Ruffin Longs for Home, Finds it at New Baptist Covenant

Mike Riffin, of the On the Jericho Road weblog, has posted an esaay about his experiences at the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant under the title "The Longing for Home." Here's a quote:

It's a huge task that we have taken upon ourselves. But I hope that, to use Jimmy Allen's words, it becomes a "movement" rather than a moment. I need a home that builds upon the positive aspects of Baptist history and moves beyond the negative aspects. I need a home that transcends petty differences and debates over theological minutiae. I need a home where Jesus is Lord, where freedom is cherished, where people are accepted, and where the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ is the paramount concern.

Analysis of the Celebration

A new website called "Religion Dispatches" came online yesterday. It will attempt to provide some critical analysis of religion, politics and the common good.

I posted my review and an analysis of the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant on their "RDBlog" under the title "Painting Elephants." Here's a quote:

Baptists in America may never be the same. For one shining moment in Atlanta, at a three-day gathering termed a “celebration”, Baptists were called to repent of their long history of racism and sexism and affirm a New Baptist Covenant. Never before in the 400-year history of the Baptist denomination have black Baptists and white Baptists met with equal participation on the platform and equal numbers in the audience; never before in history have Baptists – black and white, male and female – met with more than token representation of prophetic women speaking from the pulpit; never before in history have moderate and progressive Baptists from North and South and Canada and Mexico met together to network and organize for Christian social action. If this moment becomes a movement, as its organizers hope and intend, then by re-orienting the Baptist denomination it may also help to change the political priorities of the nation.

Dr. Walter Shurden's Speech at the Celebration

The coverage of the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant by Associated Baptist Press, Ethics Daily, by Bloggers like Melissa Rogers, Ben Cole, Brian Kaylor, Aaron Weaver, The Bold Confessor and others. Videos of the sermons and speeches are being posted online at the New Baptist Covenant website.

I have no desire to duplicate their fine efforts. Here's something unique to Mainstream Baptists. Dr. Walter Shurden, premier historian among moderate Baptists, gave a speech at the Mainstream Baptist Network breakfast this morning on the historical significance of the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant. Here's a link to a podcast of his speech (31 MB MP3). Here's one of the many significant statements that he made:

"The Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant is not an effort to form something together, it is an effort to say something together -- about what we ought to be doing together."

What we ought to be doing together is taking seriously what Jesus took seriously -- promoting peace with justice, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, caring for the sick and marginalized, visiting the imprisoned and welcoming strangers.