Alliance of Baptists considers revisioning                                   

by Sue Harper Poss                                                                                                       Vol. XV, No. 2, February 2002

The Alliance of Baptists recently co-sponsored a one-day mini-convocation in Oakland, CA, with the Pacific Coast Baptist Association, an association of American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. A small organization numbering 105 churches, the Alliance's strength has been its ability to make connections, said Executive Director Stan Hastey. Those denominational connections include international partnerships in Cuba, Zimbabwe, and Canada. In the US the Alliance works closely with the United Church of Christ, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). In 2000, the Alliance was accepted as a member of the National Council of the Churches of Christ, and it maintains a relationship with the Institute of Christian and Jewish Studies.

Prior to the convocation, the Alliance board of directors discussed a process for looking anew at the organization's role. "We are at a point where the challenges we face strongly suggest an organizational reassessment," said immediate-past president Welton Gaddy of Washington. "The niche that we filled 15 years ago is now much larger and has much more potential for ministry than we are equipped for."

Gaddy's comments sparked lengthy conversation about what the role of the Alliance should be, and prompted current president Paula Clayton Dempsey, chaplain at Mars Hill College in North Carolina, to appoint a four-member task group to bring a suggested "revisioning process" to the board in April. [ABP]