2009 Regional Gathering of the New Baptist Covenant

Here's a snippet from the Birmingham News:

Former President Jimmy Carter plans to teach a Bible study class and be the keynote speaker on Jan. 31 at a regional gathering in Birmingham of the New Baptist Covenant.

The New Baptist Covenant, an informal alliance of more than 30 Baptist groups from throughout North America with a combined membership of more than 20 million, will meet at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

The Rev. Arthur Price, pastor of Sixteenth Street Baptist, and the Rev. Gary Furr, pastor of Vestavia Hills Baptist Church, will serve as co-chairmen of the event's steering committee.

And the Press Release announcing the 2009 Midwest Regional Meeting:

Announcing the New Baptist Covenant Midwest Regional Meeting
At the Norman Convention Center on August 6-7, 2009

In January 2008 more than 15,000 Baptists from across the United States, Canada and Mexico met for the first ever meeting to celebrate a New Baptist Covenant. The covenant represented the commitment of more than 20 million Baptists in North America to fulfill our “obligations as Christians to promote peace with justice, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to shelter the homeless, to care for the sick and the marginalized, welcome the strangers among us, and promote religious liberty and respect for religious diversity.” The covenant also reaffirmed our “commitment to traditional Baptist values, including sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and its implications for public and private morality.”

The leaders of the New Baptist Covenant, representing more than 80 Baptist Conventions, fellowships and organizations in North America, agreed to meet collectively every three years to renew this commitment. Between these triennial meetings, the leaders of the New Baptist Covenant called for regional meetings that would gather to unite Baptists from our various Conventions, fellowships and organizations to celebrate, exhort, network and encourage one another in fulfilling the obligations of our new Baptist Covenant.

The Steering Committee for the New Baptist Covenant Midwest Region is pleased to announce that the New Convention Center in Norman, Oklahoma has been selected for the first ever meeting of the Midwest Region of the New Baptist Covenant. The meeting will be held on August 6-7, 2009. Former President Jimmy Carter has agreed to speak at our meeting. We will be celebrating the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Baptist denomination.