Atlanta, USA - A conference organized by former President Carter and others that aims to unite Baptists from more than 30 denominations says major political figures from both parties are tentatively planning to come.
Former Vice President Al Gore, former President Clinton and Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Charles Grassley of Iowa, are slated to appear at the event in Atlanta. Among the conference topics are evangelism, criminal justice, preaching, interfaith relations, racism, HIV/AIDS and religious liberty. The meeting is scheduled for Jan. 30-Feb. 1.
The gathering is part of an effort, called the New Baptist Covenant, that's meant to pool the resources of the many Baptist groups and escape the shadow of the conservative Southern Baptist Convention.
"For the first time in more than 160 years, we will have a major convocation of Baptists in America with neither our unity nor freedom threatened by differences of race, politics, geography, or legalistic interpretations of the Scriptures," Carter said in a statement Monday.
Organizers want "to speak and work together to create an authentic and genuine prophetic Baptist voice in these complex times," according to the central document for the effort.
The Baptist groups supporting the covenant include the American Baptist Churches and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, an association of Southern Baptists who reject the conservative leadership of the convention. Several historically African-American Baptist denominations, including the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., are also part of the effort.
The 16.3 million-member Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant group in the country.