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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – More than 1,200 people were challenged to be passionate about joining in God’s mission as 16 new field personnel were commissioned for full-time missions service by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship June 22.

CBF-affiliated Pritchard Memorial Baptist Church hosted the Commissioning Service on the opening day of the Fellowship’s 20th General Assembly, which included the Leadership Institute with Alan Roxburgh, the meeting of the Fellowship’s Coordinating Council and continuation of the collegiate missional experience called the Charlotte Sessions.

“You come with your lives, saying you take this seriously,” said CBF Global Missions coordinator Rob Nash, speaking to the new field personnel. “You are doing what Scripture calls us all to do ‒ following in the footsteps of Jesus. As you go, you have our prayers, our promise of support and our promise to stand with you. Commission means ‘to send together,’ and that is what we are doing tonight. We send with you all we can give as we all seek to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.”

As part of the AsYouGo affiliate program, all the new field personnel are self-supporting personnel serving through the CBF Global Missions field team structure. Whether through business or education employment or through the direct financial support of churches, the program provides a global missions connection for CBF-minded people who have a specific mission calling.

New field personnel and places of service include:

• Anna Anderson, Eastern North Carolina

• Rachel Brunclikova, Czech Republic

• Cindy and Ryan Clark, Baguio City, Philippines

• Anjani and James Cole, Northern Spain

• Lindsay, Southeast Asia

• Mickael Eyraud and Kamille Krahwinkel, China

• Blake and Rebekah Hart, Chile

• Jennifer Jenkins, Haiti

• C.J. and Jack Wehmiller, Murrayville, Ga.

• Mark and Sara Williams, Johannesburg, South Africa

During the service, $12,508 was given to the CBF Offering for Global Missions, which pays for the salaries, benefits and operating and ministry expenses of CBF field personnel.

Task force appointed to carry out restructuring conversation started at Callaway

At its June meeting, the Coordinating Council continued the conversation from the April retreat at Callaway Gardens of leaders of the Fellowship Baptist movement. CBF executive coordinator Daniel Vestal and Baugh Foundation president Babs Baugh reflected on the experience and convened a discussion by the Council that centered on the same questions that were considered at the Callaway Retreat.

“At the retreat, people were eager for things to be done, to move forward,” Baugh said. “People were excited about the future and wanted to be involved. There was a wonderful sense of free and open camaraderie and atmosphere of trust. We want this to continue.”

Vestal has asked Hal Bass, CBF moderator, to put together a task force to meet for two years, reporting back to the Coordinating Council, the 2011 General Assembly in Tampa, Fla., and the 2012 General Assembly in Fort Worth, Texas.

The task force, which was endorsed by the Council, will address three items related to organizational models ‒ models of community that foster missional collaboration, organizational structures that respond effectively to global challenges and ways Baptist churches and organizations can embrace their identity as partners.

“One of the things that came out of the retreat is that it is time for us to evaluate ourselves in terms of structure,” Vestal said. “Is our organizational model the model that best fits the future? We created a model 20 years ago, and now we are at a place where we need to look at the next 20 years.”

The task force will be chaired by David Hull, pastor of First Baptist Church, Huntsville, Ala. Other members will include: Jean Willingham, St. Petersburg, Fla.; Alan Culpepper, Atlanta, Ga.; Ray Higgins, Little Rock, Ark.; Larry Hovis, Pfafftown, N.C.; Tony Hopkins, Greenwood, S.C.; Stephen Cook, Danville, Va.; Rene’ Maciel, San Antonio, Texas; Ruth Perkins Lee, Auburn, Ala.; Hollyn Holman, Washington, D.C.; Kasey Jones, Washington, N.C.; Susan Deal, Orlando, Fla.; Laura Hoffman, St. Louis, Mo.; Connie McNeill, Atlanta, Ga.

CBF Controller Larry Hurst reported to the Coordinating Council that while the Fellowship is currently operating under a financial contingency plan of 80 percent, as of May 31, the Fellowship’s expenditures are $8 million, 76 percent of the projected amount, and revenues are at $8.7 million, 73 percent of the projected amount. The Fellowship is currently $700,000 in the black, but historical giving trends indicate the lowest revenue months are the remaining four months of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. If current trends continue, the Fellowship will end the fiscal year with a 3.5 percent shortfall.

When asked about steps the Fellowship staff are taking to control expenses, Vestal said that because of careful fiscal management and the grace of God, CBF has not had to call any field personnel home. He cited the generosity of an anonymous donor who had helped underwrite the cost of field personnel for the last several years.

Vestal said that in the near future if the goal for the CBF Offering for Global Missions isn’t reached, the Fellowship may have to bring field personnel home.

“I believe when we start speaking in those kinds of terms to our people, they will respond above and beyond what we think they will do,” said Janie Sellers, Coordinating Council member from Abilene, Texas.

“Tonight, we will be commissioning 16 people,” said Rob Nash, coordinator of CBF Global Missions. “God is calling people and we are sending them, even as we deal with all of the other challenges. That is a miracle. That is something we can celebrate.”

Leadership Institute

At Wednesday’s Leadership Institute, Alan Roxburgh, author of “Leading Missional Churches” spoke to more than 150 ministers and lay leaders about how church leaders can assist churches in discern their role in God’s mission. Roxburgh challenged those in attendance to ask the question: “What is God up to in my neighborhood and how do we join in?”

“The primary way we encounter God is in the eyes of a stranger and the primary way we encounter God is the practice of hospitality to a stranger,” said Roxburgh. “Too often, we see ourselves as the people in control of the meal. But in reality, we need to become like the stranger in need of hospitality.”

College students explore impact of relational ministry at Hyaets

For the third year, college students gathered for a week-long collegiate missional experience, the Charlotte Sessions, during the week of the Assembly. The event included a day of learning and missions at Hyaets, an intentional Christian community in Charlotte. Started five years ago by several graduates of CBF partner Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, members of Hyaets seek to make a difference by living in and becoming part of a low-income, high-risk community.

“We try to be family more than anything,” said Jason Williams, a Hyaets member. “We’re not here to be a [ministry] center. We’re here to be good neighbors. We’re not here to do ministry for people or to people; we’re doing it with people.”

Charlotte Sessions participants Jazzmone Sutton, Christy Kilborn and Bre van Velzen are part of an intentional Christian community connected with CBF partner church Winter Park Baptist Church in Wilmington, N.C. Like Hyaets members, the three women live in the community and “try to be a light in the neighborhood,” said Kilbourn.

The students participated in daily activities at Hyaets, including a field day for children at a local park, which helped show the students “what [intentional Christian community] looks like when it’s working,” said van Velzen.

Many of the approximately 20 students participating in the Charlotte Sessions are serving as summer interns in CBF partner churches through the Fellowship’s Lily Endowment-funded program to provide summer church internships to college students exploring a call to church ministry. As part of the Charlotte Sessions, students also participate in the Assembly, including helping lead a workshop about starting a college ministry.

Thursday’s schedule includes the first business session, workshops to introduce and explore the Fellowship’s eight mission communities, state and regional meetings and worship featuring Baptist historian Bill Leonard. For more coverage, including photo galleries and videos of keynote addresses, visit www.thefellowship.info/charlotte.

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.