ATLANTA, GA (ABNS 01/11/07)-Two former Presidents of the United States helped announce an unprecedented gathering of diverse Baptist groups set for Jan. 30-Feb.1, 2008 in Atlanta. That news came out of a Jan. 9 meeting at the Atlanta-based Carter Center with representatives from some 30 Baptist organizations in Canada and the U.S. affiliated with the North American Baptist Fellowship (NABF) under the Baptist World Alliance (BWA).
"For the past several years," said Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley, general secretary of the American Baptist Churches USA, "Baptist leaders in the North American Baptist Fellowship of the BWA have been earnestly praying for greater missional unity and cooperation among us. Many of us have already taken concrete steps in that direction. President Carter's call has provided an even broader and richer forum to accelerate common gospel efforts."
Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, both Baptists, told the media following the meeting that they are eager to see members of their denominational family cross racial and convention lines to worship and work together.
"This ... may turn out to be one of the most historic events, at least in the history of Baptists in this country, and perhaps Christianity," said Carter, a longtime Baptist Sunday school teacher who will be the keynote speaker at the New Baptist Covenant Celebration next year.
Clinton, who sang in the choir at Little Rock's Immanuel Baptist Church while serving as governor of Arkansas, has also been asked to speak. He is a "cheerleader" for the effort, he said, and hopes the celebration will be followed by concrete ministry efforts by the various groups claiming combined memberships of over 20 million.
Organizers say the larger gathering will be "prophetic, but not partisan," and focus on Jesus' reading of the prophet Isaiah as recorded in Luke 4:18-19, calling for preaching the gospel to the poor, healing the brokenhearted and giving liberty to captives.
"This event will provide a wonderful opportunity for Baptists in North America to work together on the basis of Jesus' inaugural sermon in Nazareth," said Medley. "We will gather together from across this continent to network, share best practices and lift up those historic principles which have made the Baptist movement so dynamic."
Carter and Mercer University President Bill Underwood called a meeting last spring that resulted in Baptist leaders signing a North America Baptist Covenant expressing a willingness to cooperate in ministry. They said Southern Baptists would be invited to share in the 2008 celebration even though the group pulled out of the NABF and BWA in 2004.
NABF members include: American Baptist Churches USA, Baptist General Association of Virginia, Baptist General Conference, Baptist General Convention of Missouri, Baptist General Convention of Texas, Canadian Baptist Ministries, Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, General Association of General Baptists, Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention USA, National Baptist Convention of America, National Baptist Convention USA Inc., National Missionary Baptist Convention of America, North American Baptist Conference, Seventh Day Baptist General Conference, and Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc.
Andrew C. Jayne American Baptist Churches, USA Mission Resource Development http://www.abc-usa.org/