Evening Speakers

There were three speakers tonight at the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant and they each did a good job.

The first was Julie Pennington-Russell, pastor of First Baptist Church of Decatur, GA. She spoke about the importance of diversity and love. She made a strong plea for more love in how we speak and act. You can watch her speech here.

The second speaker was Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association. He gave a testimony in which he shared some personal experiences that challenged and inspired him. You can watch his speech here.

The final speaker was best-selling author and Baptist layman John Grisham. He talked about the image problem that Baptists have, offering personal examples that were both humorous and sad. He then offered three excellent points for how Baptists can work to avoid a poor image that drives people away from the church and God: respect diversity, do not get the church involved in partisan politics, and spend as much time working on the street as in the church. You can watch his speech here.