Baptist Leader Sees Signs of Improved Relations Between 2 Top Conventions

ATLANTA — An official of the big, predominantly white Southern Baptist Convention said the group’s relations with the big, mostly black National Baptist Convention, USA, are better than they have been for three decades.

The Rev. Emmanuel McCall, a black who heads the SBC’s black church relations department, credits the change largely to the leadership of the Rev. T. J. Jemison, who two years ago became president of the black body.

Jemison urged reconciling steps with the SBC, saying it was time the two conventions began working together on a national level.

He invited two SBC leaders, including its president, the Rev. Charles Stanley, to speak at the black denomination’s recent convention, and the group gave him an unprecedented standing ovation, McCall said. “The significant thing is national leadership from both conventions are talking together,” he added.