This is Part 1 of a Gloriscope news summary about New Baptist Covenant, an unprecedented gathering of 14,500 Baptists from 30 Baptist denominations in Atlanta, Georgia, in late January 2008. We give details about the importance, purpose, participants, activities, achievements, and planned follow-up of this historical event.

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Published 10:30pm, Feb 02, 2008 in Minneapolis - London 4:30am 3/2
Buenos Aires 2:30am 3/2 - Jerusalem / Johannesburg 6:30am 3/2
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“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit –
just as you were called to one hope when you were called –
one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all”
(Ephesians 4:4-6 NIV)

By Gloriscope staff

Basic facts about New Baptist Covenant

New Baptist Covenant was a meeting of U.S. Baptists from 30 Baptist denominations from all over the United States. Some 14,500 people attended at least part of the gathering. The gathering took place in Atlanta, Georgia, from January 30 through February 1, 2008. The co-chairs of the gathering were former President Jimmy Carter and William D. Underwood, president of Mercer University in Atlanta.

Why was New Baptist Covenant special?

New Baptist Covenant was an unprecedented meeting that gathered, for the first time in over 160 years, a large number of Baptists of many different denominations. Before the Civil War, southern and northern Baptists split in 1845 over the issue of slavery. There were also splits among U.S. Baptists over theological and organizational isues. The disunity widened in the 1970s when the Southern Baptist Convention became more conservative, especially regarding abortion, gay issues, and women clergy.

New Baptist Covenant was the first U.S. large-scale nationwide gathering of different Baptist denominations, ideologies, church cultures, races, and ethnicities (including Hispanic and Asian) from all over the country. In short, the gathering demonstrated racial and geographical harmony of American Baptists. There was a feeling among the participants that it was a meeting of historical importance.

The participants considered it especially important that it was the first-ever meeting uniting major white and black Baptist denominations. The four national black Baptist denominations were actively participating in the preparations of the gathering and participated in it fully along with predominantly white Baptist denominations.

Which groups participated?

Representatives of 30 U.S. Baptist associations belonging to the North American Baptist Fellowship, which is the regional member of the Baptist World Alliance.

New Baptist Covenant started immediately after a separate three-day national meeting in Atlanta of the four largest black Baptist associations. Black Baptists from all over the country were thus in town and were able to participate in New Baptist Covenant, although most of the black participants attended the first day only.

It is worth mentioning that one of the individual participants in New Baptist Covenant was the Rev. Jimmy Allen, who was President of the Southern Baptist Convention before it became conservative. However, the Southern Baptist Convention itself did not participate in New Baptist Covenant.

Which groups were absent?

The most noticeable absence was that of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which has 16.3 million members and is the largest U.S. Christian denomination after the Roman Catholics.

In May 2007, President Carter – a co-chair of New Baptist Covenant – invited Dr. Frank Page, President of the SBC, but Page declined, rejecting the gathering’s “smoke-screen left-wing liberal agenda,” as he put it. He indicated that President Carter was not a disinterested party, because Carter had spent years disparaging conservative Baptists, also in his 2005 book Our Endangered Values, in which Carter compared conservatives with Iranian fundamentalists.

Nevertheless, President Carter said at the gathering that Dr. Page had recently sent him a “generous letter,” which gives some hope that Southern Baptists may perhaps work together with other Baptists in any follow-up activities after New Baptist Covenant. Carter said that he would give Page a full report about New Baptist Covenant.

Prominent Republican Baptists were absent as well, with the exception of the Republican Senator Grassley of Iowa. Mike Huckabee and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina originally said they would come, but later pulled out.

Pro-gay and lesbian groups were also absent and gay issues were not on the agenda of New Baptist Covenant. A pro-gay organization, the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, had requested to obtain the status of a “participating organization,” but the organizers of the gathering denied the request because there was no “broad consensus” on the gay issue. In protest, Tony Campolo wore a brightly colored stole to show solidarity with gay and lesbian Baptists, reported the Winston-Salem Journal.

Whose idea was the gathering and who organized it?

The gathering was the idea of President Carter. It was initially organized by former President Jimmy Carter and William D. Underwood, president of Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia. They also organized a preparatory meeting of various Baptist leaders in April 2006. Carter and Underwood were co-chairs of New Baptist Covenant gathering in Atlanta in 2008.

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This story is part of a series of news stories on New Baptist Covenant published by Gloriscope February 2, 2008.

• Overview: New Baptist Covenant: A turning point in Baptist unity?
• Part 1 — New Baptist Covenant 2008: Why it was a historical event
• Part 2 — New Baptist Covenant 2008: Its promise and purpose
• Part 3 — New Baptist Covenant 2008: Its topics and activities
• Part 4 — New Baptist Covenant 2008: What did it achieve?
• Part 5 — New Baptist Covenant 2008: What is next?

NOTE: The official website of New Baptist Covenant is at http://www.newbaptistcelebration.org

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TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!

Published in the U.S.A. Copyright © 4T4C News Corp. 2008. All rights reserved.