c. 2008 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) For decades _ centuries even _ Baptists have been known for preaching the gospel, baptizing the converted and, with their sheer numbers, shaping the face of American Christianity.

But at the same time, their internal squabbles, racial and ideological splits and sometimes controversial positions have cemented the image that the thing Baptists most agree on is their penchant to be disagreeable.

Now, prominent Baptists hope an upcoming (Jan. 30-Feb. 1) “Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant” in Atlanta will help change that by focusing on what Baptists are for, not what they’re against.

“We want to demonstrate to the world that Christians, including Baptists, can work in harmony, that we can accommodate differences of philosophy and theology,” said former President Jimmy Carter, a co-chairman of the celebration.

As they gather to focus on issues like caring for the poor and promoting peace, the big brother in the Baptist family, the Southern Baptist Convention, is not an official participant. Top leaders of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination were not involved in the planning, but Carter has told Southern Baptist president Frank Page that “everybody’s invited.”

Last year, Page blasted what he called the group’s “smokescreen left-wing liberal agenda,” even as he appreciated efforts to help “a hurting world.” In a recent interview, Page said he still has concerns, but promised Carter he would pray for the meeting, which he expects some Southern Baptists to attend.

“He has assured me that it will be a positive meeting and not be a conservative-bashing meeting,” Page said of Carter. “I do pray that it will be a very positive, Christ-honoring meeting.”

Organizers insist the event, which has more than 30 participating organizations, will be nonpartisan, even as Carter, former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore are among the headliners.

“We’ve made every effort to be inclusive of both Democrats and Republicans, being very much aware that we’re in an election cycle,” said the Rev. David Goatley, president of the North American Baptist Fellowship and a co-chair of the celebration.

Indeed, some Republicans will share the stage with Carter and Clinton, including Senators Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who will focus on the theme of “welcoming the stranger.”

Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who pastored Southern Baptist churches in Arkansas before he entered politics, initially agreed to speak at the event but later withdrew.

The Atlanta meeting follows other attempts to bring Baptists together in recent years. Predominantly white Baptist leaders have met to mend fences as historically black Baptist groups have tried to set aside their own past rivalries and differences.

Four black Baptist churches will be meeting before the Atlanta gathering, and officials hope that will help diversify the 10,000 to 20,000 people expected at the Georgia World Congress Center.

In fact, black Baptist leaders insisted the meeting not be one of “self-congratulation,” Carter said, but instead yield tangible results.

“I am hopeful that it will not have been just a feel-good meeting,” said the Rev. William J. Shaw, president of the predominantly black National Baptist Convention, USA, and another co-chair of the celebration.

“We should not deceive ourselves into believing that the mission of Jesus is just a feel-good mission.”

(OPTIONAL TRIM FOLLOWS)

Jimmy Allen, a former Southern Baptist president and a coordinator of the Atlanta meeting, said he expects the event will produce more networking _ unlike the “spotted and spasmodic” networking of years past _ rather than some new Baptist entity.

Participants will be encouraged to cross congregational and denominational lines in supporting summer projects, including inner-city ministry and housing restoration along the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast.

Daniel Vestal, executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, said such outcomes may be the way Baptists can best speak to the rest of the nation.

“If out of that comes some practical ministry,” he said, “I think that’s good for the country.”

KRE DS END BANKS700 words, with optional trim to 575

A file photo of Carter and Clinton announcing the New Baptist Covenant is available via https://religionnews.com.