Mainstream Alabama Baptists  

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FEBRUARY 2007
(Archived Editions)

From the Executive Director ...

Baptists are good at dividing.  When we disagree, the first temptation is to disassociate from those who do not accept our position.  In local churches this has greatly multiplied the number of Baptist congregations.  In denominational life it has resulted in the proliferation of Baptist conventions, associations and fellowships.  The greatest division came in 1845 just before the War Between the States, when Baptists north and south divided over slavery. That was by far the most significant division, but by no means was it the only one.  Different kinds of Baptists have sprung up over the years and now in North America there are more than forty million Baptists divided into dozens of different groups.  Many of these are part of the North American Baptist Fellowship, a regional division of the Baptist World Alliance.

Former president Jimmy Carter, along with Mercer University President Bill Underwood, has been instrumental in calling for these Baptists to come together.  Leaders from forty Baptist bodies, meeting at the Carter Center in January, called for an assembly on January 30 – February 1, 2008 in Atlanta, a gathering that they hope will attract 20,000 attendees. The theme for the meeting is “Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant.”  The sessions will explore ways of cooperating in evangelism and in the social ministries that were an imperative of Jesus, i.e. the poor, the sick, the downtrodden and oppressed (Luke 4:18-19). 

The Southern Baptist Convention leadership is not involved in this initiative, although many at the Carter Center were Southern Baptists.  The convention itself recently withdrew from the Baptist World Alliance because if felt it could no longer fellowship and work with these other Baptists.  Therefore the Southern Baptist Convention is not part of the North American Baptist Fellowship.  After news of the Atlanta meeting broke, some of the convention leadership dismissed the effort as merely political maneuvering for the national election of 2008 (Baptist laymen Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton are Democrats).  Time will tell if this charge has any validity. 

Although convention leadership is critical of this effort to open doors of cooperation among the nation’s Baptists, I trust that many Southern Baptists, like myself, will be in Atlanta next January.  The beauty of being a Baptist is the freedom to associate with and cooperate with anyone I choose.  I may cooperate with two fellow Baptists even though they may not wish to cooperate with each other. 

As to the purpose and spirit of the assembly, the best way to really know what is going on is to be present and listen.