Impact Report
2023
Dear friends,
The year 2023 was filled with so much, and I am immensely grateful to all the peacemakers who made our shared work possible. Thank you! Your spirited participation in events, sharing of creativity and resources, and generous offering of financial gifts has moved us far in 2023, and while our work for peace continues, may we reflect on the contributions each of us has made toward a world filled with peace and justice. Read below to see how impactful our year was. Thank you for your generous support.
Jason Smith
Executive Director
Dear friends,
In this war-torn time, the work of the BPFNA~Bautistas por la Paz is vitally important. For more than forty years, we have been a pan-Baptist voice for peace and justice in this broken and blessed world. We have gathered, equipped and mobilized peacemakers and justice-seekers across the North American continent and beyond. We are working hard to dismantle racism, militarism, colonialism and anything else that mars the roads to peace.
Doug Donley
President, Board of Directors
Table of Contents
In 2023…
We gathered peacemakers
around the world.
After 3 years of pandemic isolation, we reunited in person for Peace Camp.
We sang, danced, worshiped, and equipped ourselves for the work of peace with justice at the beautiful Centro Capuchino in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Our theme was Moving Mountains.
90
in-person participants
2,100
virtual watches
9
countries represented
We also came together on many other occasions throughout the year to share fellowship and learn from one another:
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BPFNA Sunday
Fifteen partner congregations in Mexico, Cuba, Canada, and the United States celebrated BPFNA Sunday on May 21.
Above, Pastor Waldemar Murguido shares the sign of peace with members of Juan F. Naranjo Baptist Church in Matanzas, Cuba.
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Her Story
In a series of 4 webinars entitled Her Story: The Journeys of Migrant Women, experts in the field and peacemakers actively engaged with the issue shared testimonies from women who have experienced dislocation, economic instability, and family separation. Leaders in Colombia, Mexico, and the United States equipped us to support reproductive rights of women on the move, speak out against violence and abuse, and promote gender equality.
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Biennial Breakfast
Executive director Jason Smith interviewed Michael Nabors and Michael Woolf, the winners of the Edwin T. Dahlberg Peace and Justice Award, about the reparations project they implemented in their communities at the ABCUSA Biennial in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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Board Meeting
In September, the board of directors met at St. Luke’s Missionary Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC.
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Peacemaker Happy Hour
After a long day taking care of business, the board relaxed at a brewery with locak peacemakers, including executive director emerita LeDayne McLeese Polaski.
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Congregational Visits
Jason, Erica, Rubén, and Mena visited churches in Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, New York, Georgia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and more. Above, Jason preaches at St. John’s Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC.
In 2023…
We equipped peacemakers with tools for ministry in their local contexts.
We awarded 14 Peace Fund grants to fund grassroots peace projects in nine countries—our most international cohort to date.
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Baptist Seminary of Mexico
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
The Baptist Seminary of Mexico provides citizenship workshops on conflict transformation in marginalized and indigenous Mexican communities.
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Baptist Theological Seminary
QUITO, ECUADOR
The Baptist Theological Seminary of Quito, Ecuador, trains mentors for preadolescent girls and offers a conflict resolution workshop for preadolescent girls.
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Community Action for Integration & Development in Fizi
UVIRA, DR CONGO
Community Action for Integration and Development of Fizi (ACODIF) trains young people from different political parties on the prevention of post-electoral conflicts.
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Fondation Chirezi
UVIRA, DR CONGO
The Fondation Chirezi creates radio clubs for children and youth to provide the community accurate information about local conflicts and train them in peacemaking techniques.
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Jerusalem Baptist Church
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
Jerusalem Baptist Church leads an annual mission trip for young adults to offer vacation Bible school and form relationships with a sister congregation in an indigenous community in Chiapas.
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Mayan Intercultural Seminary
SAN CRISTÓBAL, MEXICO
The Mayan Intercultural Seminary (SIM) offers a series of workshops on psychosocial accompaniment to provide individuals, families, and communities with tools and skills necessary to build a happy life and promote human rights.
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MeckMIN
CHARLOTTE, NC, USA
Mecklenburg Metropolitan Interfaith Network (MeckMIN) will convene an interfaith youth panel to promote interfaith understanding, sensitize people to faith-based prejudice, and help young people to create relationships across differences.
