ATLANTA – Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions and three state CBF organizations partnered with Baptist Center for Ethics to produce a new online, missions-based Sunday school curriculum.
"Leading Churches into 21st Century Missions: 13 Lessons in Acts" is a 13-week quarterly study about the church’s importance in global missions. The undated study became available this fall but can be used at any point during the year.
Curriculum editor Jan Turrentine asked CBF Global Missions to participate in April. Tamara Tillman, the Fellowship’s associate coordinator for missions education, said the partnership was "an opportunity to have a CBF voice and to provide the perspective of one of our field personnel." Rick Burnette, one of CBF’s Global Missions field personnel in Thailand, wrote the lesson about commissioning missionaries. Burnette’s lesson is the free sample lesson that can be downloaded from BCE’s Web site, www.ethicsdaily.com.
CBF Global Missions usually produces its own curriculum, but, "We’re glad to partner with other groups to tell the missions story," said Grace Powell Freeman, the Fellowship’s associate coordinator for missions operations.
AlabamaCBF, CBF of Georgia and CBF of South Carolina also partnered with BCE in the production.
Devita Parnell, CBF of Georgia’s associate coordinator for congregational life, said the curriculum’s international field of writers "represents the global Baptist community," presenting "missions in a different light."
In addition to Burnette, curriculum writers include:
Mark McEntire, associate professor of religion at Belmont University
Bob Allen, EthicsDaily.com managing editor
John Upton, Baptist General Association of Virginia executive director
Tony Cupit, Baptist World Alliance director of evangelism and education
Erich Geldbach, professor emeritus of ecumenical studies at Germany’s Ruhr University Bochum
Parush Parushev, dean of International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague, Czech Republic
Laurence Barber of Toronto Area Association of Baptist Churches
Bob Fox, pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Georgetown, Ky.
Jan Turrentine, Acacia Resources managing editor
Paul Montacute, Baptist World Aid director
Ken Hall, Buckner Baptist Benevolences president
Churches can purchase and download the curriculum at www.ethicsdaily.com.
CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.