The Preacher And The Presidents

Progressive Baptists honor civil rights icon

A hush fell over the ballroom of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel as the Rev. Gardner C. Taylor talked about the urgent phone call that he got in 1961 from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

King, then 32, had been removed as an officer of the National Baptist Convention USA because of his leadership role in the emerging civil rights movement, and he was concerned about the group’s reluctance to take a stand on racial injustice. Taylor, one of King’s mentors, was outraged by the group’s treatment of the young minister and uttered a few words that even now he won’t mention.

“You are of noble heritage. Many people paid a great price,” Taylor told those assembled for the tribute.

It is fitting, Taylor said, that Progressive Baptists marked the 50th anniversary as the nation’s capital prepares for the Aug. 28 dedication of a national memorial honoring King, who not only pushed a group of bold young black ministers to tie social justice to the Gospel but also became the voice of a people fed up with injustice.

“Dr. King stood in the vanguard of those who paid a great price,” Taylor said. “The nation had a future that it had not yet begun to imagine. The fact that we have a president of color was far beyond the realm of possibilities, but God has a way of doing things.”

In the past five decades, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, based in Washington, has grown to include about 2.5 million members, and social justice remains part of its core mission. The group, for instance, is among those religious organizations that ordain women.

The Rev. Carroll A. Baltimore, the new president, said the group also continues to focus on developing young leaders.

In November 1961, 33 Baptists, responding to a letter from the Rev. L. Venchael Booth, gathered at his church, Zion Baptist in Cincinnati, to discuss the possibility of charting a new course. After intense days of meetings, the group, by a single vote, decided to break away and start a new organization.

The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham's White House ...

The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham’s White House Crusade / by Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs. (Hachette Audio, 2007) Abridged on 10 compact discs, read by L. J. Ganser. ISBN: 9781594839726

In The Preacher and the Presidents, Time correspondents Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs examine Billy Graham’s career from a unique perspective. Instead of a religious view of a religious man’s religious impact, they look at his political impact through his personal relationships with an unprecedented eleven consecutive Presidents of the United States, every one from Harry S Truman through George W. Bush. Graham has also met with President Barack Obama, but considers himself too old to continue serving him in a pastoral or advisory role.

Graham has regarded each President as God’s chosen leader and sought to help the one in power regardless of party affiliation or political stance. The various Presidents reacted differently to his ministry. Truman despised him. Kennedy, a thoroughly secular Catholic, never warmed up to him; at one point, Graham had to correct a comment Kennedy made about Catholic theology. Carter, likewise a well-known Southern Baptist, kept him at arm’s length, apparently believing that some of his predecessors merely needed Graham as a spiritual crutch.

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On the other hand, Graham had close personal relationships with Johnson and Nixon that continued after they left office. Johnson would ask him to come to the White House to pray in the middle of the night. Graham continued to visit him at his ranch when he was an ex-President scorned by both Republican and Democrats. Nixon used and betrayed Graham, but whatever hurt resulted did not cause a permanent strain on their friendship, and Graham still maintained ties with him in his disgrace.

Such highly public ties to the most powerful political figures of their time naturally tempted Graham to seek his own political power. His wife, along with his own personal humility, consistently preserved him from going down that path. In fact, he much more readily offered political advice early in his career, but came to regret it. The Preacher and the Presidents therefore not only traces his relationships with eleven Presidents, but also his evolution and growth as a pastor and spiritual advisor.

Billy Graham has long been one of the most respected men in America. The Preacher and the Presidents includes many incidents that are familiar from other biographical and autobiographical works, but its unique purpose and viewpoint shed new light on them. All-Purpose Guru Alert offers one well-regarded title every day. Links for past offers still work, too. Stop by regularly.

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