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Nonviolent Conflict Transformation Initiative
ZWERU, ZIMBABWE
The Nonviolent Conflict Transformation Initiative (NVCTI) continues its dialogue and collaboration project aimed at empowering survivors of gender-based violence and substance abuse through sports, music, skits, and social media platforms.
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Peace Cathedral
TBILISI, REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA
The Peace Cathedral will host three interfaith conventions on ecological peace, intercultural and international peace, and interpersonal peace involving multifaith clergy & laity from Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, and Turkiye.
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Peace in the Storm Foundation
CALI, COLOMBIA
The Peace in the Storm Foundation offers a workshop on building peace through music.
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Peacebuilding, Healing, and Reconciliation Programme
NAIROBI, KENYA
The Peacebuilding, Healing, and Reconciliation Programme (PHARP) will provide mentoring and training in conflict transformation and peace-building for 200 religious and community leaders in 5 villages within the Kibera slum.
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Red Crearte
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
Red Crearte will offer a conference for seminary students in the U.S. and Latin America to receive training in liturgy and develop a life-affirming spirituality from ecumenical and Latin American perspectives.
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Shalom Baptist Church
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
Shalom Baptist Church leads annual visits to migrant centers and an indigenous community with a team of healthcare practitioners to provide medical and dental care.
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SEPAZ Foundation
CALI, COLOMBIA
The SEPAZ Foundation equips high school students with pedagogical cools related to mediation, conflict transformation and resolution, and a well-rounded education on gender.
We released a groundbreaking collection of progressive faith-based resources for children, youth, and their families, the Young Peacemakers’ Toolbox.
The database aims to guide young peacemakers toward love for self, others, and planet through 123 stories, podcasts, and videos in multiple languages addressing peace-and-justice issues.
We’ve continued to learn what it means to live out our commitment to antiracism.
The board of directors contracted Crossroads Antiracism Organizing and Training to help us implement our vision of antiracism & decolonization.
In January, Erica & Kristen attended the Confronting Whiteness conference at congregational member Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. Pastor Ben Boswell organized the two-day event.
Dahlberg Award winners Michael Nabors & Michael Woolf share how their two congregations engaged in a reparations project in Evanston, Ill.
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Rev. Dr. Michael C. R. Nabors is the senior pastor of the historic Second Baptist Church in Evanston, Illinois. He leads the church in its role as “a trumpeter for Christ and a social justice advocate in Evanston and Metro Chicago.” He holds a D. Min. focusing on African American Preaching from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He also holds an undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University and a M. Th. and M. Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. Nabors is a leader with Evanston Reparations, a groundbreaking program allocating $10 million to repair historical damages to Black Evanstonians due to racism. He has received over 100 awards for his leadership and service in New Jersey, Michigan, and Illinois and is currently in his third term as president of the Evanston-North Shore Branch of the NAACP. Rev. Dr. Nabors is a sought-after speaker and lecturer throughout the United States.
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Rev. Dr. Michael Woolf (he/him) is the Senior Minister at Lake Street Church, Evanston, Illinois, a progressive congregation with a commitment to social justice and interfaith dialogue. He is an ordained American Baptist Churches USA and Alliance of Baptists pastor. He holds a Th. D. from Harvard Divinity School and also holds a B.A. from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and an M. Div. from Harvard Divinity School. His first book, Sanctuary and Subjectivity: Thinking Theologically About Whiteness in Sanctuary Movements, is part of T&T Clark's Studies in Social Ethics, Ethnography and Theologies series. The book focuses on white supremacy within a progressive, interfaith social movement and includes an autoethnographic chapter from Michael's experience as a white pastor in the New Sanctuary Movement.
The Baptist Peacemaker received a new look, website, and scope.
“We hope that this new format allows you to enjoy our magazine while keeping our membership and readers connected to the peace stories we encounter every day.”
— Rubén David Bonilla Ramos
Editor-in-Chief, Baptist Peacemaker
We proclaim peace, rooted in justice, wherever we can. We’ve expanded our social media presence to reach more people in different ways. On our new TikTok, we create more lighthearted, short-form content.
In 2023…
We mobilized peacemakers to respond to pressing needs.
We became a founding signatory of the Apartheid-Free Communities initiative, joining an ecumenical coalition of North American faith groups recognizing the State of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people as apartheid and steping away from any and all support to Israeli military occupation and settler colonialism.
