9:00 am Ministry Workshop Session IV 10:15 am Business Session 11:00 am Closing Worship
* Fellowship Dinner – dinner line will be open from 4:45 pm - 6:15 pm. Reservations are due by March 31. Register at www.cbfnc.org
Free childcare for the General Assembly is available by advanced registration due by March 14. Register at www.cbfnc.org
See page 3 for more on ministry workshop sessions.
Visit our website for discounted hotel options, directions, parking instructions, and more!
April 11-12
Forest Hills Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC
Keynote Speaker:
Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell Pastor, First Baptist Church, Decatur, GA
2008 General Assembly Offering
The 2008 Offering is for the children at the Village of Hope in Kiev, Ukraine. The city of Kiev, Ukraine, is home to four million people; however, several thousand of those residents are children who live on, in, or under the streets of the city. The Village of Hope is a home for these street children with foster families. Financial support for these families is needed now as it costs approximately $3,450 a year per child. Learn more at www.cbfnc.org and plan now to give at the General Assembly.
March/April
2008
The Gathering
of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina
January 2008 Contributions CBFNC Budget - $140,855; Other - $371,140
2007-2008 Monthly Budget Goal: $76,255
Have You Heard the Latest?
Did you know that CBF National’s Five-Day Academy for Spiritual Formation will take place March 30-April 4, and that CBFNC is offering partial scholarships?
Or that Dr. Randall Balmer, Professor of American Religious History, will be a guest lecturer at Campbell Divinity March 11?
... How about the organist needed at Boonville Baptist?
If you are not aware of this news, you are not receiving our bi-monthly e-newsletter! We keep our CBFNC family updated with news from our office, CBF National, missions requests, and news from our partners and friends. Subscribe today at www.cbfnc.org
You can also read old editions on our website. Don’t be left out of the loop!
CBFNC Office News
Jenny Green joins CBFNC Staff
Jennifer “Jenny” Green has been hired by CBFNC as an Administrative Assistant for the office in Winston-Salem. Jenny comes to us with an impressive background that includes positions in banking, bookkeeping, and customer service. She and her family are members of Peace Haven Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. Jenny began her duties with CBFNC on January 7th. We are excited to have her on the CBFNC staff!
Natalie and Chris Aho Welcome Baby Cameron
Natalie Aho, Communications Manager for the CBFNC, had a baby boy on February 4th. Cameron Kyle Aho weighed 7 lbs, 14 oz.
Mom, Dad and baby are doing well!
General Assembly ministry workshop topics:
AGE GROUP MINISTRIES
Make It, Take It: Practical Help of Children’s Sunday School Teachers
Parents and Grandparents as Spiritual Guides
Youth Ministry 101 for Clergy and Laity
Choices and Costs: State Institutions of Higher Education versus Our Private Baptist Institutions
Developing a Ministry for Middle-Aged Adults in Your Church
An Introduction to Godly Play
An Innovative Approach to Adult Sunday School
CBFNC ADMINISTRATION
CBFNC Mission Resource Plan / The Business of CBFNC
CHAPLAINS AND PASTORAL CARE GIVERS
Counseling Those with Sexual Addiction
HISPANIC NETWORK SESSIONS (presented in Spanish): Dirigiendo Conflicto en la Congregacion (Managing Conflict in the Congregation)
Congregaciones hispanas y valores americanos: Cómo crear y mantener relaciones amistosas para el Reino (Hispanic Congregations and American Values: Creating and Maintaining Friendly Relationships for the Kingdom)
Foro de dialógo (Dialogue Session)
Puentes de paz y justicia: La iglesia hispana como nexo vital entre las comunidades latina y Americana (Bridges of Peace and Justice: The Hispanic Church as a Vital Link Between the Hispanic and American Communities)
LOCAL CHURCH
New Consecration Sunday: An Effective Way to Develop Disciples and Your Church’s Ministries
North Carolina Baptist Historical Society Meeting
Making Your Church a Safe Environment for Families
Energy Conservation for Your Church
Preaching to Connect
Reaching People Under 40 While Keeping People Over 60
Music Ministry Models That Work
Courage and Hope: Lessons Learned from Baptist Women in Ministry
Voices of Proclamation
White Privilege, Diversity, and the Challenge of Reconciliation
Sports Ministry Evangelism
Enjoy Europe and Preach Too: Opportunities to Serve English-Speaking Baptist Churches
Beyond the 3 Hymn Sandwich: Creative Ideas for Free Church Worship
Being or Doing Church? A Missional Church Journey
Moving Off The Map: A Congregational Visioning Process for Answering God’s Missional Call
Grief Situations: Do’s and Don’ts
Creating a Healthy Community of Faith
You Can Do Drama Too
Recognizing Mental Illness and How to Help
MISSIONS
Millennium Development Goals and How You Can Help
Advocacy 101: Making a Difference for the Hungry or Poor Rewards/Challenges: Engaging Slavic Community in the U.S.
