In lieu of the upcoming historic Baptist World Centenary Congress in August 2005, the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) announced that it will hold a pre-Congress conference on evangelism, entitled, “Telling the Story,” on July 26, 2005.

The pre-Congress conference, which is open to all those who plan to attend the Centenary Congress, will highlight the BWA’s newly adopted mission strategy, “Christ the Living Water.” The conference will also feature discussions and speeches on developing the 5-year international mission and evangelism plan, entitled, “Living Water.”

Featured speakers at the conference include renowned Baptist leaders such as: Billy Kim, Denton Lotz, and Tony Cupit. Key leaders from all over the world will include Jason Das (Bangladesh), Dorothy Selabano (South Africa), Alistair Brown (UK), Ronald Bobo (USA), Lauran Bethell (USA) and Fausto Vasconcelos (Brazil). BWA’s President-elect, David Coffey, will give a key-note message.

The pre-Congress conference will be held at the Aston Conference Center in Birmingham, UK; the Congress will be held in the same location.

The 2005 Congress marks the first Centenary congress to be held in the history of the Alliance. The BWA leadership meets annually for a leaders’ gathering, and every five years for the international Congress. During these international gatherings, Baptist leaders worldwide report on developments, improvements, persecution, mission strategy and fellowship expansions.