Longtime partner and national organizer for the Apartheid-Free initiative, Rev. Dr. Allison Tanner led a webinar in October introducing the movement to our membership.
Jason represents us on the Cuba Working Group, an ecumenical group of religious leaders that meets monthly to discuss Cuban affairs.
In March, he participated in a meeting with Karin Lang, coordinator of Cuban affairs for the U.S. Department of State, asking to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. He also advocated for opening up travel visas for Cuban citizens.
In April he joined another call with the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom to discuss Cuba's status as a “country of particular concern.”
Jason visited the Kairos Center at the Primera Iglesia Bautista Matanzas in Cuba, where he discussed plans for ministry growth with leaders Wanda Hernandez and Orestes Roca. Jason writes, “Wanda and Orestes’ son showed me the creative power of peacemaking, of praying with feet as well as hands.”
As part of a peacemaking tour of Cuba, Jason preached the sermon “Pay Attention to Your Feet” at a Pentecostal church in a rural community outside of Ciego de Ávila.
We sponsored partners’ events that align with our mission and vision.
In September, the Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists offered its annual lecture. Rev. Dr. Susan Shaw gave remarks titled Truth and Lies at the Foot of the Cross: The Church and God's LGBTQ+ Children. BPFNA underwrote the lecture as a sponsor.
The Gun Violence Survivor Sit-In, sponsored by the Newtown Action Alliance, took place in Washington, DC, in June with the goal of bringing about legislative change to end gun violence.
Members Carole Blythe & Rick Goodman attended. We provided lunch for some of the demonstrators.
Our staff regularly visits partners around the world to develop and maintain relationships.
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Staff Retreat
MARS HILL, NC
Jason, Erica, and Kristen spent time on retreat visioning BPFNA’s future and meeting partners like Ethan Vesely-Flad from the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
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Alliance of Baptists Annual Gathering
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Jason & Erica represented BPFNA at the Alliance of Baptists annual gathering. In Atlanta we hosted a reception with AWAB where we learned about the peacemaking efforts of the Stop Cop City movement. Erica also visited Northside Drive Baptist Church.
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First Baptist Church Rio Piedras
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO
Jason, Ximena, Erica, and Kristen worshiped with the First Baptist Church of Rio Piedras before Peace Camp.
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Royal Lane Baptist Church
DALLAS, TEXAS
Erica brought greetings to Royal Lane Baptist Church. She also represented us at AWAB’s annual lecture.
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Mayan Intercultural Seminary
SAN CRISTÓBAL, CHIAPAS, MEXICO
Jason visited the Mayan Intercultural Seminary, a Peace Fund grantee led by board member Dalia Juarez, to learn about how they’re creating a future rooted in peace.
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Metro Baptist NYC
NEW YORK CITY
Erica preached about the need for mutual aid and shared some of 40th anniversary plans at Metro Baptist.
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Peace Cathedral
TBILISI, REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA
Jason visited the Peace Cathedral, a Peace Fund grantee, and interviewed one of the leaders, Rusudan Khizanishvili.
Board of Directors
President
Doug Donley
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Vice President
Karen Hilliker
London, ON, Canada
Vice President
Asaf Vera
Nuevo Mexico, Mexico
Secretary
Luz Amparo Chagüendo Ospina
Jamundi-Valle, Colombia
Treasurer
Luis Calderón Reyes
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Members at Large
Ivan Ariel Canizal
Mexico City, Mexico
Junia Joplin
Toronto, ON, Canada
Dalia Juarez
San Cristóbal, Mexico
Brian Kaylor
Jefferson City, MO, USA
Charlene Kelley
Shreveport, LA, USA
Madison McClendon
Chicago, IL, USA
Zoe McMillan
Jacksonville, FL, USA
Nori Ochi
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Members at Large
Eugenia Reyes
Washington, DC, USA
Kadia Rowe
Hermitage, TN, USA
Ray Schellinger
West Norriton, PA, USA
Michael Ware
Chicago, IL, USA
You’ve made an impact on us, too.
Thank you for the many ways you’re showing up for BPFNA and your local communities. There is no peace without peacemakers like you!
Our membership report with financial statistics and listings of individual & corporate peacemakers is coming in early 2024.
As we move forward, will you make a gift to honor the work we've accomplished in 2023 and energize us for our future?
Board members regularly gather for phone-a-thons to maintain contact with our membership and ask for support.