Carter, Clinton Meet with Baptist Group

ATLANTA, Jan. 9 - In a historic meeting that brought together two of the United States' three remaining former presidents, former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton met Tuesday with leaders from 40 moderate Baptist groups who pledged to work on 21st century social and environmental issues.

The groups - all members of the North American Baptist Fellowship - are planning a national Baptist celebration in January 2008 with Carter as the keynote speaker.

The 20-million-member North American Baptist Fellowship is part of the 102-year-old Baptist World Alliance. The more conservative Southern Baptist Convention decided in 2004 to pull out of the alliance.

Mercer University President Bill Underwood said Tuesday's announcement was "a historic demonstration of Baptist unity." But Southern Baptist Convention officials said they already are working on the issues the North American Baptist Fellowship is trying to address.

President Carter, who is a Baptist, said large-scale meetings among all Baptists were common in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He said Baptists in the United States, Mexico and Canada are participating.

President Clinton, also a Baptist, said the announcement is an effort to work on issues including alleviating poverty, conserving natural resources, assisting with health care challenges and eliminating religious and racial conflict around the world.

"We should try to find ways people can hold onto their religious beliefs and not have to kill each other over their differences," Clinton said. "This is the biggest challenge facing the larger world."

Lance Wallace, spokesman for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, said elected members from the 16.4-million member Southern Baptist Convention did not attend the meeting, although Southern Baptists were present.

Richard Land, the head of the Southern Baptist Convention's ethics and religious liberty commission, said he was not invited.

Land cautioned that the North American Baptist Fellowship will have to work hard to make its January 2008 meeting not be seen as "overly political" during a presidential election year.

"Had I been invited I could have come, but I couldn't come to this meeting because I was meeting with Jews and Muslims and Christians searching for common ground," Land said. "It's easy to write a covenant and sign it and easy to hold a meeting. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating thereof. We'll see who represents Baptist views."