Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

In-depth feature on the Rev. Mike Cummings, who on May 19 became the first minority president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, most of whose 1.2 million members are white. Cummings's term will end in November, but supporters hope he will run for election to another one-year term. Information added by this article includes: the fact that Cummings plans to continue the previous president's plans to have moderates and conservatives in the convention share power; his goal to evangelize to bring more Native Americans and other minorities into the convention; treatment of Native Americans within the convention when they first gained full membership and voting rights in the 1950s; differences between rural Lumbee churches (and the issues their members face) and white churches in the convention; and the common ground Lumbee members find with others in the convention because of their theological conservatism.