NC Missions Initiative Weekend
Educating Pastors and Laymen in Belize
Partnering with a Belizian Baptist Church/Pastor
Multiple Opportunities for Missions in Belize
Update on the Village of Hope Ministry in Ukraine
Is Islam Really a Religion of Peace?
Living Faith Ministry International, Lebanon
Student.Go in China
An Emergent Search for Identity
Waterbury Baptist Ministries: A Unique, Diverse Faith Community
Operation Inasmuch
Don’t You See That God is Doing a New Thing? Rural Poverty Update HIV/AIDS Ministry in My Community
RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING
Directing Traffic at the Intersection of Church and State Strategies for Jewish/Christian Dialogue
The Art of Faith Formation
Beginning a Spiritual Formation Retreat Ministry in Your Church
Introduction to Spiritual Formation
Simple Solutions for Spiritual Formation Foundations
A History of Baptists and Baptism
Baptists and Catholics: Four Decades of Conversation
Don’t Miss the BWIM Convocation
Baptist Women in Ministry, NC, 25th Anniversary Convocation
Friday, April 11th, 9:45 am, Ridge Road Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC (directions at www.rrbch.com)
Worship and catered luncheon to follow, cost $10. Register by March 30th with Katie Fam at marykatherinefam@yahoo.com or (910) 692-8750.
A “Cloud of Witnesses” Quilt, honoring people of our past and present, will be presented. It names the witnesses God has used to bless women in ministry and their supporters through the years. Proceeds from the quilt go to the Kay Simpson Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Information at www.bwimnc.org
BWIM, NC, thanks all their supporters, volunteers and quilt donors for 25 years of blessings. To God be the Glory.
The Love, the Acceptance, and the Joy
by Jennifer Huggins, member, First, Raleigh
When I went to Bucha, Ukraine, for the first time in 2003, the Village of Hope was merely an exciting possibility for housing street children. Among the abandoned buildings and overgrown grounds, I could almost envision kids playing, laughing and thriving with families who loved them and cared for their every need. During that week in 2003, our team from First Baptist, Raleigh, cleared roads, gutted rooms, tore out flooring and shoveled debris in an effort to prepare an old Soviet youth camp to be used to provide shelter and comfort for children who truly needed it. While my first trip was a very rewarding experience with visions of what was to come at the Village of Hope, nothing could have prepared my heart for the complete joy it would experience when I returned in August, 2007.
members. It took a little more prodding for Vanya to warm up to me, but after a few minutes of playing “monkey see, monkey do,” the 4-year-old couldn’t stop laughing! These Ukrainian children didn’t understand a single word I said – and vice versa – but the love, the acceptance and the joy that were shown towards our team by these kids and their new parents spoke volumes as to what God is doing through the Village of Hope. Their hearts are wide open because of the unconditional love that has been shown to them in the name of Christ.
When we arrived at the Village of Hope on August 13, 2007, standing outside the same building we gutted four years earlier (now freshly painted and renovated to house two families) were 2½-year-old Tanya and 4-year-old Sergey. They stood handin-hand with their foster mothers, Natasha and Lena, waving to us like they had known us all their lives. Although I knew the heartbreaking stories of how these kids came to the Village of Hope, their smiles told only of the love and care they have received since arriving there.
