BGCT Presidents Support New Baptist Covenant

I've posted a letter received via snail mail. Check it out.

November 14, 2007

Dear Big Daddy Weave,

As former Presidents of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, we invite you to participate in an historic gathering of Baptists. We are grateful for the fact that Texas has led the way in so many areas of Baptist witness. In participation in missions, evangelism, social concerns, disaster relief, and so many other areas, we have been in the vanguard of Kingdom of God enterprises.

Thirty-six years ago (1971) we took a major step in working across racial lines by moving all the state conventions in Houston and having an evangelistic rally at the Astrodome. With four National baptist Conventions (African American), the Hispanic Baptist Convention, and the Baptist General Convention of Texas sponsorships, we had more than forty-thousand present and more than eigh-hundred professions of faith.

That seed has taken a long time to germinate. The New Baptist Covenant Celebration at the Georgia World Congress Center January 20 - February 1, 2008, in Atlanta, Georgia, is the fruit of that effort and many others like it across the nation. More than thirty Baptist organizations related to the North American Baptist Fellowship of the Baptist World Alliance will represent the majority of Baptists in North America (22 million). The Celebration will center in sharing our best practices in practical ministries that fulfill the mandate of Jesus in Luke 4:18-19. How can we accelerate our work by networking together to preach the gospel to the poor, heal the broken hearted, bring sight to the blind, set the captive free, welcome the stranger, and proclaim the acceptable year of our Lord?

Baptists have been blessed with many persons in leadership in this nation. Dozens of Texas Baptists are included in the leadership of this meeting. This non-partisan program will feature some of the nation's most gifted preachers. Each session begins with "The Bible Speaks" messages on these themes. Testimonies from fellow Baptists like former U.S. Surgeon General, David Satcher, who seved under both Democratic and Republican administration, will witness to God's grace. We will hear two Baptist Nobel Peace Prize recipients, President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Al Gore. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley (Iowa) will address the hunger issue as a ranking member of the Senate Agricultural Committee. Senator Lindsey Graham (SC) will speak on the challenging of welcoming the stranger. Mirian Wright Edleman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund, will speak on "What About the Children?" Journalist Bill Moyers will speak on "Unity in Respecting Diversity." President Bill Clinton will bring the closing message.

Our purpose in writing you is to ask you to pray for and participate in this historic meeting. We believe that our day demands not simply resolutions reflecting our sorrow over racial divisions of the past but relationships in service to our Lord.

Plan to come to Atlanta for this pivotal event. Bring someone with you.

Yours in His Family,

The BGCT Presidents:

Phil Line berger, 1989-1990
Dick Maples, 1991-1992
Jarrold McBride, 1993-1994
Charles Wade, 1996-1997
Russell Dilday, 1998-1999
Clyde Glazener, 2000-2001
Bob Campbell, 2002-2003
Ken Hall, 2004
Albert Reyes, 2005
Michael Bell, 2006
Steve Vernon, 2007
Joy Fenner, 2008