AMMAN, Jordan (ABP) -- Baptist leaders and other dignitaries  -- including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair -- took part  in a ceremony March 20 dedicating a new evangelical Christian baptism center at the Jordanian spot traditionally regarded as the site of Jesus’ baptism.

The afternoon celebration at the Baptism Center at Bethany beyond Jordan included more than 120 baptisms by immersion in the Jordan River. They  were conducted by pastors from the Jordan Baptist Convention.

BWA president David Coffey reads the plaque to be placed at the baptism center. (PHOTO/BWA)

One of several new churches being built along the Jordan River at about the location Christian pilgrims have long believed Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the center is intended to cater to Christian traditions that practice believer's baptism by immersion.

BWA General Secretary Neville Callam, in the day’s major address, called the center “a  place where people from all parts of the world may assemble for a journey  and an experience.” He expressed hope that “the waters of the  Jordan extinguish the crippling fires of hopelessness that burn in the hearts of those who have no knowledge of God.”

BWA president David Coffey read greetings from former United States presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, both Baptists, and presented a gift on behalf of the BWA to Jordan’s Prince Ghazi bin Mohammed.

A plaque to be placed on the building upon its completion was unveiled at the ceremony. The plaque reads, “The Commission of the Site of the Baptism of Jesus Christ welcomes here visiting pilgrims from the member  churches of the Baptist World Alliance.”

Also participating in the event were Imad Maayah, a Baptist and former member of the Jordanian Parliament; Toma Magda and Tony Peck, president  and general secretary of the European Baptist Federation; and Nabeeh  Abbassi, former president of the Jordan Baptist Convention and chief  organizer of the dedication and opening.

An estimated 1,700 persons attended the dedication and opening ceremony.

Blair, now a special envoy to the Middle East on behalf of the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia, said it “took courage and  leadership” for Jordan to allow the baptism site in a part of the world often torn by sectarian strife. He said the new center “is not a place of archaeology -- it is a place that now, as in John’s time, is a place of renewal.”

Jordan is about 92 percent Muslim, but relations between Muslims and a Christian minority, estimated at 6 percent, are generally good. While Islam is the state  religion and proselytization of Muslims and conversions from Islam are prohibited, the Jordanian Constitution promises religious freedom as long  as rites do not violate public order or morality, and recognizes several  Christian denominations.

Founded in 1957, the Jordan Baptist Convention consists of 20 churches with combined membership of about 2,000. It operates two schools.

The offer of a designated plot of land for a baptism center came from Jordan’s King Abdullah II during a meeting he held with Coffey  in September 2007. In 2008, Coffey visited the site and met with Prince Ghazi, who chairs an independent trustee board that runs the site as a national park. The board facilitated the construction.

“In our Baptist faith and order, the baptism of Jesus is of central importance to our understanding of the baptism of Christians,”  Coffey wrote in a 2008 letter affirming the  authenticity of the baptism site. “We believe baptism rests on the command of the risen Lord and is integrated with his command to preach  the good news to the world; and this command is given authority by his  own example at the beginning of his messianic ministry.”

Prince Ghazi said the royal family’s commitment to the baptism center demonstrates that “all Jordanians are equal. All are welcome in Jordan and in this place. We look forward to the baptismal center serving as a meeting place where people can learn to know each other.”

Bethany beyond Jordan -- not to be confused with the village near Jerusalem the Bible says was home to Lazarus, Mary and Martha -- was on a  pilgrimage route between Jerusalem and Bethlehem to the west and Mount  Nebo to the east. It is regarded as one of Christianity’s three holiest  sites, along with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity.

It was a military border zone until the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan and today is regarded one of the most important recent discoveries in biblical  archaeology. Excavations didn’t begin until 1996, and so far more than 20  churches, caves and baptismal pools dating from Roman and Byzantine times  have been uncovered.

Churches of various Christian denominations -- including Anglican, Catholic, Coptic and Russian Orthodox -- have been constructed or are in the  process of being built nearby.

Bethany beyond Jordan is also sacred to Jews and Muslims. In addition to  Jesus’ baptism, it’s said to be the spot where Joshua first led the Israelites into the Promised Land and where the prophet Elijah was taken  to heaven in a chariot of fire.

While in Jordan, the BWA delegation met with Islamic journalists and scholars to discuss the BWA response to “A Common Word Between Us and You,” a letter written by 138 Muslim scholars and leaders to Christians in  October 2007.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press. Bob Terry, editor of the Alabama Baptist, contributed to this article.

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