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Baptists hope 400th anniversary will inspire vision for movement's future

Preparations are already underway for celebrations in 2009 to mark 400 years of the world Baptist movement, which organisers are stressing will not only look at the achievements of the past, but also set out the vision that will ensure the movement’s successful stride into the future.

Four hundred years have passed since the movement’s founding fathers – refugees from England – gathered in the backroom of an Amsterdam bakery in 1609 to read the Bible together. That small gathering became the first Baptist-minded congregation and the European Baptist Federation (EBF) anticipates that 1,700 Baptists from across Europe alone will turn out from 24 to 26 July 2009 to celebrate the occasion, slated “Amsterdam 400”.

There are more than 100 million Baptists worldwide, around 800,000 of whom are in Europe and the Middle East, making them the world’s largest Protestant denomination.

Full story at Christian Today.