BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Sunday led thousands of Baptist delegates in praise and Bible Study in the closing day of the Baptist World Centenary Congress in Birmingham.
Carter’s Bible study went into the issue of finding a ‘common understanding’ between Christians. In a present day where Christian opinions are so publicly divided, Carter focused on bringing people’s minds back to unity in diversity.
Carter was born on on Oct. 1, 1924, in Georgia, and has been a devout Baptist and Sunday School teacher for many years.
While serving as President of the USA, Carter was a member of the First Baptist Church in Washington DC and also taught in a Sunday School there when he had time.
Jimmy Carter has been a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the BWA Human Rights Award among many other honours.
In 1985 he addressed the Baptist World Congress in Los Angeles, and also served as honorary chair of the BWA Special Commission on Baptists Against Racism.
Organizers of the Centenary Congress in Birmingham were touting Carter’s Bible Study in the National Indoor Arena as ‘The World’s Biggest Ever Sunday School Class’.
Yesterday, Carter also gave a press conference upon his arrival at the Baptist World Centenary Congress, which was attended by exiting BWA President Revd Billy Kim, new BWA President David Coffey, as well as other well-known Baptists such as Rick Warren, author of the bestselling Christian book, ‘The Purpose Driven Church’.
President Carter said the world was currently suffering from an “intense hunger for an intense healing of the differences that separate one another”.
He went on to call for greater inter-denominational unity as a solution to the split in the Christian faith in order to provide the secular world with “a singular voice … that can set aside the divisions that plague our faith”, as well as criticising Christians for the “escalation of differences based on human differences.”
He also expressed great hope in establishing a strong and peaceful interfaith dialogue in order to prevent the current growth of terrorism from turning into a pandemic.
Carter received huge applause from the thousands of appreciative Baptists gathered for his Bible Study, which also included music, prayer and worship led by Phyllis Byrdwell from the USA, and focus on God at work in Asia.
Daniel Blake
Christian Today Correspondant