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John Pierce of Baptists Today reports on the announcement of the second national New Baptist Covenant gathering. The story is .

Jimmy Carter seems to be very committed to seeing the NBC have a lasting impact in Baptist life, calling it a "a very high priority in my life."

Is there any truth to the rumor that the meeting will be called the “Baptist Hajj,” the better to reconcile Baptists with Muslims instead of just reconciling Baptist whites with blacks and vice versa…not to mention honoring some of (if not most of…who knows?) the Carter Center’s financial backers? Atlanta- as-Mecca has a nice sound, but San Antonio as the only signed-up participant city thus far seems ominous for the NBC – that Alamo thing, doncha know. As for timing, one supposes the meeting should have been held last January (the triennial thing, to be exact), but then, of course, the latter half of November is much closer to 2012, another quadrennial madness, with Obama needing all the help he can get, although Hillary didn’t profit the last time around, even with hubby Bill on the program. Alas, the climate has been cooling since 2008 (since 1995, actually), so St. Albert, lately of masseuse-fame, will not likely appear, a terribly inconvenient truth, though the polar-bear king seems to be having a good time lately.

The last meeting was planned around the gathering of several African-American Baptist groups in Atlanta in 2008, and they constituted most of the crowd, depending on which news source you read. The multi-site gathering might prove a little more effective in gathering a larger crowd, and is probably something Baptist everywhere can learn from. The days of holding single location convention meetings in expensive convention halls, with expensive hotels and high airfares, and expecting a big group to gather, are over. Electronic telecasts and participation are the way to go.

What action, other than planning a new set of meetings, has resulted from the previous gathering? Lots of "dialogue" and "sit and listen" meetings, but then everyone went home after enjoying a few days of golf, speeches, presentations, a few write-ups in a few small Baptist publications, and I don't see much action with regard to unifying and motivating Baptists. News from the African American groups involved hardly mention it. Other than meeting, dialoguing, and giving a platform to a few chosen faves, and some news headlines to Carter, I don't see much going on.