As the day continued, I met Misha and Sasha, elementaryschool-aged brothers who were abandoned by their biological mother. Frisbees and bubbles became our common language, and their faces lit up with every interaction with our team
Through God’s grace and our support, the Village of Hope is providing these children (and hopefully many more to come!) a childhood they deserve. As they grow up, instead of remembering cold, hungry nights and the fear of being left behind or abused, they will now have memories of playing games, laughing with their brothers and sisters, sleeping in warm beds and eating meals together as a family. I am grateful for the handful of memories we created in a week’s time at the Village of Hope. However, my heart is overjoyed at the thought of the lifetime of memories that Tanya, Sergey, Misha, Sasha, Vanya and many more children are making everyday ... but only with our help.
g One week still available for a mission team: May 30-June 7, 2008
g Individuals interested in going to the Village of Hope may join an existing team. Contact Bill Mason at (704) 233-4645 or wmason@carolina.rr.com
Opportunities Available for College Students to Serve
Student.Go, a program of CBF Global Missions, provides opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to serve among the unevangelized and marginalized people in our world. Our positions include a wide variety of locations and unique types of ministry and are intended to provide students with hands-on missions experience. Students serve for a summer or a semester alongside CBF Global Missions field personnel and ministry partners around the globe.
Student.Go reflects the priorities of CBF in its emphasis on holistic ministries, taking seriously God’s mandate of doing justice and mercy and Christ’s instruction to care for the hungry, naked, sick, homeless and imprisoned as we would care for him. We are committed to bearing the presence of Christ and the transforming message of the gospel to the most neglected persons in our world without borders. We also value God’s calling of both women and men to all types of ministry and seek to support both male and female students in their following of God’s will in their lives.
Student.Go is now accepting applications for 2008. To apply or for a list of service locations, go to www.studentdotgo.org
Conference Center Phase One
We have started to build the first unit which comes up to a total of 5,500 sf. The first unit consists of a 1,500-sf basement, a first story of 4 rooms, and a second story of 4 rooms and 4 bonus rooms. This unit will be able to host 24 to 32 people. We have finished the dry stage of this unit and we need volunteers to help us in construction work in Lebanon. Also, any donation will be a great help.
A Place for Renewal, Training, Refuge
by Chaouki Boulos, CBF Global Missions Field Personnel
Several years ago the Lord laid on my heart the need for a conference, refuge and training center in Lebanon, the one nation in the Middle East where there is religious freedom. To our knowledge, there is nowhere in the Middle East where groups of Christians can gather for seminars, meetings, and training programs.
Since then, the Lord has sent people who caught this vision, and we were able to purchase a 12-acre spot in a very beautiful Christian area in the mountains. We are looking forward to development of the property to serve both Christian and non-Christian uses.
It is the habit of Christian churches in Lebanon to take their people away for a few days, and there are at least more than 100 churches in need of a place to hold a retreat. Presently there is no place large enough to host such groups. They spend a large sum of money each year to rent facilities too small for their entire group to come together.
This will be a place where pastors and Christians from throughout the Middle East and North Africa can come for training, refreshing and countless other opportunities. It will be able to serve every aspect of Christian evangelism, especially to the Arab population, and be a house of refuge for other Arabs. Since Lebanon is a natural meeting place of people from east and west, we will also host business meetings and conferences.
How can you help?
n Pray for our family and the ministry
n Send a team on a mission trip helping with construction of the Conference Center
n Contributing financially to the Conference Center or to the Celebrations!
n Prayerfully consider serving at a Celebration in Lebanon, Jordan or Egypt
Visit Operationantioch@hotmail.com
We envision being the host facility for international conferences, sports camps for youth in the summer, and ministry to people with addictive problems in the winter. We want it to be a place for all types of ministry and where everything people need can be available. It will have restaurant facilities, conference rooms, places for fellowship, and, yes, a place of refuge in times of need. The center when completed will hold up to 500 people, though it can also be operated cost effectively for smaller groups.
