so this process has accelerated. There are several significant factors. The tearing down of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent end of communism in Eastern and Central Europe meant that countries previously closed were now open. As well as allowing the free flow of people and ideas, this freedom has above all meant significant emigration to other countries, mainly the USA and Western Europe. So far as Baptists are concerned this also led, for instance, to the establishment of Ukrainian Baptist churches in Portugal or Romanian churches in Italy.

In the past few years this process has accelerated still further with the accession of new countries from Central and Eastern Europe to join the EU. Many of their citizens have taken up the right to work in EU countries in Western Europe where the economic situation is better. An example would be the half a million Poles who are officially registered in the UK and some of them are no doubt Christian believers who will look for a worshipping community to join.

Baptist Unions such as the ones in Great Britain, France and Belgium have for some years experienced many applications to join from the African churches springing up in London, Paris, Brussels and other major cities.

The other important factor is the flow of refugees into Western Europe from other parts of the world, so that in Oslo, for example, are significant numbers of Vietnamese refugees some of whom are already Baptist Christians. Some churches in Western Europe have found themselves becoming involved in providing places of refuge for asylum seekers and so have been drawn into issues of justice for the oppressed.

Peter Penner (ed.) - Ethnie Churches in Europe A Baptist Response

(c) Neufeld Verlag Schwarzenfeld, Germany, October, 2006
ISBN 10: 3-937896-42-2
ISBN 13: 978-3-937896-42-3

Peter Penner - Ethnic Churches in Europe - A Baptist Response - Contents

• Introductions by Tony Peck and Valeriu Ghiletchi
• I. Sociological Studies
  • 1. The Changing Face of Europe: The Nature and Role of Ethnic Minorities in European Societies - Paul Weller
• II. Ethnic churches - a biblical mandate
  • 2. The Challenge of Immigrants in Old Israel According to the Testimony of the Old Testament - Michael Kisskalt
  • 3. Homogeneous Unit Principle, Ephesians 2 and the Early Church Praxis - Peter F. Penner
• III. Issues of Second Generation Immigrants
  • 4. John called Mark: the Role of a Second Generation Christian in Mission - Peter F. Penner
  • 5. Cross-cultural Learning: Issues of the Second Generation of Immigrant Churches - Michael Kisskalt
• IV. Baptist Ministries in Europe
  • 6. International and Multiethnic Churches - Jimmy Martin
  • 7. Sarka Valley Community Church - Greg Nichols
  • 8. Indigenous Mission Project: Planting Ethnic Churches - Daniel Trusiewicz
  • 9. Immigrant Churches in the German Baptist Union (BEFG - Bund Evangelisch-Freikirchlicher Gemeinden) - Michael Kisskalt
  • 10. Baptist Union of Great Britain - Kathryn Morgan, Terry Jones, Graham Brownlee, Helen Wordsworth and Dave Baker
  • 11. Hungary: Mission to the Roma People - Janos Papp and Jozsef Csuhai
  • 12. Italy - Carmine Bianchi
  • 13. Ivory Coast: Languages and Ethnic Churches - Luc Monney
  • 14. The Multi-ethnic and Ethnic Work and Strategies in The Norwegian Baptist Union Initiated in 2005: Experiences and Current Results - Terje Aadne
  • 15. Portugal: The challenges of Immigration and the start of Baptist Congregations Among Immigrants - Antonio Miguel Pires
  • 16. France: “Christians from Elsewhere” - David Razzano
  • 17. Czech Republic: The Russian-speaking Church - Gennadiy Gavrilov
• Index