Jan Ozanne is part of Ōtūmoetai Baptist Church in Tauranga and the Baptist Union's newly appointed Children and Families Catalyst.
On the 5th of July, I headed to Brisbane for the 23rd Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Congress, an event that happens every 5 years. The Baptist Union of New Zealand is part of the BWA. Hence, we are one of 178,000 Baptist churches in 134 countries committed to supporting each other and working together. The theme of the Congress was Living the Good News.
I attended the Women's Summit, which took place two days before the main Congress, and was my highlight of the conference. It felt incredibly special and significant to be with 650 women and 50 men from around the world.
Baptist World Alliance Women is a global network, divided into six geographical areas. New Zealand is part of the women of the Pacific, a group of seven countries with their own women's boards. I am on the Baptist Women New Zealand board, a tiny part of this worldwide sisterhood. Its purpose is "networking Baptist women to impact the world for Christ."
Elijah Brown, the General Secretary of the BWA, opened the Women's Summit. He affirmed the BWA position that women are equally called and gifted to serve in the body of Christ, including in leadership and pastoral positions, and that we need to celebrate the huge work women do in the service of Jesus around the world. He said that men need to learn from women about Christlike leadership. As you can imagine, that was received with a lot of applause and cheering. He knew his audience!
The women's summit was closed by the BWA Women's Executive Officer, Merritt Johnston, who encouraged and inspired us with a quote from Labanius, an ancient Greek orator and social commentator. He wrote about the early church and commented on what made these "Jesus people", these Christians, different and remarkable. He wrote, "What women these Christians have!" This is still true today. There are many amazing Christian women all around the world, faithfully serving Jesus.
Over the course of the two-day Women's Summit and the four days of the Congress that followed, we listened to world-class speakers, many of whom were women. They encouraged us to live out the Good News of Jesus. I had to agree with Labanius: "What women these Christians have!"
I was particularly impacted by the message from Marsha Scipio, head of Baptist World Aid. In a powerful message, we were encouraged not to conform to the culture around us but to live counter-culturally and to speak truth to power. She described the world we are living in today as "perilous times." Why? Because more than ever, those in power are not looking after the vulnerable, the poor, the immigrants. More than ever, countries are self-serving, creating divisions between 'them' and 'us' and moving even further away from the values of God's kingdom.
In these perilous times, what is the role of Jesus-followers? What is the role of the church? It is to be truth tellers. In these perilous times, we, the followers of Christ, can be a prophetic voice, calling our leaders to account. Marsha said, God has given us a word for our perilous times, and we need bold and confident speech if we want to see freedom for all. We cannot be silent if we want to see our world transformed by the Good News of Jesus.
As I have reflected in recent days about that phrase 'perilous times', I keep coming back to the topic of gender-based violence. There were several talks at the Women's Summit on this topic, and some of the statistics shared broke my heart.
Here are some stats from the UN from November 2024.
An estimated 736 million women—almost one in three—have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their lives (30 per cent of women aged 15 and older). 18% of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner in the past 12 months.
In 2023, around 51,100 women and girls worldwide were killed by their intimate partners or other family members. This means that, on average, 140 women or girls are killed every day by someone in their own family.
Two hundred thirty million girls and women have undergone female genital mutilation, or female circumcision. This represents a 15 per cent increase compared to data from eight years ago. There are still countries where this practice is almost universal, affecting at least 9 in 10 girls and women.
The global proportion of women aged 20–24 years who were married as children, before the age of 18, is one in five.
It is perilous times for women.
But surely this doesn't happen in NZ? According to the Ministry for Women, a 2019 study found that 55% of women have experienced one or more types of abuse from intimate partners, ranging from physical or sexual violence, psychological abuse, controlling behaviours or economic abuse. It is a perilous time for women in NZ, too.
But surely this doesn't happen in the church? Unfortunately, the rates of abuse for women in the church are the same as outside it. I went to a workshop on gender-based violence, which said that sometimes it is harder for Christian women to escape abusive relationships because scripture is weaponised. Women are told they have to forgive and that divorce is wrong.
Some comments at this workshop have stayed with me:
You can't be in women's ministry and not address domestic violence.
This is not a feminist thing; it is a Jesus thing.
The BWA women send a delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women each March. This year's delegation was told full equality for women is still 300 years away. 300 years!
So, in the words of Marsha Scipio, how can we be truth tellers? How can we live the Good News by speaking up for others in these perilous times?
I don't have any answers today, but there are a number of initiatives that Baptist women have started. First, they have put together a website with resources for churches: standagainstdv.net
The website says:
The Baptist World Alliance and Baptist World Alliance Women believe this breaks the heart of God, and it breaks our hearts as well. But our faith calls us into action to bring justice, freedom, hope, healing and restoration to women, children, and families across the world.
Through the resources on this website, we seek to equip and empower women and men to be informed about domestic violence, inspired to change, and to act – bringing about an end to domestic violence within congregations and communities around the world.
Second, there is a BWA Women's initiative called The Red Chair Project (bwawomen.org/red-chair-project).
This campaign runs annually during the UN's 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. It involves reserving an empty chair in a public place, like a church, alongside information about domestic abuse and violence against women. The empty chair acts as a powerful symbol of the many women who've been killed through gender-based violence – women who should still be with us today.
And one final thing. The Baptist Women's World Day of Prayer in October. This is a global day of prayer to raise awareness and money, and pray for women worldwide.
How can we as NZ Baptists work with our global Baptist family, and how can we make use of the work already done in these spaces?
How can we speak truth to power in these perilous times and live out the Good News of Jesus?
More reflections from the Baptist World Congress 2025:
Unshakable hope, by Jess Hewlett
Coming soon: Global fellowship, by Glenn Melville
Photo: Baptist World Congress Women’s Summit 2025. Supplied by Jan Ozanne.