Our plan is that the revenue generated will not only run the Center, but also help fund the work that the Lord has planned for Living Faith Ministry International to do in the Middle East.
t Four resources for preschoolers through adults
t Designed with congregations in mind
t Biblically-based missions studies that tell the stories of CBF field personnel
Discover your Fellowship, your mission, and your world. Visit www.missionseducation.org or call 800-352-8741x619
CBFNC Initiatives
Hispanic Ministry: Growing in Grace, Love, Power and Knowledge
by Pastor Daniel Sostaita
Iglesia Cristiana Sin Fronteras (Without Frontiers Christian Church) is a new Hispanic Church Start in King, NC. Their first worship service, led by Pastor Daniel Sostaita, was on November 4, 2007. This church receives financial support from CBFNC.
After living in the same region for over eleven years, I have witnessed how over time this community has transitioned from a slim-to-none population of Hispanics to having a thriving Hispanic community. Throughout this period of time, God revealed to me that He wanted me to serve Him in this ever-growing area that is known as King.
I received two serious proposals to commence a Hispanic ministry in Florida and Kernersville. After vigorous prayer and fasting, I denied these opportunities due to the fact that peace did not settle within my heart.
When the possibility of initiating a church in King arose, I prayed and fasted and, slowly but surely, God led me through every step of the journey.
My strategy to develop this vision is based on Christ’s spiritled ministry. Jesus lived a life of prayer and resolved the needs of all those who approached Him. This is why the multitudes seeked Him by day and night. Our focus is to resolve the problems of all those who approach us, show them the love of Christ and transform their lives to the glory of God.
Our focus is to resolve the problems of all those who approach us, show them the love of Christ and transform their lives to the glory of God.
After investigating the Hispanic family in King, we discovered that 70% of the Hispanic inhabitants of King are young couples between the ages of 20-30 with young children in the elementary-school stages. The majority of the remaining 30% are single men with families in their homeland with the sole purpose of providing money for their estranged relatives. The bridge that unites these two groups are their inability to make ends meet due to their poor wages, as well as their fear of a dark future due to their incapability of fixing their legal status. Their intellectual knowledge and biblical knowledge levels are extremely low, but these are instruments that God uses to surpass their fears, to conquer their limitations and make them believe that they as well as their children have a light at the end of the tunnel in Christ Jesus.
My vision is very extensive and simple at the same time. It is based on one Biblical verse which has impacted me on a very grand level. Ephesians 4:13 states, “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” My vision is not only that all people accept Christ into their lives but also that they grow in grace, love, power, knowledge and that they be able to reach “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” as well as live a abundant life as stated in John 10:10.
The Hispanic community has a unique trait which is that they all speak the same language and yet are represented by 24 distinct cultures, countries, dialects and traditions. To resolve this issue, God showed me the Apostle Paul’s ministry in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.
Sin Fronteras’ objective is to focus on the music, food, traditions and language of each individual, city and country. By doing this, we unite each country into one family which is a family that transcends time, place, language, and culture. This is the family that loves unconditionally, accepts without any requirements and only asks that you accept Jesus into your life, love your neighbor as yourself, and love God with your heart, soul and mind.
My family is the support God has placed in my heart. They know when I am happy, but also know how hard this journey has been.
The ministry is a great passion, but there is also a great price to pay. There are various roles which my family plays within the ministry: my wife accompanies me to visit Hispanic families throughout the community and she also leads our praise and worship service; my eldest daughter, Barbara, prepares PowerPoint presentations, assists in sermon illustrations, prepares bulletins, teaches children’s Sunday School classes, and also helps organize events for the church; my middle daughter, Daniela, helps with the offerings and organizing the church before members arrive; my mother, Tina, is limited to what she can do because of her walking problems, but she is a vital help in answering telephone calls throughout the day; and my youngest daughter, Victoria, is Barbara’s assistant in Sunday School. As you can see, Sin Fronteras is a group effort.
