Papers on Baptist Identity and Ecclesiology

A recent conference, held at the Elstal Baptist Seminary in Germany, explored issues of Baptist ecclesiology and identity.  The particular focus was on the notion  of 'autonomy' of the local church and how this affects the relation between local and intermediate expressions of church (often called 'structures' - an insufficiently ecclesial word in my view).  A report of the conference can be found here.  The statement that emerged from it is here.  Best of all, the main papers given and the conference are available in .pdf (response papers can also be found here).  They are:

Are Baptist Churches Autonomous?	Nigel Wright, Principal, Spurgeon's College, London
'Counsel and Help': European Baptists and Wider Baptist Fellowship	Ian Randall, Senior Research fellow, IBTS, Prague, and Tutor, Spurgeon’s College, London
Everything Old is New Again: Emerging Church Ecclesiology	Gary Nelson, General Secretary, Canadian Baptist MInistries
Local Churches and Wider Structures from the Perspective of Reformation Ecclesiology	Uwe Swarat, Professor for Systematic Theology, Baptist Seminary at Elstal, Germany
An Historical Theologian Looks Anew at Autonomy	William Brackney, Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics, Acadia Divinity School, Nova Scotia
Models of the Church in the New Testament	Neville Callam, BWA General Secretary Nominee
Issues of Power, Authority and Interdependence from a Biblical Perspective	Christoph Stenschke, Professor, University of South Africa

Comments

[Sean Winter]

No problem Michael - thanks for all that is happening over at Mainstream Baptists as well - I really enjoy the site and resources.

[Michael Westmoreland-White]

Wow! Thanks, Sean! I'll be sure to link to this. And I pray for your discernment for Sabbatical plans, too.