By Carla Wynn Davis
CBF Communications

Photo: Carla Davis

ATLANTA-Breaking the cycle of poverty begins with taking seriously the Bible, people in need and the church's call to respond. And speakers reminded participants at a Baptist gathering that addressing poverty isn't optional for Christians and churches who are serious about following Christ.

These ideas, along with motives and models for alleviating poverty, were explored by panelists Jan. 31 during the "Breaking Cycles of Poverty" special interest session at the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant in Atlanta.

By Bob Allen
Baptist Center for Ethics

ATLANTA-Former Vice President Al Gore challenged 2,500 fellow Baptists at a Thursday luncheon with prophetic zeal to take up the mantle of reversing global warming.

Speaking to a luncheon crowd at this week's New Baptist Covenant Celebration, Gore recalled words of an old Sunday school teacher who taught the purpose of life is to glorify God.

By Sue H. Poss
CBF of South Carolina

Photo: Joel McLendon

ATLANTA-A Baptist church only resembles God's kingdom when it includes the diversity of people created in his image, according to participants in a special interest session at the New Baptist Covenant celebration.

"Whenever we are in a room where everybody looks like us, we are not in a room that looks like the kingdom of God," said Chuck Poole, pastor of Northminster Baptist Church, Jackson, Miss.

By Steve DeVane
Biblical Recorder

Photo: Mark Strozier

ATLANTA-The 30 Baptist organizations in the North American Baptist Fellowship plan to form a network to coordinate disaster relief efforts.

Terry Raines, disaster relief coordinator for the Baptist General Association of Virginia, announced the initiative Jan. 31. He made the announcement during a special interest session on responding to natural disasters that was part of the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant.

By Brian Kaylor
Baptist General Convention of Missouri

Photo: Rod Reilly

ATLANTA-Young people are bombarded with materialist and consumerist messages, but churches must respond to the challenge by giving them a cause worth following, panelists told a Baptist gathering in Atlanta.

Mitch Randall, pastor of North Haven Church in North Haven, Okla., moderated a session on "Youth at a Crossroad" during the celebration of a New Baptist Covenant.

By Tony W. Cartledge
Baptists Today

Photo: Mark Strozier

ATLANTA-Churches must recognize the spread of HIV/AIDS as a justice issue and overcome pervasive stigmas about the disease if they are to live out the gospel in their communities, panelists told Baptists in Atlanta.

The issue is plagued by "an unholy trinity of silence, shame and stigma," said Raphael Warnock, pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Warnock was among the panelists who participated in a special interest session on "The HIV/AIDS Pandemic" during the New Baptist Covenant celebration Jan. 31.

By Jim White and Robert Dilday
Virginia Religious Herald

ATLANTA-Author Tony Campolo challenged Baptists from across North America to examine which Jesus they preach-the one who incarnates American values or the one who incarnates God.

Campolo, professor emeritus at Eastern University near Philadelphia, and children's advocate Marian Wright Edleman headlined a Jan. 31 morning plenary session at the New Baptist Covenant convocation. The session explored the devastating effects of poverty in America and around the world.

"We've got to get our values straightened out," Campolo said.

Nobel Prize winner and former Vice President Al Gore addressed “Stewardship of the Earth” during a special luncheon at the New Baptist Covenant Celebration today.  A video of his opening remarks is now available for viewing. 

Visit the video page of our website and select the video you wish to view by clicking on the session's image.

The first two videos from Thursday's plenary sessions have been posted, featuring a sermon by Tony Campolo on "The Bible Speaks about the Poor," and a message by Marian Wright Edleman, founder of Children's Defense Fund, titled "What About the Children?"

Visit the video page of our website and select the video you wish to view by clicking on the session's image.

By Marv Knox & Greg Warner
Baptist Standard & Associated Baptist Press

Photo: Billy Howard

ATLANTA-Baptist unity took center stage during the opening night of the New Baptist Covenant convocation in Atlanta Jan. 30.

About 10,000 African-American, Anglo, Asian-American and Hispanic Baptists gathered at the urging of former President Jimmy Carter and Mercer University President Bill Underwood.

They represented about 30 Baptist conventions and organizations, all affiliated with the North American Baptist Fellowship, the regional affiliate of the Baptist World Alliance.