New Birth
by Rick Jordan, Church Resources Coordinator
For the last nine months, people have asked me, “So what do you do for CBFNC now?” They know that I’m not doing some things I was doing, that I’m still doing some things I was doing and, maybe, that I am now doing some things I wasn’t doing before. And they’re right. In June, my reference and referral responsibilities were spun off to Jack Causey. But in nine months time, new birth can happen! Here are two new areas of ministry I’ve been working on …
Evangelism – The very word stirs up a variety of emotions. There’s anxiety and defensiveness in those who are disgusted with manipulative techniques that have been historically associated with “the e word.” There’s willingness and hope in those who feel that we should be evangelistic in ways that are consistent with who we are and what we believe. In the last several months, CBFNC has birthed an Evangelism Task Force.
Our purpose is to explore evangelism needs, to develop a healthy philosophy/theology of evangelism; to develop a strategy for congregational evangelism; and to explore the relationship between being a missional church and evangelism.
the Good News of God’s love in Jesus Christ in our communities and around the world.
Advocacy – As Christians, we believe, we profess and we act. Some means of acting out our faith are obvious. We worship, study, and build fellowship. All of that can take place within the walls of the church. We also have the calling to go outside the walls of the church to act out our faith. We can minister directly with the poor, the ill, the prisoner and others in need.
UPCOMING YOUTH EVENTS INCLUDE
Youth Choir Festival
First Baptist Church Greensboro, NC March 14-15, 2008
At our first meeting, the discussion hit on many topics including the hesitancy to use the word evangelism, the reaction of known abuses of evangelistic strategy, the hopes for an evangelistic church, the use of Scriptures, the motivations for evangelism, other needs beyond evangelism, and the challenge of what we as a task force might do.
Spring Retreats
Vineyard Camp & Retreat Center
Westfield, NC April 18-20 & 25-27, 2008
The homework assignment was to complete the statement, “An evangelistic church is …” Our thinking is that we need to know where we’re going before we draw the map to get there. How would you answer the question? Is your church an “evangelistic” church? Email me your response and join the conversation!
The evangelism task force will meet quarterly. Our hope is to discover or to create resources that will help CBF churches share
In our nation, we have the freedom to do this, but as Baptists we also insist on the ability to do all of this without our government’s endorsement or interference. Last month, five other Baptist ministers from NC and I traveled to Washington, DC, to meet with leaders of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and with the leaders of one of our newer partners, the hunger-advocacy group Bread for the World.
David Beckmann, president of “Bread,” said to us, “Your citizenship is part of your stewardship.” Are we being faithful stewards of our citizenship? Leaders from Bread trained us on current issues related to poverty including the Millennium Development goals and then gave us training in how to make a visit with our governmental leaders. Then, we went to the offices of our senators and congressmen to share our concerns.
From this experience, we will soon establish a Poverty Task Force with the goals of networking local churches that are already involved in direct ministry to the needy. We will educate church leaders about needs and possible responses to the needs, providing opportunities for direct and indirect ministry responses and recognizing “best practices.”
We are currently running a survey on our website on hunger ministry. Please take the time to take the survey. We’d love to learn what’s being done in our CBFNC churches!
CBFNC
A Year’s Journey with CBFNC
by Gail Coulter, CBFNC Moderator
Under my “watch” as Moderator of CBFNC this past year, I have witnessed a spiritual Pentecost, an outpouring of the evidence of the work of the imagination of the Holy Spirit of God. Almost every report of every aspect of your ministry as Baptists in this state has been one of phenomenal growth. Lives, communities, and churches are more and more becoming the presence of Christ. CBFNC has exponentially grown in ability to bring Baptists in North Carolina together for Christ-centered ministry. I am awed to have been a first-hand witness and leadership participant.
Beforehand, I knew it would be an amazing joy to witness and touch the skilled and dedicated work of your staff — which has expanded this year with two part-time coordinators and two new office staff. I had heard, but this year I saw first-hand, that this state CBF organization sets the standards for all the other state groups.
