Baptists from around the nation came together across lines of difference to take part in the recent New Baptist Covenant celebration in Atlanta. Former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton headlined the event, which stressed the importance of unity and harmony as well as the amelioration of suffering around the world.

When we learned about the encouraging plans for the New Baptist Covenant celebration last year, our gay-affirming organization, the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, applied to be listed as an official participating organization. However, the event's leaders notified us that they could not list AWAB as an official participating organization because they didn't think they could hold together the large coalition of Baptists needed to create a new Baptist voice in North America while addressing the issue of sexual orientation at the same time.

The organizers of the New Baptist Covenant clearly agonized over the decision, but in the end they decided that it was too soon to make inclusion of gay people a part of their vision of unification.

It seemed to us that if we built a response of protest, we would only have proved that we were operating from the outside rather than persistently and gracefully demonstrating that we were, in fact, on the inside. In effect, a protest would have broken down even further the ties that bind us as Baptists.

Many Baptists, both gay and straight, know our Bible speaks of hospitality and love rather than of exclusion. Thus, we decided to encourage those Baptists who welcome and affirm gay people to make their voices heard during the celebration.

Some Baptists have spent their energy attacking gays and keeping them outside of the church. In so doing, they have demonstrated that unity among Baptists is not their main goal. We, however, feel differently. Rather than focusing on exclusion, we are spending our energy on graceful engagement from within. And we are seeing very good results. At the New Baptist Covenant gathering, we witnessed abundant signs of hope.

During the three-day event, former President Carter noted that Baptists hold diverse opinions about gay people. Best-selling novelist John Grisham called for the church's inclusion of gay people. Rev. Tony Campolo wore a rainbow-colored stole. Hundreds of participants sported rainbow stickers to proudly reveal their support for gay people.

Carter announced that Baptists hold diverse opinions about gay people; yet the celebration proved that Baptists are not as divided as some may believe. Each and every Sunday, countless numbers of our gay and straight brothers and sisters stand side by side in celebration of our faith. Regardless of who we love, we are all seeking the same things: Christ's love, salvation, justice, peace and hospitality.

Young people are looking to their parents to live out the value of hospitality. In a recent Barna Research report, 85 percent of non-Christian youth reported that they view Christian churches as hypocritical and say churches show excessive contempt for gay and lesbian people. That may not be surprising, but the same poll revealed that 80 percent of evangelical youth felt the same way toward Christian churches today.

Youth today are leading the way toward unity and harmony. Baptists began a vital conversation at the New Baptist Covenant celebration, but the future will depend on listening to youth today. It is a promising way to build true and lasting unity among the millions of Baptists across America. Some of us are listening. The emergence of many gay-affirming voices at the celebration makes it clear that we can experience God's hospitality with the confidence of freedom-loving Baptists everywhere.

— Ken Pennings is director and Heather Rittenhouse council chair of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists.