Baptist groups gathered November 17-19 in Atlanta for the New Baptist Covenant II, a conference to unite disparate Baptist groups around a platform of social justice ministries.

Social activists Marian Wright Edelman and Tony Campolo joined President Jimmy Carter and seven other speakers at the meeting, which was linked by satellite and Internet to dozens of viewing locations around the country, including sites in San Antonio and Oklahoma City.

The New Baptist Covenant was started in 2008 by President Carter, who led a grassroots effort that brought together Baptist groups of various stripes for the first time in a hundred years at the historic New Covenant Conference, which drew 15,000 participants to Atlanta from 40 different Baptist denominations.

For this follow-up conference, organizers used technology to unite participants. Most participants gathered at one of eight viewing locations that are linked by satellite feeds. Many more people watched in smaller church-based gatherings via Internet video streaming. An estimated 20,000 people participated in the November event, organizers report. For more information, visit newbaptistcovenant.org.