According to Roman Catholic Archbishop Wilton Gregory, leader of the Atlanta archdiocese, there is a new thing happening among Baptists and Roman Catholics – cooperation, increased understanding and potential for greater relationship.
“This could and can only happen because of the prayer of Christ for His church and the gifts of the Holy Spirit,” Gregory said. “This seems that this is really God’s new thing, and it has created a significant beginning of a common tradition that we can share.”
On Sept. 28, Gregory spoke to members of Atlanta’s Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, whose pastor, David Sapp, invited Gregory in order to better understand and connect the church with Roman Catholics. “The world is put off by Christian division,” Sapp said. “It is a stumbling block for evangelism, for Christian influence in the public arena and for our own spiritual growth.”
The new Baptist and Roman Catholic collaboration Gregory spoke of has developed significantly in the last 40 years. According to him, recent historical precedent for Baptist and Roman Catholic relations began with the American Baptist Convention’s (now American Baptist Churches USA) dialogue series with Roman Catholics from 1967 until 1972.
In the late 1960s, Southern Baptists formed the Ecumenical Institute at North Carolina’s Wake Forest University, which hosted conferences about Baptist and Roman Catholic relations, Southern Baptists and the Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs established an ecumenical National Scholars Dialogue in 1978, which continued through 1988, discussing the church’s nature and function, spirituality and social action.
“What slowly emerged was a realization that, in spite of centuries of divisions, decades of not even speaking or listening to one another, there existed a mutual heritage of faith,” Gregory said.
In addition to identifying common ground, these foundational conversations developed friendships based on respect and the ability to listen to each other, he said. Today Baptists and Catholics share a common mission and testimony to the world, particularly concerning family values.
(ABP)
Share with others: