EthicsDaily.com is taking four initiatives to provide extensive coverage of the Baptist World Congress meeting in Durban, South Africa, on July 22-26.
We believe that all Baptists ought to be fully informed about this global gathering. We think Baptists deserve and desire to know more about one another.
After all, the Baptist World Alliance is the largest and most dynamic network of Baptists, addressing an extensive range of issues, meeting a wide array of human needs and testifying in scores of languages.
The most comprehensive way to accomplish this coverage objective is with our four initiatives:
First, we will be providing video news stories.
We will be interviewing Baptist leaders from around the world, exploring their work and witness. We will be posting these clips in our video hub.
Video clips will be available for churches, conventions or unions, and individuals to post on their websites.
They can be downloaded to use in churches or classrooms to spread the word about the challenges, opportunities and diversity of goodwill Baptists.
We think the video clips are a terrific way to provide Baptists unable to attend the Congress a first-hand view of what is happening.
Video stories will take two forms. One will follow a conversational model with interviewees. The other will resemble a video diary. It will contain the reflections of an attendee on the day’s events.
Videos will be posted on our Vimeo channel. Videos from previous BWA gatherings can be viewed here.
As the information world shifts from texts to graphics, visual communication becomes even more important within the faith community.
Second, we will be expanding our Twitter feed.
The feed will include a number of global leaders who have agreed to tweet comments and photographs from Durban. That will give our readers a steady and diverse snapshot of the events.
In addition to the current contributors – @RobertParham1, @Cliff_Vaughn, @ElijahMBrown and @Sam_Chaise – we will be adding David Hardage (@dwhardage), David Washburn (@davidbwashburn), @DougDortch, @BrianKaylor, Jim Hill (@myfirstpriority), Helle Liht (@HelleTweet), @ChrisLiebrum, @CleggPreston, Otniel Bunaciu (@bunaciuo), Dimitrina Oprenova (@didioprenova) and Nathan White (@VaBaptists).
Others may be added.
Follow us on Twitter or embed our Twitter feed on your website. And please retweet these tweets to your Twitter followers.
Third, we will be offering text news stories.
Brian Kaylor, EthicsDaily.com’s contributing editor, has extensive experience with the BWA. He has covered it for years. He knows the leaders. He understands the subtle dynamics of the organization.
Few journalists will provide the daily texture and substance that he will.
Fourth, we will be posting photographs via Pinterest and Facebook.
Photos from previous BWA gatherings are available on our Pinterest page: 2013 in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and 2014 in Izmir, Turkey.
Everyone loves looking at photographs – photographs add color and capture emotion in ways text can’t. Photographs are another way to tell the Baptist World Congress story.
We invite you to repost these pictures, use them in your church newsletter, share them with your friends.
The 21st Baptist World Congress theme is “Jesus Christ, The Door.”
We hope our four initiatives open the door to the world about what takes place in Durban!
Robert Parham is executive editor of EthicsDaily.com and executive director of its parent organization, the Baptist Center for Ethics. Follow him on Twitter at RobertParham1 and friend him on Facebook.
Robert M. Parham (1953 – 2017) was the founder and executive director of Baptist Center for Ethics from 1991 to 2017. He served as executive editor of EthicsDaily.com, BCE’s website, from its launch in 2002 until 2017.