Meeting many leaders and church folks across the state and beyond has been a special delight and honor. Hearing recent North Carolina theological-school graduates who are serving churches and even serving on councils and task forces has been a thrill. I sensed the presence of Christ as I served alongside perceptive and committed council members, witnessing their thoughtful wisdom in CBFNC workings. Task Forces, likewise, have done creative and beautiful work. We all can be grateful for the leadership God provides through many such committed folks.
The journey with the WMU-NC this year has been a somber one. Let me invite us all to faithfully continue to pray for and engage in their support as they work in newness.
The greatest amazement of the year came as I joined the team crossing the state in the New Day meetings. The hard work of these gatherings helped churches and folks find fresh, free Baptist identity and sources for being missional. These meetings were the outside covering for the amazing explosion of the Mission Resource Plan. Churches now use this avenue of contributing to partners of their choosing. Indeed, the MRP continues to be a Pentecostal expression of the imagination of the Holy Spirit.
Larry Hovis has been generous and gracious journeying with me this year. I am grateful for his leadership, for many new friendships and for the support of the CBFNC church start congregation I serve. In this rare opportunity as Moderator, I encountered God in plans, in faces, in churches, in networks, in prayer and worship ... even in meetings. Please join me in Dag Hammarskjold’s anticipatory prayer “For what has been, ‘Thanks’ and for what is to come, ‘Yes.’”
Experiencing Mission Trips Every Sunday
by Irma Duke, member, Baptist Fellowship of Angier
Serving through Baptist Fellowship is like being on a mission trip every week.
The Sunday afternoon activities begin with kickball in the church parking lot at Amistad Cristiana, the congregation in Angier from which we rent space. The children are waiting when we arrive and call us if we’re late! Then we gather for worship, followed by Sunday School. Dr. Andrew Wakefield, church coordinator, leads a small team in planning the worship. Each service is different, planned to accentuate the message of the day. The children are a major part of the church in number and outreach. Some grew up in church, others have had little exposure to church, and still others come from Catholic backgrounds. They range from ages 3 to 16.
We have canvassed the neighborhood with Amistad Cristiana Church to do “reverse Halloween,” we have game nights one Friday night a month, and potluck suppers one Sunday night a month — all efforts to build relationships in our neighborhood. Parents have begun to attend our services as we try to show Christ’s love. The very simple Christmas play was a highlight of our first year in Angier as persons from China, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Mexico and the United States gathered to hear the good news of Christ’s birth.
The church was begun by Woodhaven Baptist in a FuquayVarina location over a year ago, but was drawn to Angier because of the opportunities there. The church body is committed to serving the underserved — internationals, the poor, those who are physically and mentally challenged and others.
In addition to the local congregation, Baptist Fellowship has led other local churches in coming together to serve under ACTS, an acronym for Angier Churches Together Serving. This is an effort to join with the leadership of the 27 other Christian churches in Angier to support each other in ministry and outreach. We meet once a month for breakfast, prayer, sharing, and planning together to make an impact in the Angier area.
2008 CBF National General Assembly
June 19-20, 2008
Cook Convention Center w Memphis, Tennessee
w Auxiliary events begin June 18 with the annual commissioning of CBF field personnel.
w Attend worship, ministry workshops, annual business sessions and other activities including plenty of time for fellowship.
Highlights include a special time of Assembly-wide guided prayer and discernment about the future, a Thursday-evening keynote address by human-rights activist and Baptist minister, Lauran Bethell, and a Fridayevening celebration of missional churches engaged in ministry around the world.
For more, including registration and hotels, visit www.thefellowship.info
Meet Fellow North Carolinians While in Memphis
Join North Carolinians in Memphis for the CBF of North Carolina State meeting during the General Assembly on Thursday, June 19th, at 4:00 pm. We will have time for fellowship, updates from our various councils, slideshows from events throughout the year and more! Be sure to meet up with other North Carolinians when you come to Tennessee this summer.
