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- Aug 10, 2012
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Leaders in nation's largest Protestant denomination are preaching that churches can be a key driver of racial justice in society. But that could be a hard sell to those sitting in Southern Baptist Convention congregations.
The Rev. Russell Moore, who leads the Southern Baptist's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, is one of several white leaders calling for multiethnic congregations in the wake of the unrest spurred by the killings of black men by white police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City.
"In the church, a black Christian and a white Christian are brothers and sisters," Moore wrote recently. "We care what happens to the other, because when one part of the Body hurts, the whole Body hurts. ... When we know one another as brothers and sisters, we will start to stand up and speak up for one another."
The effort has taken on particular urgency for Moore and other Southern Baptist leaders who have been working to overcome the denomination's history. The convention was formed in 1845 in a split with other Baptists when Southern Baptists resolved to continue allowing slave owners to become missionaries.
During the civil rights movement, Southern Baptists were largely silent or actively opposed ending segregation. The denomination eventually declared racism a sin, and in 2011 renewed efforts to reach out to Latinos, African-Americans and others. The next year, the denomination elected its first African-American president, the Rev. Fred Luter, Jr.
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MY COMMENTS:
I was pleasantly surprised by this article. Can it be true? Do White Southern Baptists finally see the light? why did it take them so long to realize that Heaven won't be segregated like US churches are; and all professing to believe in the same God.
I predict nominal resistance to any such undertaking from both White and Black congregations. I doubt if White Christians are going to depart from their "pseudo-conservatism long enough to welcome moderate numbers of Blacks into their fold and I doubt if Black ministers are going to want to subordinate their flocks and themselves to the more powerful White religious superstructure. The proposal is interesting but I doubt if it gets off the ground anytime soon. Still, the gesture is noble and worthy of praise!
The Rev. Russell Moore, who leads the Southern Baptist's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, is one of several white leaders calling for multiethnic congregations in the wake of the unrest spurred by the killings of black men by white police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City.
"In the church, a black Christian and a white Christian are brothers and sisters," Moore wrote recently. "We care what happens to the other, because when one part of the Body hurts, the whole Body hurts. ... When we know one another as brothers and sisters, we will start to stand up and speak up for one another."
The effort has taken on particular urgency for Moore and other Southern Baptist leaders who have been working to overcome the denomination's history. The convention was formed in 1845 in a split with other Baptists when Southern Baptists resolved to continue allowing slave owners to become missionaries.
During the civil rights movement, Southern Baptists were largely silent or actively opposed ending segregation. The denomination eventually declared racism a sin, and in 2011 renewed efforts to reach out to Latinos, African-Americans and others. The next year, the denomination elected its first African-American president, the Rev. Fred Luter, Jr.
MORE
MY COMMENTS:
I was pleasantly surprised by this article. Can it be true? Do White Southern Baptists finally see the light? why did it take them so long to realize that Heaven won't be segregated like US churches are; and all professing to believe in the same God.
I predict nominal resistance to any such undertaking from both White and Black congregations. I doubt if White Christians are going to depart from their "pseudo-conservatism long enough to welcome moderate numbers of Blacks into their fold and I doubt if Black ministers are going to want to subordinate their flocks and themselves to the more powerful White religious superstructure. The proposal is interesting but I doubt if it gets off the ground anytime soon. Still, the gesture is noble and worthy of praise!