ATLANTA — A year-long spiritual discernment process culminated Oct. 10 in the unanimous approval by its governing Coordinating Council of the re-prioritizing of the national Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s (CBF) work.
Also, the Fellowship through Aug. 31 reported revenues over expenditures of $525,870.
“This was, without a doubt, one of the most important meetings for the Fellowship during my tenure as executive coordinator,” said Daniel Vestal, CBF’s executive coordinator since 1996. “I believe the Spirit has been present in every step of this discernment process. We now have a clearer sense of what God is calling us to do together as a fellowship for the next five to seven years.”
After 13 months of discerning through feedback sessions with the CBF staff, Coordinating Council, state and regional CBF organizations, Current young leaders network, and other CBF groups, 47 specific activities grouped into seven categories emerged.
The top 15 actions, grouped under the top three priorities, are as follows:
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Interacting with the world community
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Support and promote the Millennium Development Goals
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Expand advocacy efforts for human rights, religious liberty, and social justice
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Develop a national framework to address poverty in the United States
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Honoring generations, gender and race
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Invest in young Baptists
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Model racial, gender and generational inclusion in hiring and leadership
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Heighten understanding of women in leadership
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Missional engagement
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Increase funding for global missions efforts
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Educate and develop missional leaders
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Increase awareness of global missions efforts
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Provide training for indigenous church leaders and pastors
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Facilitate short term mission engagement opportunities for churches and individuals
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Provide missional resources
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Facilitate long term relationships among churches, individuals, and field personnel ministries
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Expand communication of CBF’s mission and vision
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Increase the number of field personnel (missionaries)
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“God has blessed our Fellowship in its early history,” said Moderator Jack Glasgow, pastor of Zebulon Baptist Church in Zebulon. “Now, God has been with us in this prayerful process of discernment. These priorities will support our fundamental principles. Under a vision to be the presence of Christ to one another and to the world, we will continue to strive to fulfill our mission of serving Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission. And, we will continue to live out our core values.”
Glasgow then appointed a five-member committee of the Council to begin working on a re-organization of the Council to match the priorities. That work group will be chaired by Tom Siddle, of Rocky Mount, Va., and includes Sylvia McQuaig, of Jacksonville, Fla.; Don Horton, of Zebulon, N.C.; Lynne Smith, of Burlington, Ky.; Jeremy Colliver, of Georgetown, Ky., and CBF staff members Connie McNeil, coordinator of administration, and Ben McDade, coordinator of advancement. The results of their work will be presented to the full Council at its July meeting in Houston.
“The officers, staff and Coordinating Council should engage in cooperative effort to develop outcome statements based on these strategic priorities and recommended actions,” Glasgow said. “We are partners together in a process to determine what CBF will look like in its near future, engaging in planning that will determine the next chapters in the CBF story.”