The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America-Bautistas por la Paz (BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz) is a
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worsh ...
. The headquarters is in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
.
History
The Convention has its origins in the establishment of the Baptist Pacifist Fellowship by a group of the
American Baptist Churches USA
The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainli ...
in 1939. It was officially founded in 1984.
According to a denomination census released in 2020, it claimed 77 churches.
Most members of BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz are located in one of the four member nations of the organization (Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States) however anyone around the world committed to the work of peace and justice can join. The BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz membership is composed of individuals and organizations with the latter being mostly churches. Some churches choose to get involved at a deeper level and are considered to be partner congregations of the organization.
BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz is a faith-based partner of
Equal Exchange
Equal Exchange is a for-profit, Fairtrade certification, Fairtrade Worker cooperative, worker-owned cooperative headquartered in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Equal Exchange distributes Organic food, organic, gourmet coffee, tea, sugar, banan ...
through the
Baptist Fair Trade Project.
Beliefs
It seeks to gather, equip and mobilize peacemakers of faith across North America and beyond to engage in the work of peace rooted in justice. BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz provides resources and tools on a variety of social justice issues such as racial justice, justice for migrants and refugees, climate/
environmental justice
Environmental justice is a social movement to address the unfair exposure of poor and marginalized communities to harms from hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses.Schlosberg, David. (2007) ''Defining Environmental Justic ...
, justice for indigenous and native peoples and LGBTQ+ liberation to name a few. The organization also has several small grant programs to help fund local and global peacemaking initiatives.
Baptist Peacemaker
''Baptist Peacemaker'' is a quarterly publication by BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz focusing on the work of peacemakers in the BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz network.
Annual Summer Conference
BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz holds a Summer Conference (also known affectionately as "Peace Camp") each year. Each gathering focuses on a different theme and changes location within the BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz member nations, usually held on a university campus. In 2019, however, the Summer Conference was held in conjunction with the 6th
Global Baptist Peace Conference in
Cali, Colombia
Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the secon ...
.
References
External links
BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz website (English/inglés)BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz website (español/Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baptist Peace Fellowship Of North America
Baptist denominations in North America
Organizations based in Charlotte, North Carolina
Christian organizations established in 1984
Baptist denominations established in the 20th century
Human rights organizations based in the United States
LGBT organizations in the United States
1984 establishments in the United States