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Shuhada Street, which once served as the main marketplace and thoroughfare for the Palestinian people of Hebron, is now almost entirely closed to its 200,000 residents. See Around the Alliance below.
Around the Alliance

Open Shuhada Street
 
by Paula Clayton Dempsey

Issa el Amro  and
 Paula Calyton Dempsey
Standing near a checkpoint in Hebron, the
second largest city in the West Bank,  Palestine, our ecumenical group of travelers with the National Council of Churches watched as a gentleman carrying a couple of bags of groceries was denied passage . Wearily, he turned to walk another way  home--a grocery store errand lengthened
because of the oppressive 23 checkpoints
within one  square  kilometer that prevent
Palestinians from walking on their own streets.
 
Our group passed through the turnstile checkpoint with few questions and emerged on the other side to discover an astonishingly quiet and scarcely traveled street. Most call it a ghost town when compared to its bustling activity prior to the Israeli occupation. Shuhada Street, which once served as the main marketplace and thoroughfare for the Palestinian people of Hebron, is now almost entirely closed to its 200,000 residents. 
Keep reading...

Learn more about the 2018 Open Shuhada Street campaign.

Voices

There is no line
 
by Carol Blythe
 
There has been a lot of attention recently on  immigration reform. You have probably hear d people say they  don't oppose immigration, but "people need to get 
in line and wait their turn."  The problem
with that sentiment is that most of the time, there is no line.
 
There is no line for my good friend at Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Maria (whose name has been changed for her safety) came to the United States in 2000 with two goals: to work here for three years to save enough money to return to El Salvador and build a comfortable small house for her family. She also had a dream to learn English during those three years. That was her plan, but as she says, "that was not God's will."

News and Analysis

Lean into disrupting binary choices
 

by  Andrew Gardner
 
In November of 2017, messengers to the annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist Convention cast their votes to 'monitor' congregations within their state-body that were also affiliated with 
the  Cooperative
Baptist Fellowship. 
Kentucky  Baptists 
were and are concerned that the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's Illumination Project, which is reportedly being released this week, might recommend removing the Fellowship's nearly eighteen-year-old hiring  ban on LGBT individuals.
 
The issue reveals the ways in which Anglo-Baptist life in the South continues to feel the affects of the fracturing of the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s. While the national body of the Southern Baptist Convention may have worked through the affects of these divisions, state conventions and associations, regional bodies and Baptist bodies abroad continue to struggle through question regarding the ramifications of the more than 30 year old conflict. Some congregations and individuals even struggle to negotiate the relationship between the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists.  Keep reading...

Practicing Congregation

Resurrection dance at Chartres

by Tim Moore
 
Last summer while I was visiting the labyrinth at Chartres in France the cathedral announced newly discovered liturgical information. The announcement, provided on
 an eight-foot-tall banner, stated that several  authenticated texts provided the new
information, though it did not provide any citations or source material. (If you have walked a canvass labyrinth, finger walked a  pottery labyrinth, or seen pictures of one, there's a 50 percent chance it's been a rendering of the Chartres labyrinth.)
 
On Easter morning the dean of the cathedral began walking the labyrinth, carrying in his arms a yellow ball of wool, while the Gregorian chant, Victimae Paschali Laudes, proclaimed Christ's resurrection.  As the priest meandered through the pathway the congregation began encircling the outer rim of the labyrinth.  


Alliance Annual Gathering


A climate camp, robust workshops, spirit-filled preaching and fellowship are just some of the features of the Alliance of Baptists'  2018 Annual Gathering April 26-29 in Dayton, Ohio. The theme is "Earth: Beloved Community." Register now!

Alliance Sunday Resources


Alliance Day is an opportunity for congregational partners to celebrate the theological home, partnerships and prophetic witness that is the Alliance of Baptists, as well as an occasion for the local congregation to recommit to pursuing God's call to justice and love in partnership with the Alliance.  Celebrate in February, the month when the Alliance was formed, or choose a Sunday that fits your church year observances. And, feel free to use these resources as you celebrate.


Summer Communities 
of Service


There's still time to apply  for the Summer Communities of Service (SCOS) program, an ecumenical collaboration between the UCC Volunteer Ministries and Alliance of Baptists. 


Ecumenical Partner Highlight

Make plans to participate in the kick-off of Act Now: Unite to End Racism , an initiative of the National Council of Churches supported by the Alliance. Events April 3-5 in Washington, D.C., will include a worship service at St. Sophia's Greek Orthodox Cathedral on April 3; an interfaith service at the Lincoln Memorial the 
morning of April 4, a massive rally on the National Mall later in the day, and a time of commitment at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the evening; and a day of advocacy on Capitol Hill April 5. To join the Alliance in the effort, email paula@allianceofbaptists.org.


Calendar

Feb. 12-15 -  Paula Clayton Dempsey  will attend the Morehouse School of Religion's Charles DuBois Hubert Lecture Series in Atlanta, Ga.

Feb. 12-15 - Toya Richards  will attend the 2018 Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference in Memphis, Tenn.

Feb. 25 - Ken Meyers will speak and teach at Covenant Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas.

Feb. 26-27 - Ken Meyers will attend ChurchWorks 2018 in San Antonio, Texas.

March 5 - Jason Smith will attend an executive committee meeting of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty in  Washington, D.C.

The Alliance of Baptists is a vibrant movement of people, faith communities and ministry partners who are deeply passionate about ecumenism, partnership in mission, relentless hospitality and social justice.

Leadership Team
Carole Collins, director of operations & finance
Paula Clayton Dempsey, director of partnership relations

Staff
Cathy McGaughey, operations specialist
Ken Meyers, faith formation specialist
Kristy Pullen, website specialist
Toya Richards, communications specialist
Jason Smith, congregational engagement specialist