Spring 2007 | Volume 65, No. 3

German Baptists describe booming churches, enjoy partnership with SWBTS

The Old World met the New World when a delegation from the Bibelseminar, Bonn, (BSB) — a Bible seminary founded by Russian-German Baptists and Mennonites, and located in the town of Bornheim, Germany — visited Southwestern Seminary Jan. 25-Feb. 1. The German delegation was in Texas to strengthen the partnership the two seminaries launched in 2005.

The 16-member group was comprised mostly of Baptist and Mennonite pastors who serve on the BSB’s board of trustees, and included BSB professors and a German Christian youth magazine editor. Heinrich Derksen, president of the BSB, organized the trip and led the delegation.

Derksen said that the trip was intended, in part, to foster a network of conservative evangelicals in Germany with likeminded believers in America. He indicated that the members of the German delegation were “very comfortable” with Southern Baptists and the beliefs set out in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.

“I hope these pastors will see that we are not alone in the world,” Derksen said. He said that some BSB trustees are curious about Southwestern Seminary and need to see for themselves the facilities and leaders of their overseas ministry partner.

“Some board members ask, ‘Why does Southwestern want to be our partner?’” Derksen said. “Now they will understand that [Southwestern] wants to be part of mission work and what God is doing in Germany.”

During the delegation’s visit with Billie Hanks (MDiv 1971), founder of the International Evangelism Association and a long-time supporter of Southwestern Seminary and the BSB, delegates shared news of Russian-German Baptist or Mennonite church services with 500, 900, or 1,000 members and visitors in attendance. Hanks encouraged the German delegation to make discipleship a priority as their churches grow. “As churches evangelize and grow, more people come in from diverse backgrounds and have a harder time integrating into the church,” Hanks told the BSB delegation. “People in our churches need love, friendship, prayer partners; they need to learn to study the Bible and share their faith.”

Derksen and Wilhelm Daiker, director of the International Center for World Missions (ICW) based in Germany, are organizing a partnership with William H. “Dub” Jackson (BD 1951) and his Partnership Evangelism to bring American pastors to Germany to work with churches in the Russian-German Convention this summer.

Derksen said that many Russian-German pastors were intrigued by the history and impact of the Cooperative Program described by SBC Exective Committee President Morris Chapman (MDiv 1968, DMin 1975) when he visited the BSB last October.

“Perhaps that could be an idea for our churches one day,” Derksen said.