The Alliance of Baptists held its 2006 convocation at Southside Baptist Church, Birmingham, April 21–23.
It was a location choice that Stan Hastey, executive director for the Alliance, said was perfect for this year’s theme — RACE. We have this Ministry: Reconciliation.
“Birmingham was the right place to address this topic, and the statement we adopted will be a good guideline for years to come,” he said.
The statement on racism and repentance adopted by those in attendance at the convocation “will address racism at an organization level and a congregational level.”
“This is a subject that we’ve addressed from early in our history, and we intend to continue making it a high priority,” Hastey said.
Churches will revisit what it means to be an anti-racist organization on a congregational level.
And as an organization, members will “commit ourselves anew to the establishment of meaningful relationships with communities of color … [and] the full inclusion of persons of color in the paid staff and volunteer leadership of the Alliance,” according to the statement.
The convocation also adopted a statement on U.S. restrictions on travel to and from Cuba, including an objection to “the suspension without cause” of the Alliance’s travel license to that country.
The statement also voiced an objection to the U.S. government’s “increasingly routine denial” of travel visas to the United States for religious representatives, including those from the Alliance’s partner organization, the Fraternidad de Iglesias Bautistas de Cuba.
The Alliance is a group of Baptists that formed in 1987 because of differing opinions with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and has its headquarters in Washington. This group is not affiliated with the SBC or the Alabama Baptist State Convention.
Though not a missionary-sending organization, the Alliance has been approached over the years by different groups of Baptists in other countries to become their principal U.S. partner, Hastey said.
“Our mission methodology is different (from the SBC’s),” he explained.
“Our model is partnership — what we do is provide funding in block grant form, then our partners spend it according to their own priorities.”
Another principal difference between the SBC and the Alliance is the Alliance’s ecumenism and interfaith conversations, Hastey said.
“With very modest amounts of money, our overseas partners have done absolutely amazing things,” he said. “The only thing holding us back is our size.”
The Alliance’s church count ebbed and flowed during the past year of record and finally landed at 117, Hastey said, explaining that the organization lost as many as it took in this year.
Of the churches affiliated with the Alliance, four are Alabama Baptist congregations — Baptist Church of the Covenant, Birmingham; University Baptist Church, Montevallo; Vestavia Hills Baptist Church; and Southside Baptist.
Sarah Shelton, pastor of Baptist Church of the Covenant, was one of the featured speakers for the convocation.
“The Scripture commands us to take on the ministry of reconciliation,” she said in her message during the Sunday-morning worship service. “It is time to reach beyond our fears … to embrace the gifts that we each possess … to live the principles of the kingdom of God.” (TAB)
Share with others: