No Richardson in this National Baptist Convention election
-
- August
- 28
The National Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest African-American church group, will elect a new president next month in Memphis.
And for the first time in 20 years, Mount Vernon’s W. Franklyn Richardson won’t be running.
Richardson ran for the top job in the last THREE elections and came in second each time.
He was once vice president of the Convention and made it clear that it was a dream of his to lead the denomination, which has long been regarded as a sleeping giant of American religion. The Convention has something like 7.5 million members but makes little noise on the national scene.
As Westchesterites know, Richardson is a mover and shaker. I always felt that it would have been real interesting to see what he could do as a national leader.
But it was not to be. The Rev. William Shaw of Philadelphia, a respected, professorial minister, is finishing his second, five-year term.
The election will take place on Sept. 10.
The gathering of black Baptists is expected to draw a huge crowd, something like 30,000 people. As I was covering Richardson’s campaigns, I was fortunate to attend the Convention in New Orleans in 2004 (a year before Katrina) and in Tampa in 1999.
Since few reporters cover the Convention’s gatherings, I was repeatedly mistaken for a hotel employee at both locations.
This entry was posted
on Friday, August 28th, 2009 at 1:13 pm by Gary Stern.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Print
| 
Email
The world of religion, we don't have to tell you, is vast. The purpose of this blog is for Stern to note, flag and comment on some of the more interesting religious developments on the scene – weighty and quirky, somber and laughable, far away and just down the road. He won't interpret Scripture, take sides in conflicts or judge anyone. But he will take advantage of the journalist's license to observe.
Well white reporters are rare during the post Lyons Convention.
Dr. Richardson is my hero, I am saddened that he never became president of NBC because of “good old boy” Church politics in the convention. Shaw has taken the convention backwards and has never accomplished anything that would have a dramatic effect on it’s members from across this country.
I believe that Dr. Richardson would have brought us into the millineum with challenging, cutting edge ideas which would have provided much needed benefits, access, and resources for it’s constituants leading to a season of harvest in membership for our churches and the convention.