The Memphis Sessions: A Collegiate Missional Experience
Sunday, June 15
Sharing in meaningful service, discussions and music; Involving a Christian response to poverty
June 15-20, 2008, is the date of the first missional experience created just for college and graduate students in conjunction with the CBF General Assembly.
The cost of $195 covers housing, most food, cost of mission projects and programming. CBFNC is offering a $100 stipend for the first 50 NC students to register with them.
Wednesday, June 18
Tour the National Civil Rights Museum. Get to know each other.
Monday, June 16 & Tuesday, June 17
One group will serve in Helena, Arkansas, as part of CBF’s rural-poverty ministry. The other group will serve in Memphis. There will be a half day of service and a half day of learning in both places.
Continue serving in the morning.
Attend the CBF Global Missions field personnel commissioning service that evening. Hear Sam Davidson and reflect on service experiences.
Thursday, June 19
Friday, June 20
Attend General Assembly, workshops and worship sessions.
Concert and discussion with Krystaal.
Saturday, June 21
Memphis Sessions concludes with breakfast.
For more information, contact Wanda Kidd (asyougo5@aol.com), Amy Derrick (aderrick@thefellowship.info) or Mike Young (missions@tncbf.org) Register online at www.cbfnc.org
Attend General Assembly, including events about poverty, HIV/AIDS and other issues. Participate in worship sessions and see Bethany Dillon in a coffeehouse concert.
A “Third Way” for Baptists? Reflections on the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant
by Larry Hovis, Executive Coordinator
I suppose one could accuse me, quite fairly, of being a “Baptist meeting junkie.” Since my first youth week at Fort Caswell during the summer before I entered junior high school, I have spent a fair portion of my time attending meetings of Baptists from beyond whatever congregation in which I happened to be a member. In recent years, most of the Baptist meetings I’ve attended, at the state or national level, have been one of two types. Either they were fraught with conflict with those who held different views from me, or they were harmonious and enjoyable because they included only those who were very much like me.
Baptists – but also for what it was not. In spite of the involvement of several highprofile political leaders, there was no partisanship. Even though we are in a presidential election year, this gathering was about shared faith, not partisan politics.
Larry Hovis
If those are the only two choices I have, I’ll take the latter over the former any day. That’s why I enjoy our CBF gatherings so much, whether it is a regional fellowship gathering, our state assembly, or the national general assembly.
In contrast to these two distinct experiences, the recent Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant provided a glimpse of a “third way.” Though CBFers, including those from North Carolina, were well-represented, it was the most diverse gathering of Baptists I have ever attended in my life – racially, geographically, and, yes, even theologically. Participants had a sense that they were participating in something of historic proportions, not unlike the way we felt at the founding of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in the early 1990s. Though I saw many folks who were familiar, I often looked around, saw faces and fashions that were unfamiliar, and felt like a minority – and it felt good!
In my view, the Celebration was successful, not only for what it was – an unprecedented coming together of diverse
Besides not being political (as many critics and journalists had hoped), it was also not about forming a new Baptist convention. We’ve got enough Baptist conventions and groups already. Creating a new “superconvention” would be neither practical nor healthy. Just as most counties need several Baptist congregations, so does our continent need different Baptist conventions and fellowships. Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 12 about the need for various parts of the body applies to entities beyond the local congregation as well.
So, what comes next? At least three things, I hope. First, we should meet again, to get to know one another even better. Not every year, but perhaps every 3 to 5 years. Some of the participating groups, like CBF, might even consider
linking their annual meeting that year to the New Baptist Covenant. There is value in being together in worship and fellowship, even if nothing else occurs. But I do hope something else occurs, which brings me to my second desire. We should develop some partnerships through which we can work together on mission, here in North America, targeting those Jesus said he came minister with in Luke 4 (the theme Scripture for the Covenant): the poor, the captive, the blind and the oppressed. Third, we should all explore ways to reach out to diverse Baptists to share joint worship, fellowship and mission, in our state and in our communities. Some local churches have made progress in this area, and the CBFNC Diversity Task Force will be exploring how we can reach out, especially to Baptists of other races, at the state level.
