ATLANTA, GA (ABNS 02/04/08) - Former President and longtime Baptist, Bill Clinton abandoned his prepared speech and addressed a 16,000-person Baptist gathering at the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant event in Atlanta, GA on February 1, 2008. Clinton put aside his prepared speech and spoke from his heart. He urged the approving crowd to respect and love Baptists with differing understandings of the Scripture.
In talking about the differences that have traditionally kept the Baptist denominations separate, Clinton challenged the gathering to discover, "how we might go beyond those of us in the crowd to find the journey that we might begin together."
Clinton was raised a Baptist and discovered the connection between his religious convictions and his political interest in the example of Dr. Martin Luther King, a Baptist pastor, civil rights leader in the 1960's and Nobel Prize winner.
On a number of occasions, Clinton expressed gratitude and respect for the humanitarian work of former President and Nobel Prize winner Jimmy Carter, a primary organizer of the New Baptist Covenant Celebration.
To an approving crowd, Clinton explained that he believes that the Bible is completely true, but he doesn't believe that anyone understands it completely. As human beings, we see it through a dark glass. "We have to love each other because we might all be wrong.... We don't need to give up our differences, our common humanity means more."
In closing, Clinton advised, "When you leave here, remember why you came. It is in the spirit of reconciliation in which we go forward."
The New Baptist Covenant is an informal alliance of more than 30 racially, geographically and theologically diverse Baptist organizations that have come together to form an authentic and genuine prophetic voice for Baptists in North America. The Covenant event, inspired by prominent Baptist and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, committed themselves to their obligations as Christians to fulfill the biblical mandate to promote peace and justice, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, care for the sick and the marginalized, and promote religious liberty and respect for religious diversity.
The New Baptist Covenant Celebration was attended by approximately 17,500 Baptists from across the U.S. and around the world in Atlanta, GA January 30 - February 1, 2008.
Andrew C. Jayne American Baptist Churches USA Mission Resource Development http://www.abc-usa.org/