The Rev. Russell Moore, the man who leads the Southern Baptist's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, is on a mission: He wants to bring leaders of the nation's largest Protestant denomination together along racial lines.

"In the church, a black Christian and a white Christian are brothers and sisters," Moore said, according to The Associated Press. "We care what happens to the other, because when one part of the Body hurts, the whole Body hurts. ... When we know one another as brothers and sisters, we will start to stand up and speak up for one another."

In 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention was formed when Southern Baptists continued letting those who owned slaves become missionaries. This group broke off from other Baptists.

Southern Baptists were against the end of segregation or just remained quiet on the topic during the civil rights movement. The group did end up declaring racism a sin.

Moore organized a leadership summit, "The Gospel and Racial Reconciliation," to be held this spring with two goals in mind: He wants to promote racial justice by describing it as an order from the Gospel, and he does not want race to be a factor between Southern Baptists.

Dwight McKissic, a black Southern Baptist pastor in Arlington, praised leaders for trying to move in the right direction, but he criticized the church for not doing more. He said that there are only whites in top positions.

"The church lacks the moral authority to address the world about race before we set our own house in order," McKissic said.

Moore said he is a bit dejected and unsure about what his efforts might accomplish.

"My grief is we're late to this party," Moore said. "We should have been leading the way. The Christian church should be the first to speak to issues of discrimination and injustice ... not sitting back."

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