“Herding Cats” is a phrase commonly used of something involving coordination of many different groups or people “as difficult as herding cats.”  I don’t remember the first time I heard it applied to Baptists, or who did so, but it has certainly been used, and accurately so.  Getting autonomous Baptists to cooperate is just that, as difficult as herding cats.  Therefore, the New Baptist Covenant gathering in Atlanta this month may prove the proverb.

            Of course, the meeting is not an attempt at getting all the Baptists of North America to “do” anything beyond getting together for worship, edification and fellowship.  No one is predicting any ongoing involvement of the three dozen plus different groups of North American Baptists with each other, or any “results” from the gathering.  But there are hopes on the part of many of the planners and participants that this gathering will lead to something greater, particularly increased cooperation within the Baptist family, which has been fractured into many pieces since the 1800’s.  Baptists learned long ago we could do more together than we can do separately, that the sum is greater than the parts.

            I have hopes of my own.  Since their emergence some 400 years ago, Baptists have championed four principles; no creed but the Bible, the priesthood of every believer, the autonomy of the local church and the separation of church and state.  In our generation, however, some who call themselves Baptist have forsaken, altered, or de-emphasized these principles.  The Baptist family needs to step forward and promote our historic distinctives.  In particular, it is up to Baptists to hold before the nation the separation of church and state.  After all, it was Baptists who fought for the First Amendment. 

            We do, of course, already cooperate in supporting the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.   This and other parachurch organizations may be the best avenue for greater cooperation.  Possibly an increase in the role of the Baptist World Alliance and in the role of the North American Baptist branch of that organization is the way forward.  However it may come about, I dream of Baptists stepping up and being Baptists.  We forty million may disagree on many things, but we have a shared history and too much in common today to not cooperate. 

            I am praying for this upcoming historic convocation.  I know many others and I will be blessed simply by being a part of it.  But I am praying that God will use it as the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the denomination, that future generations will look back to 2008 as a pivotal time in our history along with 1814 (Birth of the Triennial  Convention) and 1845 (the separation of Southern from Northern Baptists).