news

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – On the last full day of the 20th annual General Assembly, Fellowship Baptists were encouraged to re-think the impact of mainline Protestantism’s decline, approved the 2010-2011 budget and elected Colleen Burroughs moderator elect.

Registration closed Friday night with more than 2,400 registered participants for the three days of the Assembly, making it the biggest Assembly since the Washington, D.C., Assembly in 2007.

Author and Duke Divinity School professor Lauren Winner brought hope for Fellowship Baptists in the face of mainstream Protestant decline by framing the current challenges as an opportunity to focus on the mission of Jesus rather than internal, denominational problems.

“Really, we really are not powerless,” Winner said. “Remember we are working from the power of God. Also, we’re working from the power of institutions that haven’t, in fact, yet crumbled into uselessness. After all, it is God’s church, and we can’t kill it.”

In response to the offering appeal of George Mason, pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, Fellowship Baptists gave more than $10,000 Friday for a three-day offering total of $29,276, all supporting the CBF Offering for Global Missions.

Also on Friday, the children’s assembly, with more than 50 participants, paraded through the streets of Charlotte collecting food for those in need on the last day of the Assembly. Pulling along wagons decorated with balloons and streamers, the children gathered non-perishable food items from people working in uptown businesses. At the end of the parade, the children brought the food to local hunger ministry Loaves and Fishes.

In the first Assembly since the death of CBF’s first coordinator, Cecil Sherman, the Fellowship’s executive coordinator Daniel Vestal included a memorial slideshow and moment of silence in memory and tribute to Sherman’s life. Later Friday evening in the Assembly’s resource fair, Smyth and Helwys Publishing presented his daughter, Eugenia Sherman Brown, a framed copy of the cover of Sherman’s last book, “To Be A Good and Faithful Servant.”

Fellowship Baptists learn, connect and reflect in workshops

On Friday afternoon, Fellowship Baptists had the opportunity to participate in more than 30 workshops. Topics ranged from spiritual direction to disaster response ministry, and the Essentials Conference, which featured tracks on practical aspects of ministry.

More than 250 people attended the workshop “A Family Conversation about Same Sex Orientation” to hear the story of pastors Joy Yee of San Francisco, Calif., and George Mason of Dallas, Texas.

“I invite you into the presence of God and God’s people to hear testimonies of people who have struggled with the question that is before the church today. The question is, ‘How is God calling us to be the presence of Christ among persons of same sex orientation?’” said workshop facilitator David Odom, executive vice president of Leadership Education at Duke University. “This is not the end of a conversation, it’s the beginning.”

The potentially controversial conversation was handled in a worshipful manner, with a testimony, a time of silent reflection and a verse of the hymn “Come and Find the Quiet Center.” After Yee and Mason shared their ministry experiences, they had a brief period of dialogue between them before taking written questions submitted by the audience.

Yee said passages from the Bible on homosexuality should be balanced by passages against condemnation. She said if Christians wanted to learn more about the issue, they needed to listen to the stories of persons of same sex orientation.

Mason used the story of Jesus healing the blind man from John 9.  Jesus’ disciples asked “Who sinned?” Mason said Jesus seems to be saying that it’s less important to understand why things happen and more important to see what is possible now that it has happened.

Assembly approves budget, elects new officers

In his moderator’s report during Friday morning’s business session, Vestal reflected on the Assembly theme of 1 John 3:1-2, addressing the present reality of the Fellowship and his hope for the future.

“I believe the great test facing Cooperative Baptist Fellowship ‒ and perhaps the larger Baptist and Christian family ‒ is whether or not we really want to be who we are in Christ: ‘God’s servants working together’ or whether we want to be God’s servants working separately in competition and even in conflict? Will we affirm and celebrate our identity and let it shape our mission.”

Also, in the business session, the Assembly approved the 2010-2011 ministry and missions budget of $14.5 million. The Fellowship’s new officers were elected during the session, including moderator-elect Colleen Burroughs, vice president, Passport Inc., and recorder Joanne Carr, a member of First Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga. Moderator-elect Christy McMillin-Goodwin of Rock Hill, S.C., ascended to the moderator position at the conclusion of the meeting.

In addition, the Assembly approved a motion encouraging CBF partner churches to become prayer partners with the 44 churches in Juarez, Mexico, which has recently experienced an increase in violence. The motion was presented by Dick Hurst, a physician from Tyler, Texas.

Baptists honored at General Assembly events 

On Friday, the Whitsitt Baptist Historical Society awarded its 2010 Baptist Courage award to Carolyn Weatherford Crumpler, the executive director of the Woman’s Missionary Union from 1974-1989 and the founding mother of the Baptist Women in Ministry in 1983. Crumpler, who acknowledged she was a person who often got in trouble for speaking her mind, said, “Hope is hearing the music of the future and courage is the ability to dance to it.”

“I’ve found that my mission field is where I am,” Crumpler told a gathering of more than 100 people. “Look around you for the person in need and do what you can to help them today. It’s global missions wherever you are.”

At the annual meeting of the Religious Liberty Council of the Baptist Joint Committee, Bill Underwood, the president of Mercer University in Macon, Ga., and Gardner Taylor, senior pastor emeritus of Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, N.Y., were presented with the J.M. Dawson Religious Liberty Award, which recognizes the contributions and advocacy of individuals in defense of religious liberty of all people.

Vestal presented the inaugural Coordinating Council Alumna Award to Beverly Greer, missions coordinator for CBF of South Carolina at the Coordinating Council alumni dinner Friday night. Greer had been involved in the missions work of the Council in the early days of the Fellowship and now works as South Carolina’s missions coordinator on a volunteer basis.

Fellowship Baptists celebrate and network during auxiliary events

At the CBF Foundation breakfast, approximately 160 people heard from outgoing Foundation president Don Durham and Vestal. Also, Foundation Board President Rebecca Wiggs announced that interviews for the new president would begin Monday in Atlanta.

More than 170 people attended the luncheon for CBF-endorsed chaplains and pastoral counselors. Dick Hester, co-director of the Narrative Leadership Project at Triangle Pastoral Counseling in Raleigh, N.C., spoke about the power of curiosity.

“As chaplains and counselors, the people in this room have done the work of listening to another person’s story curiously,” Hester said. “And often we have walked away from these conversations saying to ourselves, ‘I am standing on sacred group, and this is why I do what I do.’”

At a luncheon celebrating the You’ve Got the Time Bible listening initiative, people shared stories of transformation from participating in the 40-day program.

“We really appreciated the team from [CBF-partner] Faith Comes By Hearing,” said Kasey Jones, pastor of National Baptist Memorial Church in Washington, D.C. “They had prayer with me over the phone and suggested we do the listening program from Mother’s Day to Father’s Day and distribute the discs on Easter.”

At the Church Benefits Board luncheon, Larry Carroll, president of Carroll Financial Associates, told the 150 attendees that sticking to the basics is the best philosophy in retirement investing.

“People who spend less than they save – good savers – don’t need to worry as much about which plan they are in,” Carroll said. “You have to learn to deal with the ups and downs of the markets and the sooner you get used to market fluctuation, the better. You need to stick to your plan and don’t let daily market results change what you need to do.”

For additional coverage of the Assembly, go to www.thefellowship.info/assembly. The 2011 General Assembly will be held in Tampa, Fla., June 23-24.

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.