Carter urges Baptists to end internal divisions
Former President Carter said he hoped this week's meeting of Baptists across racial and theological lines could inspire other churches to end their internal divisions. "If we can do it, maybe all other Christians can do it as well," Carter said Wednesday at the start of the gathering. More than 10,000 participants are expected over three days. Carter and other Baptist leaders organized the meeting, "Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant," to develop common ministries and to challenge any perception that all Baptists accept conservative Southern Baptist views. The former president, a longtime Bible teacher at his Plains, Georgia, church, insisted that the meeting was strictly religious, not political. It is being held just days before February 5, when 24 states will hold presidential primaries or caucuses. Former Vice President Al Gore and former President Bill Clinton are among the keynote speakers. Earlier in the day, at a separate meeting of four major black Baptist groups, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke about their candidacies. The black Baptists ended their meeting early so they could join the Carter-led event, which critics have dismissed as little more than a Democratic rally. The Rev. William Shaw, president of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc., the largest of the four black Baptist denominations, said "this time was set without any reference to the political calendar." Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa will also address the Atlanta meeting. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister and GOP candidate for president, had agreed to participate, then canceled. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina had been scheduled to speak, but instead will be campaigning with Republican presidential contender Sen. John McCain. Carter and many others at the Atlanta gathering were once active in the Southern Baptist Convention but severed ties with its leaders after conservatives took control after a long, bitter and very public fight in the 1970s and 1980s. Carter said Wednesday that he has been communicating with the current Southern Baptist president, the Rev. Frank Page, who has said that he "assured President Carter of my prayers" for the meeting despite some doubts about its purpose. With 16.3 million members, the Southern Baptist Convention is not only the largest U.S. Baptist group, but also the largest Protestant group in the country. The covenant meeting involves 30 Baptist groups from around the world. They span a range of theological and political beliefs. Many oppose abortion and same-sex marriage and ordain only men. However, they also heavily emphasize Bible teaching on social justice. The gathering will spend a significant amount of time discussing poverty, health and other policy concerns, along with talks on preaching and the Gospel. Northern and Southern Baptists split in 1845, when Northerners said they wouldn't support missionaries who were slaveholders. Black Baptists generally formed their own denominations and had their own splits over civil rights strategies and other issues. Several speakers Wednesday invoked the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. when describing why this meeting was so important. Bill Underwood, president of Mercer University in Macon, a sponsor of the event, said, "I think we are taking a step today on the long and difficult journey to one day achieving Dr. King's Dream." |
