40th anniversary event for the Baptist Joppa Group  

Reflections on Baptist engagement with interfaith matters both past and future took place at an event marking the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Baptist Joppa Group

The roundtable took place at Regent’s Park College, Oxford, under the auspices of the College’s Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture. Participants included former members of both the Baptist Joppa Group, as well as leading members of the United Reformed Church's Inter-Faith Enabling Group with which the Baptist successor to the Joppa Group, the Baptist Inter-Faith Working Group worked closely in latter years.

It was attended by 12 people onsite and six people remotely, and was supported by Hilary Treavis, Baptists Together ecumenical officer.

The Joppa Group was formally inaugurated at the Baptist Assembly in Nottingham in the spring of 1985 as an informal “Baptist Group for Christian Witness in a Multi-Faith Society”. It closed in 2010.

The anniversary event was co-convened by Dr Paul Weller, Research Fellow in Religion and Society at Regent’s Park College, who was a founding member of the Joppa Group; a member of its Executive Committee (1985-87); and of Baptist Inter-Faith Working Group (2011-23); and the Revd Dr Nicholas Wood, Fellow and Tutor in Religion and Culture at Regent’s Park College (2000-19); member of the Joppa Group Executive Committee (1991 onwards) and of the Baptist Inter-Faith Working Group (2011-20).

Following mutual introductions of the participants, Dr Weller presented an initial paper on Joppa: Historical Roots and Overview. After questions and discussion, this was followed by a presentation on Transitions into the Baptist Inter-Faith Working Group, made by the Revd Andy Williams, who was the last chair of the Baptist Inter-Faith Working Group.

During refreshment breaks, participants were able to look at a sample of materials (including Joppa bulletins, advertising flyers for conferences, other publications) from the Joppa Group's history that are now held for future generations in the College’s Angus Library and Archive. 

Recognising there were also what the next session of the Roundtable called other Spin-Offs and Onward Connections from the original Joppa inheritance, the Roundtable watched and listened to a video message on Getting Involved in Inter-Faith Relationships which was kindly prepared, and provided in his absence on the day, by the Revd Dr David Coffey, the former General Secretary of the Baptist Union and former President of the Baptist World Alliance. 

Professor Paul Fiddes, Principal Emeritus of Regent’s Park College and Director of the College’s Project for the Study of Love in Religion, then made a presentation on Baptists, the Common Word and the Love in Religion – Project of the Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture at Regent's Park College, a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford.

This was followed by another remote presentation (in this instance, live from the USA) by the Revd Dr Clinton Bennett, former member of Joppa and also formerly Executive Secretary of the British Council of Churches Committee for Relations with People of Other Faiths (1987-1992). Dr Clinton made a presentation highlighting aspects of his recently published book on Baptist Engagement with Islam: From Helwys to Today.

The strands of the day up to this point were brought together in the context of an Ecumenical Reflective Response offered by the Revd Dr Peter Colwell, Deputy General Secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, with particular responsibility for inter-faith matters. 

The day concluded with a Roundtable discussion about potential ways in which Baptists might, in future, once again take forward the inheritance of the Joppa Group in an organised form.

Hilary Treavis, Baptists Together ecumenical officer, said, 'Gathering around the legacy of the Joppa Group, participants reflected not only on 40 years of Baptist engagement with people of other faiths, but also on how that inheritance might continue to shape Christian witness in a multi-faith society.

'While the Joppa Group belongs to a particular chapter of Baptist life, we need to make sure we continue to inspire, inform and prophetically challenge the churches and structures of our Union to build good relationships with people of other faiths.'

Those who made presentations are working on the potential future publication of co-authored journal article or articles which will summarise, analyse and reflect on the challenges and achievements of the past 40 years of the forms of Baptist engagement with inter-faith matters begun with the Joppa Group. 


Image | The Joppa publication "A Baptist Perspective on Interfaith Dialogue", published following a 1991 Joppa conference