RICHMOND, Va.—Exploring Baptist identity in the 21st century will be the focus of a panel of young Baptist leaders May 22 sponsored by the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies.
“Young Voices: A Conversation on Baptist Identity Today” is will feature a panel of clergy, seminarians and professors discussing why they choose to be identified as Baptist. The event will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society at Second Baptist Church in Richmond, Va.
The afternoon panel discussion will include Alex Gallimore, associate pastor for youth at Piney Grove Baptist Church in Mount Airy, N.C. and a columnist for the Religious Herald; Andrew Gardner, a graduate of the College of William and Mary and a former Heritage Fellow of the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies who is currently an intern for Associated Baptist Press; Stacy Nowell, associate pastor at Harrisonburg (Va.) Baptist Church; Bailey Nelson, pastor of Flat Rock Baptist Church in Mount Airy, N.C.; Adam Bond, assistant professor of historical studies in the School of Theology at Virginia Union University in Richmond; and John Ballenger, pastor of Woodbrook Baptist Church in Baltimore.
Robert Dilday, managing editor of the Religious Herald, will facilitate the discussion.
The Baptist identity theme will continue to be developed that evening at 7:30 at the Historical Society’s annual meeting. Craig Sherouse, pastor of the host church, will share what Baptists around the world have in common besides a name. Sherouse is chair of the Baptist World Alliance’s Baptist heritage and identity commission.
The keynote address will be given by William Powell Tuck, author of a new book entitled Modern Shapers of Baptist Thought in America, which will be released at the meeting. Tuck was commissioned by the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies to write the book and he selected 24 individuals who were primary shapers of Baptist thought in the last century. He researched each life and wrote an analysis of their contributions and legacy.
In his address Tuck will give an overview of how these individuals impacted Baptist identity. Tuck has been a professor and has taught adjunctively at several colleges and at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. A native Virginian, he was pastor of churches in Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana. With the new publication, Tuck is the author of 21 books.
The evening program is free and open to the public. Copies of the new book will be available at the meeting and afterwards through the Heritage Center at www.baptistheritage.org.
Attendance for the conversation is limited and only by advance registration. If interested, contact the Heritage Center at 804.289.8434 for further information.