We live in a time filled with many polarizing issues in which we are forced to make either/or choices. Most of us aren’t comfortable with being pushed to the extremes and long for a third way. Thank God for the New Baptist Covenant, which is providing a greatly appreciated third way for many in the Baptist family.
Coordinators Available to Speak in Churches
One of the ministries that our coordinators gladly perform is preaching, teaching and speaking in churches. Our coordinators are available for the following:
to preach in worship services, for special occasions or to provide pulpit supply in the pastor’s absence to lead a session on CBF and CBFNC in general, or a particular ministry area to lead retreats for deacons, teachers or other leadership groups to consult with church leaders on topics of their expertise
Please contact the CBFNC office (888-822-1944) or a particular coordinator to discuss your church’s needs when it comes to a guest speaker.
Children from sixteen churches, from Waynesville to Wilmington, participated in the third-annual CBFNC-sponsored children’s choir festival on February 16 at First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem.
Ministers on the Move
Our encouragement and support go to the following ministers who have recently moved:
Kendall Cameron will begin his ministry in April as the Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Mount Holly, NC
Mitch Watson is Pastor of the Mt. Gilead Baptist Church of Fayetteville, NC
Karen Burnette has joined the faculty of the Grace Christian Academy of Bryson City, NC
Tim Marsh is the Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Taylorsville, NC
John Daughtery, former coordinator of CBF of Louisiana with ties to North Carolina, is the Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Ft. Myers, Florida
When you make a move or know of someone who has changed places of ministry, let us know at 888-822-1944 or cbfnc@cbfnc.org so that we can let others know.
For vocational placement or search committee requests, visit our Vocations page on our website at www.cbfnc.org or call 888-822-1944.
New Contributing CBFNC Partner Churches (December 2007 - February 2008)
Baptist Tabernacle, Wendell (formerly CBF only)
Brunswick Islands, Supply (formerly CBF only) (New MRP* Contributor)
Chadbourn, Chadbourn (New MRP Contributor)
First, Carolina Beach (New MRP Contributor)
First, Drexel (formerly CBF only)
First, Eden (formerly CBF only)
First, Mocksville (formerly CBF only)
First, Sylva (New MRP Contributor)
Goshen, Leland (New MRP Contributor)
Grace, Asheville (formerly CBF only)
Littleton, Littleton (New MRP Contributor)
Oakmont, Greenville (New MRP Contributor)
Temple, Durham (New MRP Contributor)
The Memorial, Greenville (New MRP Contributor)
Viewmont, Hickory (New MRP Contributor)
*Mission Resource Plan
Upcoming Events ~
March 14-15, 2008
Youth Choir Festival
FBC, Greensboro, NC
Cost is $10 per singer ($125 max per choir); $5 per person for food. Visit www.cbfnc.org for further details and to register.
April 11-12, 2008
CBFNC General Assembly
Forest Hills Baptist Church Raleigh, NC
Deadline for dinner reservations is March 31. Deadline for childcare registration is March 14. Details and registration available at www.cbfnc.org
April 18-20 or 25-27, 2008
Youth Spring Retreats Vineyard Camp Westfield, NC
Cost is $105 per person. Visit www.cbfnc.org for further details and to register.
June 15-20, 2008
The Memphis Sessions Memphis, Tennessee A Collegiate Missional Experience coordinated with the CBF National General Assembly. Visit www.cbfnc.org for further details.
June 19-20, 2008
CBF National General Assembly Memphis, Tennessee
Visit www.thefellowship.info for further details and to register.
February’s Children’s Choir Festival at First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem
The Gathering is published six times a year; mailed by the 5th of the month. All questions may be directed to Natalie Aho, 888-822-1944 or naho@cbfnc.org. For story submissions, contact Natalie Aho for requirements and newsletter deadlines.
Bringing Baptists of North Carolina Together for Christ-Centered Ministry
162 8025 North Point Blvd., Suite 205 Winston-Salem, NC 27106
888-822-1944 www.cbfnc.org Return Service Requested
