New Jersey pastor chosen as BWA chief administrative officer at UN

FALLS CHURCH, Va.—The Baptist World Alliance named Darrell Armstrong, an African-American pastor from New Jersey, its chief administrative officer at the United Nations.

Darrell Armstrong Armstrong, a BWA representative to the UN since 2013, will supervise the BWA team serving with the UN in New York, Geneva and Vienna. He succeeds attorney Mark Wiggs.

An author and human rights advocate, he has had a longstanding commitment to ecumenical and interreligious dialogue and teaching religious tolerance.

“I am delighted that Darrell has consented to take up this new responsibility on a voluntary basis,” said BWA General Secretary Neville Callam. “I am confident that Darrell has the experience, giftedness and enthusiasm to serve as requested.”

Armstrong is pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton, N.J. In 2010, he was elected the first non-Presbyterian trustee to Princeton Theological Seminary’s board of trustees.

He holds degrees from Stanford University, Princeton Theological Seminary and The College of New Jersey.

Since 1974, BWA has had special consultative status at the UN through the Economic and Social Council. BWA also is a member of the UN Committee of Nongovernmental Organizations and enjoys consultative relationship with the Conference of NGOs, an international association.

BWA also is accredited as an NGO through the UN’s department of public information, is a member of the Committee of Religious NGOs and collaborates with the ecumenical working group that provides a forum for common work on issues of concern to UN representatives of Christian world communions.

BWA’s UN involvement also includes universal periodic reviews of the Human Rights Council and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and participation in the annual meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women.