Back to Southern Baptist Reports
Back to the Way of Life Home Page
Way of Life Literature Online Catalog

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS JOIN HANDS WITH UNBELIEVERS IN ECUMENICAL CONFERENCE

[Distributed by Way of Life Literatureâs Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Copyright 2000. These articles cannot be stored on BBS or Internet sites and cannot be sold or placed by themselves or with other material in any electronic format for sale, but may be distributed for free by e-mail or by print. They must be left intact and nothing removed or changed, including these informational headers. This is a listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Our goal is not devotional but is TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. If you desire to receive this type of material on a regular basis, e-mail us, give us your name, address, and the name of the church you are a member of, and request to be placed on the list. Please note that this is not a free service. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and each subscriber is expected to participate. To unsubscribe or to submit a change of address, send your name and the request to fbns@wayoflife.org. This is not an automated list. Changes in the database often require two to four days to activate. Some of these articles are from O Timothy magazine. David W. Cloud, Editor. O Timothy is a monthly magazine in its 17th year of publication. Subscription is $20/yr.  Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site -- http://www.wayoflife.org/.]

August 28, 2000 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - The Religious Communication Congress 2000 was held in Chicago in March of this year, and among the organizations participating was the Baptist Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. The goal of the congress, which is held every 10 years, is to provide a "multi-faith forum for communicators of religion" to assist them in more effectively communicating religion throughout the world.

The 1,150 participants represented a bewildering variety of religions and "Christian" denominations, cults, and organizations. These included American Baptist Churches, American Bible Society, Anglican Church of Canada, Associated Baptist Press, Association of Unity Churches, Bahaâi International Community, Baptist Communicators Association, Baptist Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Catholic Press Association of the US and Canada, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Church of Christ, Scientist [Christian Science], Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [Mormon], Church of the Brethren, Church Women United, Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities, Mennonite Church/Church of the Brethren, Episcopal Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Faith Today (publication of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada), General Council of the Assemblies of God, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Islamic Society of North America, Jewish Community Federation of Louisville, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Maryknoll World Productions, Mennonite Church, Moravian Church in America, National Bible Association, National Catholic Broadcasting Foundation, National Council of Churches of Christ Communication Commission, USA, National Religious Broadcasters, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahaiâs of the United States, World Association for Christian Communication (NABS-WACC), North American Regional Association, Presbyterian Church USA, Reformed Church in America, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Society of the Divine Word, Soka Gakkai International, USA, Unitarian Universalist Association, United Church of Canada, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, United Religions Initiative, VISION/TV, and the World Council of Churches.

Brad Pokorny, who represented the Bahaâi religion, described the congress in these words: "In general, there was an atmosphere of genuine interfaith ecumenism that WENT BEYOND MERE TOLERANCE TO A REAL SENSE OF HARMONY AND CONSONANCE. I think in some ways religious communicators may well be out in front of their congregations and their leadership on this issue" ("RCC 2000 reflects worldâs diversity," United Methodist News Service, April 13, 2000).

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).