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TechnoratiThe new push by former president Jimmy Carter to unite Baptists from around the North American continent has added three prominent Republicans to its list of participants.
(Photo: AP / Charles Dharapak, File)Former President Jimmy Carter listens to a student's question after speaking about his book 'Palestine: Peace not Apartheid,' in this March 8, 2007 file photo at George Washington University in Washington.
After allegations that "The Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant" – an initiative to counter the "negative" Baptist image and demonstrate Baptist unity through compassion works – was a political move considering a January 2008 convocation date and the enlisting of former president Bill Clinton, Carter announced Thursday the inclusion of Republican Baptists in the speaker line-up.
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham and Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley have been invited to the Jan. 30 - Feb. 1 convocation and are expected to attend.
Also invited to take part are some of the Southern Baptist Convention's well-known bloggers. While the new initiative mainly involves Baptists from the North American Baptist Fellowship, Carter has also left the door open to Southern Baptists to join the effort. Although Southern Baptist leaders were not formally invited, Carter said he wants to bring together "as many Baptists as possible" to accomplish the mission of Jesus, the Associated Baptist Press reported.
"It was reiterated to us time and time again that the meeting was about the gospel – not politics – and Baptists from every political background and ethnicity were being invited," wrote Southern Baptist pastor Wade Burleson of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Okla., on his blog.
Burleson was invited to a meeting with Carter on Thursday along with other Southern Baptist pastors – Marty Duren of New Bethany Baptist Church in Buford, Ga., Benjamin Cole of Parkview Baptist Church of Arlington, Texas, and C.B. Scott of Westmont Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. The meeting was an attempt to involve as many Southern Baptists in the 2008 gathering as possible, according to Dan Malone, an attorney from El Paso, Texas, who helped facilitate the meeting.
The SBC pastors and Carter along with other event organizers discussed plans and preparations for the New Baptist Covenant and the pastors were asked to assist in informing other Southern Baptists "that the goal of the convocation is to focus on what we have in common (Luke 4:17-20) rather than that which divides us," according to Burleson.
A major part of the initiative is to promote a compassion agenda to address social justice and human rights.
Still, not all Southern Baptists are convinced that the new covenant is an effort to advance the Gospel. Many are at odds with Carter, a former Southern Baptist, who wrote in his book Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis that the SBC is moving toward a "more rigid and strict creed that embodies the fundamentalist principles."
Many also do not agree with Carter's take on the Gospel. They allege Carter believes there is salvation outside of faith in Christ.
"And I have been asked often, you know, in my Sunday School classes, which are kind of a give and take debate with people from many nations and many faiths – what about those that don't publicly accept Christ, are they condemned? And I remember that Christ said, 'Judge not that ye be not judged.' And so, my own personal belief is one of God's forgiveness and God's grace. That's the best answer I can give," said Carter in an earlier interview with Beliefnet.com. Continue »
