ATLANTA — Organizers of the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant scheduled for Jan. 30 through Feb. 1, 2008, in Atlanta, have released a detailed schedule of the plenary sessions and the speakers.
The session at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 30, features welcomes from Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Mercer University President Bill Underwood, North American Baptist Fellowship President David Goatley and National Missionary Baptist Convention of America President C.C. Robertson. The sermon will be delivered by National Baptist Convention USA President William Shaw, and former President Jimmy Carter will deliver the keynote address.
The session at 9 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 31, features a testimony by Naw Blooming Night Zan of the Karen Baptist Women's Organization of Burma; sermon by Tony Campolo, professor emeritus at Eastern University; and a keynote address by Marian Wright Edleman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund.
The session at 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 31, features a sermon from Julie Pennington-Russell, pastor of First Baptist Church, Decatur, Ga.; a testimony by Grant Teaff, former Baylor University head football coach and executive director of the American Football Coaches Association; and a keynote address from best-selling author John Grisham.
The session at 9 a.m., Friday, Feb. 1, features a sermon by Joel Gregory, professor of preaching at Baylor University's Truett Seminary; an address on feeding the hungry by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa; a testimony by Morehouse College of Medicine professor and former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher; and an address on immigration by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
The final plenary session at 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 1, features a sermon by Charles G. Adams, pastor of Hartford Baptist Church in Detroit; a testimony from Hanna Massad, pastor of Gaza Baptist Church in Gaza City, Gaza; and a keynote address by former President Bill Clinton.