National Council of Churches logo represents the church 
as ecumenical ship, serving the world

THE ALLIANCE OF BAPTISTS

11/16/2000 News Story: Alliance of Baptists Welcomed as NCC's 36th Member

The Alliance of Baptists is a Washington, D.C.-based communion of 60,000 Baptists in 125 congregations in the southeast.   The NCC's General Assembly, in November 1999, declared the communion eligible for NCC membership, for confirmation at the Assembly's November 2000 annual meeting.

"From our beginnings in 1987, the Alliance of Baptists has been more a movement than an organization," said Executive Director Stan Hasty in a brief written "overview" submitted in 1999.  "Born in the white-heat controversy of a fundamentalist uprising that resulted in the capture of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Alliance was first named the Southern Baptist Alliance. Within five years, however, our sense of identity as a movement separate and apart from the convention out of which we came had solidified to the point of changing our name to the Alliance of Baptists and abandoning finally the struggle for the soul of the SBC."

Following endorsement of the Alliance for NCC membership, Mr. Hasty, in a voice quaking with emotion, told the Assembly its vote "is an act of true grace. Though we are only 10 years old, we have envisioned the action you have taken today since our beginning—we Baptists in the South have isolated ourselves from the rest of the world for far too long. Today marks a milepost of significance for us that I can scarcely exaggerate. With great thanksgiving, we offer ourselves to you."

NCC News Service/2000 General Assembly Index
NCC Home Page