In December 2005, Mercer University and the Georgia Baptist Convention ended their 173-year affiliation. The severance was preceded by years of tension between the two institutions dating back to the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention. This development freed Mercer to create a new model for Baptist Higher Education that is based on the traditional Baptist principles of intellectual and religious freedom and respect for religious diversity. Toward that end, Mercer University convened on January 19–20, 2006. A meeting of more than 150 church leaders from across the country to explore ways to maintain and broaden Mercer’s Identity as a free Baptist institution serving Baptists not only in Georgia, but around the world. The Baptist Summit, as it has come to be known, included major addresses by President (now Chancellor) R. Kirby Godsey, by Professor Walter B. Shurden, and by President Elect (Now President) William D. Underwood. This publication is a compilation of those three addresses. William D. Underwood is Mercer University’s current President. Prior to joining Mercer, President Underwood served at Baylor University as Interim President and held the prestigious Leon Jaworski Chair at the Baylor School of Law, having joined the law faculty in 1990 after practicing law with a large firm in Dallas. President Underwood also took a leave of absence from the Law School from 1997-98 to serve as Baylor's General Counsel. R. Kirby Godsey served as Mercer University's 17th president and CEO from July 1, 1979, until June 30, 2006. He served as president longer than any of his predecessors. Under Dr. Godsey's leadership, Mercer grew to be among the largest Baptist-affiliated universities in the world and the only college or university of its size in the country to offer such diverse programs as liberal arts, business, education, engineering, pharmacy, law, theology, nursing, medicine and music. Walter B. Shurden, a native of Greenville, Mississippi, is a Professor of Christianity in the Roberts Department of Christianity in the College of Liberal Arts and Executive Director of The Center for Baptist Studies at Mercer University. He has written or edited fifteen books and published numerous articles