Religion: Baptists on the March

"When Rio was chosen for the congress, I groaned. 'Brother, we've had it.' It looked like more bravado than brains."

So says the Rev. Edgar Hallock of Norman, Okla., for the past 17 years a Baptist missionary in Brazil. But despite the hazards of holding a major Protestant meeting in the world's largest Roman Catholic country, and despite the travel difficulties for many delegates (average cost of participation to U.S. members: more than $2,000 each), the quinquennial Congress of the Baptist World Alliance last week wound up as the most impressive Baptist convention on...