Carter called key Baptist leaders together...SoBapts refuse to attend

[bobbieinok]

http://www.abpnews.com/936.article

Jimmy Carter gathers Baptist leaders, urges them to transcend differences
By Marv Knox
Published April 11, 2006


ATLANTA (ABP) -- Leaders of Baptist conventions and organizations comprising more than 20 million adherents in North America explored “additional opportunities for fellowship and cooperation” in Atlanta April 10.

President Jimmy Carter, a lifelong Baptist lay leader and Sunday school teacher, sponsored the gathering at the Carter Center. Bill Underwood, president-elect of Mercer University in Macon, Ga., helped recruit the participants.

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Not participating were representatives of the Southern Baptist Convention, which recently withdrew from the Baptist World Alliance over issues of theology and control.

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Ultimately, they approved a statement they called “A North American Baptist Covenant,” which expresses their concerns and commitments.

They affirmed their “desire to speak and work together to create an authentic and genuine prophetic Baptist voice in these complex times,” the statement notes. They also reaffirmed their commitment to “traditional Baptist values, including sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and its implications for public and private morality.”

Participants specifically committed themselves to their “obligations as Christians to promote peace with justice, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, care for the sick and marginalized, welcome the strangers among us, and promote religious liberty and respect for religious diversity.”

They agreed to hold a convocation, probably in 2007, “to celebrate these historic Baptist commitments and to explore other opportunities to work together as Christian partners.”

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