The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported on January 10 that a “new Baptist Convention was announced at the [Jimmy] Carter Center by representatives of about 40 moderate Baptist groups that have distanced themselves from the conservative Southern Baptist Convention.” The meeting referenced in the AJC article took place on January 9 and was attended by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

Bill Underwood, president of Mercer University, is credited by the AJC as being the organizer of the meeting and said that politics has nothing to do with the creation of the organization. In fact, Clinton and Carter said the purpose of the proposed convention is to look for solutions to problems such as poverty and racism.

The recent meeting follows on the heels of a similar meeting held at the Carter Center on April 10 last year when the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to share the gospel, promote peace with justice, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, care for the sick and the marginalized, welcome strangers, and promote religious liberty and respect for religious diversity.

At last week’s meeting Clinton and Carter indicated that they wanted to “counter concerns that Baptists have been ‘negative’ and ‘exclusionary’ and promised an inclusive organization willing to debate openly all issues.”

Yet, Southern Baptists’ conservative leadership was conspicuously absent from the Clinton-Carter Press Conference. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, indicated to the AJC that he was not invited to the gathering and, citing the former presidents’ position on abortion, labeled the new organization the ‘Pro-Choice Baptist Convention’.

Land’s counterpart in the Georgia Baptist Convention, Ray Newman, indicated that he was not invited to the meeting at Carter Center and apparently neither was anyone else serving Georgia Baptists at the Missions and Ministry Center. Yet, plans were announced for a gathering of a multiplicity of Baptists next January with the possibility of the meeting being held at the World Congress Center in Atlanta.

Why would the Carter-Clinton coalition seek to organize and call for such a meeting? First, perhaps there is no hidden agenda and their intention is to truly spread the gospel, promote peace, feed the hungry, etc. Wonderful! I like that.

Second, since Bill Underwood is the president of Mercer and the organizer of the event, perhaps he is looking for a new stream of revenue for the university to replace the $3.5 million he will not receive from the Georgia Baptist Convention next year.

Third, perhaps the founders of the new Baptist organization truly want to be inclusive and give those who feel uncomfortable being Southern Baptists a home. The AJC reported that Carter left the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000, after the adoption of the new Baptist Faith and Message, because he began to feel “increasingly uncomfortable” in the denomination.

In fact, at Gerald Ford’s funeral Carter stated, “It is true that Jerry and I shared a common commitment to our religious faith – not just in worshipping the same Savior, but in attempting in our own personal way to achieve reconciliation within our denominations. We took to heart the admonition of the Apostle Paul that Christians should not be divided over seemingly important but tangential issues, including sexual preferences and the role of women in the church, things like that.”

Through the years Baptists have formed different denominations and fellowships because of differences in doctrines and values – or what Carter calls tangential issues. Are these groups jettisoning their doctrinal differences and core values just for the sake of getting together? If so, what does that say about the depth of their commitment to the authority of God’s Word?

Fourth, perhaps the gathering on January 9 is the beginning of a new denomination. That could have positive aspects, because the idea of dually aligned churches is problematic. A double-minded man (or church) is unstable in all his ways” (James 1: 8).

Fifth, with Clinton and Carter being present Underwood wanted everyone to know that the meeting should not be interpreted as being political in any way. However they did propose a meeting in January of 2008 when they hope to assemble 20,000 Baptists. The interesting thing is that the presidential primaries begin in January. New Hampshire law states that its primary is to be the first in the nation. In 2004 its primary was held on January 27 to compete with earlier primaries in other states.

It would be convenient for the new “Convention” to become a political launching pad for the primaries and it may not be coincidental that the husband of a possible contender was present at the Carter Center last week.

However, I would like to think that the motives of the organizers of the meetings are pure and edifying, but I could be wrong.